John 10,11-16.27-30. Misericordias Domini

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

John 10,11-16.27-30 2415

Miserikordias Domini (2. Sonntag nach Ostern) 37 weiß

Timon, one of the 7 deacons at Jerusalem. Acts 6,5. 

Olavus Petri, Pastor and Reformer in Sweden, ✠ 1552 

19. April 2015 

1. O Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, watch over us and protect us so that we may endure this fallen world with its suffering and violence, for in Your Providence we remain safe unto life eternal (VELKD, Prayer for Miserikordias Domini § 1).  Amen. 

2. »I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. 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. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 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.«

  3. Jesus, our Good Shepherd gives us this promise: »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.« Truly, this is Misericordia Domini, the mercy of the Lord, for by His death and resurrection we have the mercy of God the Father as the 23. Psalm reminds us: »Surly goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever« (Psalm 23,6). 

4. Jesus gives us a glimpse of whom this Lord is. Our Creeds teach that the Lord is a Divine Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In John 10, Jesus focuses on the Persons of Father and Son. The Persons of God are at the same time One God and still Three Distinct Persons. The Triune God is not some Buddhist or Hindu nirvana where one is merely a drop in an ocean of peaceful existence devoid of individuality. Jesus says He is One with the Father and yet He is a distinct Person apart from the Father. 

5. What Jesus teaches seems like a paradox to us: He is One with the Father and thus completely omnipotent but He is also under the Father’s authority. The Church historically understands this as God the Father is the First among Equals. As Divine Equals, both the Son and the Holy Spirit freely submit themselves to the Father’s authority. Thus there is complete agreement in will and thought between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So great is this agreement that Jesus says: »If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father« (John 14,9), for the Father’s will is the Son’s will and the Son’s will is the Father’s will. 

6. Jesus thus shows us the Father’s heart. Luther spoke of the Divine heart this way: „If we truly believe that Christ is our Savior, then we have a God of love, and to see God in faith is to look upon His friendly heart. For we know One who suffered and made satisfaction in our behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Where He is, there we shall be also“ [1] (Luther). 

7. It has been God’s desire from time eternal for men and women to dwell with Him in fellowship. His dwelling in heaven is filled with angels whom He created to be in eternal fellowship with Him. When He created the Earth He set aside a particular space for mankind to dwell with Him in everlasting fellowship. God created men and women in His Divine Image and Likeness and gave them the Garden of Eden to be Paradise and an physical manifestation of heaven on earth. Each evening He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Adam and Eve were the crown of God’s earthly creation and Lucifer was the crown of God’s angelic creation. At some point Lucifer rebelled against the Lord and his fall had universal ramifications. He convinced one-third of the angels to rebel with him against the Lord. He then deceived Adam and Eve to rebel against the Lord too. Divine fellowship between angels and men had been sundered. 

8. We see in both Lucifer’s fall and Adam’s fall the merciful heart of God the Father. He could have in both cases consigned the rebels to capital punishment and destroyed them unto oblivion, but God had a more fatherly plan. He created an abode for Lucifer and the other rebellious angels where they could exist in their own presence apart from His Divine presence. The angels who had remained loyal to God He then confirmed their fidelity by securing their abode eternally with Him. Adam and Eve were not struck down, but were evicted from Eden and denied access to the tree of life. God provided for their salvation by promising Eve a Son who would undo their rebellion, defeat the devil and restore mankind’s fellowship with the Divine. 

9. God the Father planned to send His Only-begotten Son to redeem fallen men and women. The Apostle Paul tells us: »When the fullness of time had arrived, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because we are sons, we are heirs through God« (Galatians 4,4-7). Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were the fulfillment of God’s Heilsgeschichte (salvation history). 

10. Jesus has redeemed all people back to His Father. The sin of the fallen world has been forgiven. The gates of hades have been shut to us and the gates of heaven have been opened wide for us. But God does not force heaven and salvation upon His creation. Satan and the demons freely desired to exist apart from God’s presence, and God gave them what they wanted; He even created a place for them to live out this Divine separation. God does not force men and women to believe the gospel of salvation. His forgiveness and salvation can be rejected. Free will can choose to remain separated from God. It is not what God wants, but He has done everything to redeem mankind and if individuals decide to reject His grace then they choose to reject living in His presence. There is an abode where such dwell who oppose living in the midst of God’s presence. Hades is that abode and people who reject God’s grace will live there with the demons who have rejected God too. 

11. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He has redeemed us, purchased our forgiveness and opened up heaven to us. He gives us this promise: »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.« Jesus is the living personification of His Father’s merciful heart. Rightly does John the Apostle and Evangelist  call Jesus the Word who is God and who is of God and who has been made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1,1.14). Jesus is the Misericordia Domini, the Mercy of the Lord, for by His death and resurrection we have the mercy of God the Father. 

12. The words of the Psalmist speak of the merciful, loving heart of God shown to us in Christ Jesus: »The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever« (Psalm 23).  Amen. 

  13. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Thou Good Shepherd, speak to us through Your Word so that in the Holy Scriptures we hear Your Voice and follow You unto eternal life.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

[1]  „Anyone who regards Him as angry is not seeing Him correctly, but has pulled down a curtain and cover, more, a dark cloud over His face. But in Scriptural language „to see His face“ means to recognize Him correctly as a gracious and faithful Father, on whom you can depend for every good thing. This happens only through faith in Christ“ (Luther 21,37).