“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
“The Volvo S80 – sleek, stylish, and commands the road” “Dell XPS – Mobilize and Conquer” “Neutragenia –healthier, younger looking skin.” I watch CNN every morning, so that I know what’s going on in the world, and I’m inundated by the messages, images, promises from the gods in this world who would claim to be faithful, to make us lovable, to make us acceptable, to save us. From the midst of this chatter, this clamor for our time, attention, affection, and faithfulness, what is the Good News for us today? Jesus says in our Gospel text:
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
“I am” – Jesus says these words more in John’s Gospel than in any other – “I am the bread of life” “I am the gate” “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” to name a few. They recall God’s words to Moses on Mount Sinai, “I am what I am,” when God both gives Moses his name and keep the divine identity hidden. With these words, Jesus is saying that he is God, that contained within himself is the fullness of God. So what is Jesus saying about himself, about God, in this passage? How is it that God makes us acceptable, loves us, and saves us? How is it that Jesus expresses God’s faithfulness?
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
“I am the Good Shepherd.” In the Old Testament, Moses, David, Amos, and others were shepherds. Rulers, who were expected to be faithful, to accept, to love, and to save their people from enemies, famines, and injustice, were depicted as shepherds. Sometimes even God, who promises to love, accept, and save, to be always faithful to God’s people, is depicted as a shepherd, such as in our well-known Psalm for today. But the best example, and the example from which this morning’s lesson comes, is from the 34th chapter of the prophet Ezekiel:
For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land…. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak...
To this passage from Ezekiel Jesus now adds this notion of the shepherd dying for the sheep:
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
On the surface, this is a stupid notion, and raises questions: sheep might be a shepherd’s livelihood, but surely they are not worth the shepherd’s death. Further, if the shepherd dies, who will take care of the flock, who will save the flock from future predators, after the shepherd is gone? What kind of crazy shepherd would die for his sheep?Surely that must be the hired hand’s logic, and in response, when trouble arises, he runs away.Jesus says, “the hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.” Here we have the crux of this passage, and a huge theme for Jesus in John:to lay down one’s life is the ultimate act of faithfulness. It is only five chapters later in John that Jesus says, “no one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It is in this way that Jesus juxtaposes the Good Shepherd and the hired hand: the good shepherd is being ultimately faithful, while the hired hand is being cowardly. So it is with computers, cars, lotions, and anything else which promises to save us or to be faithful, but are either unable to unwilling to be that faithful.
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
But this passage is not simply an abstract metaphor about a shepherd and a hired hand – Jesus’ message hits Peter kind of hard. The word understood here as “good” could also mean “model,” so that Jesus is saying, “I am the model shepherd. The model shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” So Jesus is challenging Peter: will you follow your role model, will you be ultimately faithful, will you lay down your life for the sheep, or will run away in fear, like the hired hand who does not care for sheep?” This question is directed at Peter, but it is also directed to all who would be the leaders of Jesus’ flock, and all who would follow him – all Christian leaders and all Christians – will you lay down your life my flock, for each other, or will you run in fear? Human nature would have us running away in fear, in self-preservation every time. But if that is the message of this text, if this were simply Jesus commanding us to love one another and to be willing to die for one another, it would not be the gospel, it would not be the good news.So what is the good news? The challenge to Peter, the part about the hired hand, is in the middle of the passage – so how does this passage begin and end?
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
The passage ends similarly, with Jesus saying, “I have power to lay [my life] down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my father.” It begins and ends with the reassurance that God in Christ has been and is ultimately faithful to us, has died for the sake of his sheep, for our sake, and is risen and alive and among us today. Remember the earlier questions about what kind of crazy shepherd would die for sheep? We are worth dying for, says Jesus, and proves it by doing so. But we are not left without our shepherd, because he rose again. It is Christ alone who saves, cares for, loves, accepts, and defends us – it is Christ alone who is ultimately faithful, and shows it by dying for us. Smashing the images of idols who are unable or unwilling to die for us, Jesus sets challenges us to follow his example and expresses his ultimate faithfulness, making his promise, by laying down his life for us, his sheep.
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
No wolf will ever snatch you from me, says Jesus, regardless of the faith or faithlessness of any hired hands who might be feeding you, and regardless of the promises they make. And even after I’ve died, I will not leave you defenseless – I’ll come back to you. Regardless of the unfaithfulness, of the cowardice, or any hired hand, I will always be faithful. Even when you are the hired hand who does not follow my example, says Jesus, even when you are unfaithful and cowardly, I am still the Good Shepherd, and I lay down my life for you, my sheep.
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Amen.