St. John 10:11–18
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No real shepherd dies for his sheep. Imagine the farmer who says, I love my cows. All I want is to see them happy and well-fed, enjoying their pasture. I will let them live a nice, long life… and I will die before I let anyone butcher them. Ridiculous! Foolish. That’s what our God is like.
Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. That should sound just as crazy as the farmer who loves his cows and won’t let anyone butcher them. The only reason Jesus’ statement might not sound so strange is that we’re so used to it. But the truth is, the Lord is not like us. He doesn’t think like us. He lays down His life for His sheep. And that makes all the difference.
We know that sheep and cows get marked for slaughter. And we are marked for death. Death is inevitable for us. God’s sentence against Adam applies to all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve: You are dust, and to dust you shall return. We are their offspring and we share their sin. Like father, like son. Like mother, like daughter. Sinful flesh begets sinful flesh. We share that sin—we participate in it.
Jesus does not. He is the only Son of Adam who does not share in sin, the only one who was not marked by death. Death was not inevitable for Him. Nevertheless, the true heavenly Father marked His true beloved Son for death, and Jesus accepted it freely. The Father and the Son have a perfect relationship, a perfect love. God is love. So there is no disagreement or questioning between the Father and the Son. Jesus says, For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. The Father loves His Son and the Son is obedient to His Father. The Father could never stop loving His Son and the Son could never be disobedient to His Father. It’s just the way they are. They are one—perfectly agreed, perfect in love. So also, Jesus has the authority in Himself to die and to rise: No one takes My life from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father. So, the Father’s command for the Son to go and die for the sins of the world and Jesus’ authority to lay down His life and take it up again—the command and the authority—are one, because the Father and the Son are one.
Death was not proper for Jesus, He did not deserve it. Death did not come for Him the way it comes inevitably for you and me. Death had no power to claim Jesus, except that He allowed it to. No one could take Jesus’ life from Him—not the Jews who arrested Him, not the Romans who crucified Him. He freely laid down His life, and freely took it up again.
That’s what makes Him the “Good” Shepherd. He’s not the competent shepherd, the successful shepherd. In other words, He’s not good at being a shepherd the way we think shepherds should be, because He does not raise His sheep in order to slaughter them. But He is the Good Shepherd as in the Beautiful Shepherd, the Right Shepherd, the Fitting and Glorious Shepherd, because He dies for us, His sheep. This use of the word “Good” is the same as how we call the day of His death: Good Friday. It could just as well be called Beautiful Friday. It is good and right and beautiful because the Good Shepherd was being good and doing good for us.
The Gospel writers record how when Jesus died He cried out with a loud voice. But this was not a loud cry of despair. This was His loud command, calling upon death to come and take Him. To the very last breath, He was in control. Death could not take Him without His submitting to it or allowing it. So, by rights death had no claim on Him. Death could not hold Him. By offering up His life in this way, Jesus conquered death. He beat death at its own game. He trampled down death by death. And so had complete authority still to take His life back up again.
In the classic children’s story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, arrive in a magical land called Narnia. But Edmund betrays his brother and sisters to the usurper, the evil White Witch. But Edmund is rescued and forgiven by the true king of Narnia, the Lion, Aslan. The Witch then comes to claim Edmund’s life—the blood of a traitor belongs to me, she demanded. He must be put to death on the magical Stone Table, where all evildoers are killed. So instead, Aslan exchanges his life for the boy. And the Witch kills the Lion on the Stone Table, leaving his dead body there to be mourned by the two girls, Susan and Lucy. But as the sun rose the next day, the Stone Table broke in half. And there stood Aslan, alive and glorious. The girls were amazed, and when they asked him what this all means, Aslan replied: “When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.” (LWW p.160).
That is precisely what our King has done for us, traitors. The willing, innocent victim offered up His life. Death tried to take Him and swallow Him down. And death broke. And now, death works backwards. We don’t go from this life into death, but from death on to resurrection. We merely pass through death into life.
Or consider another analogy I heard one time. A father and son are driving home from a funeral. The boy asks his dad what death is like. As the father struggles to find the right words, he notices a semi approaching them on the road. The huge truck races past, and for a few moments the noise is loud and the shadow of the truck covers the whole car. But then, a moment later, they’re out of the shadow and all is bright and calm again. The father asks his son, “What would’ve happened if that truck had hit us?” “We would’ve been killed, destroyed, hurt really, really bad.” “You’re right, but instead the only thing that touched us was the truck’s shadow. When Jesus died, He took the full force of death for us. The Lord Jesus is our Good Shepherd, so even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me. Jesus undid the real power of death. We only walk through the shadow of death. It doesn’t hurt us or destroy us. And then we come out on the other side in the full light of life with our Lord.”
Speaking as the Good Shepherd, Jesus also said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27–30). Death could not take Jesus’ life; He laid it down freely. So, death could not hold Jesus. He took His life back up again. And your life is with Jesus. You’re washed with His Name. You’re hearing and following His voice. You’re living on His body and blood. You’re safe in Jesus’ hand. And Jesus is loved by His Father and rests secure in His Father’s hand. So you’re there too, safe and loved. The Father and the Son are one, and you’re there together with them. Death cannot take your life from Jesus or the Father’s hand. Only its shadow passes over you. Death cannot hold you either.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
