John 10,11-16. Misericordias Domini

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

John 10,11-16        2619 

Misericordias Domini 037 weiß

Gotthard, Bishop of Hildesheim, Germany. ✠ 1039 

Frederick the Wise, Landgrave of Thuringia & Elector of Saxony, Defender of Luther ✠ 1525 

5. Mai 2019 

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who for our sins did give your Only-begotten Son, and for our justification did raise Him up from the dead, we beseech You in mercy to awaken our dead hearts to newness of life; and, with Christ, make us ever to live by the power of the resurrection of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen. (Löhe 477) 

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 advancing 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.« 

3. The theme of this Sunday is the mercy of the Lord (Misericordias Domini). Martin Luther nicely summarizes it 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 21,37). This is why Jesus is the Good Shepherd

4. Those who see Jesus as angry are not seeing Him correctly, but have covered His face with a dark cloud. Jesus lay down His life for us and all the world. He saw and knew the cost. Saint Luke tells us that late on Monday Thursday evening: »Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, knelt down and prayed: „Father, if You are willing, then remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.“ And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And for being in agony, He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground« (Luke 22,42-44). Jesus knew the cost, agonized over it and was determined to accept it. To see the suffering face of Jesus is to recognize Him correctly as gracious and faithful. Saint Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Philippians: »Jesus emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, … and He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross« (Philippians 2,7.8).

5. John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. Those who see Jesus as loving are seeing Him correctly, and to see a loving Jesus is to see a loving Heavenly Father, for Jesus and His Father are one (John 10,3) and whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (John 14,9). When Adam sinned and consigned all men and women to sinfulness, God approached this Fall with a Fatherly heart of love. He did not invoke the sentence of the law right then and there by striking down Adam and Eve. Rather, He evicted them from Eden, denied them access to the tree of life so they could not make the sinful Fall any worse and then made a promise to save men and women. Jesus is the Son of Eve who is the Second Adam. Whereas the first Adam could not overcome the Serpentine Satan, the Second Adam cast out the Devilish Dragon.  

6. Psalm 23 tells us that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has a rod and a staff to comfort us. One of many uses of a shepherd’s staff is to protect the sheep from predators. The Holy Scriptures give us a couple of vivid images of Jesus driving back our Predator the Devil. »The 72 disciples returned with joy saying: „Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your Name!“ And Jesus said to them: „I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and over all the power of the enemy“« (Luke 10,17-19). And again: »Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the Dragon. And the Dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great Dragon was thrown down, that ancient Serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: „Now the salvation, the power and the reign of our God and the authority of His Christ have arrived, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the Devil has gone down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!“« (Revelation 12,7-12). The Legend of Saint George and the Dragon builds upon this work of Jesus. (St. George festival is 23. April.) The 11. century legend tells about George slaying a dragon that had been demanding human sacrifices.  

7. Jesus is our Good Shepherd; He has redeemed us, purchased our forgiveness and opened up heaven to us. Jesus is the living personification of His Father’s merciful heart. His promise to us is: »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.« 

8. Psalm 23 speaks of the merciful, loving Good Shepherd that Jesus is. »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 for ever.« (Psalm 23).  Amen. 

9. 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 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 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. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand. 

[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).