Acts 4:5-12; John 10:11-18
Why do you think Jesus used the image of sheep and a shepherd? It was a part of everyday life, therefore common image that everyone could relate to. But more than that, there’s something specific about sheep and a shepherd that Jesus is trying to get at. We don’t know sheep, so maybe we miss that part – but perhaps we can get at the specific thing Jesus is trying to get across.
We think of sheep as dumb followers. But the dominant image of sheep in those days was the relationship they had with their shepherd. It probably wasn’t worded that way, but it was understood. The sheep simply trusted their shepherd. They didn’t worry about where the next green pasture was, or when the wolf may attack, or where they’d spend the night. They knew the shepherd was there, and that’s the last word. It didn’t occur to them that it could be any other way.
I think we have something in our culture that captures that in a similar way. Infants, toddlers, preschoolers I think they live the same way as sheep did then – as far as the point Jesus is making. They live each moment in complete confidence that they are taken care of. They don’t even think about who will feed them, or who will pick them up when they’re hurt, or who will wash their clothes, or who will love them. It doesn’t occur to them that those things might not happen. They simply trust that they will be provided for and protected.
That’s the image Jesus is conveying here as he talks about the shepherd and the sheep. Little children who trust their parents, who know that everything is already taken care of; they have nothing to worry about. Like sheep who have a shepherd who is willing to fight off anything to protect them.
We are the sheep that the shepherd is willing to lay down his life for; we are the children whose parent would do anything to protect. It’s us! Jesus will go to any lengths to provide everything we need, to keep us safe from any enemy that would destroy us – any powers that tear at the goodness of God’s creation. This shepherd, this parent, will face any wolf, any enemy for us. Even the power of sin and the power of death.
So guess what that means? We can live like sheep. We can live like little children with loving parents. We can totally trust Jesus to fend off the wolves. As our relationship with Jesus grows, our trust grows. Our concerns about life and death, sin and forgiveness, where we stand with God, about our purpose in life all fall away – become nothing. We are like little children without any real cares in the world, regardless of what happens around us. Because Jesus takes care of us – lays down his life to save ours.
But all the protection, help, care, comfort in the world don’t mean much if we don’t trust Jesus to provide it. There has to be a relationship. Not so that Jesus will take care of our life, but so we can live in the freedom of trusting him to take care of our life.
And we learn that trust by hanging out with him. Experiencing him. The ways that we do that most fully is through the Word, through Holy Communion, and through the community of the church. Where Jesus promises to meet us.
Trying to go it alone is like a sheep trying to survive alone. Or a two-year old child trying to take care of herself. And yet without a relationship with the good shepherd, that’s exactly what we’re doing. As long as there’s no wolves, the hired hand can take care of everything. When things are easy and there’s no danger, a toddler is safe. But in the midst of serious life issues, life and death, heaven and hell, sin and forgiveness, where is God, why am I here issues, we need more. And that’s why Jesus takes care of us – providing a relationship with him – where we can trust that we will be cared for.
Jesus comes to us, cares for us, protects us, dies for us, offers us life in him and with him. Like little children, like sheep, the more significant the issue we’re facing, the more we need to trust him. And the more we can.
He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.” We gather together to grow in our trust of the good shepherd. We share his Word, his supper, and his community. That’s how we grow in our trust of the one that provides and protects. In Jesus. Amen.