"Preach the Word" (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:1-2a).

 

Today’s text seems pretty simple. It explains itself. What more could I even say to this fantastic text? Afterall, there is a reason this text is always proclaimed at pastoral ordinations and installations. This text appears to have everything we need to hear when it comes to the importance of the Bible and for what the Bible is used for.

 

So, what is the importance of the Bible? Well, it is a unique collection of books, because each book contained in the Bible is “God-breathed.” What makes the Holy Scriptures so important is that they and they alone reveal the way of salvation, which is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. No other book on earth so articulately proclaims the truth of yours and my salvation.

 

The Bible is also unique in that it was written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, when you read God’s Word, you are reading words that are divinely inspired. You are reading the very Word of God. So, if you ever wonder what God thinks, just open up your Bible and read.

 

You see, it is the Holy Spirit who brought about these writings. They were willed by God and determined by God. The Holy Spirit moved the writers to write in the way they did for these Scriptures are truly the very Word of God.

 

St. Peter wrote: “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was every produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

 

And since the Bible is the very Word of God, it contains not a single error. The words contained from Genesis to Revelation contain no errors, since God is incapable of ever making a single mistake.

Since God’s Word is true, it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that we would be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

The Holy Spirit forms us through God’s written Word. He gives us knowledge. He calls us to repentance over sin. He corrects us through the Word. He trains us through discipline and instruction as we live out the Christian life in repentance and faith. 

 

Each written word in the Scriptures was inspired by the Holy Spirit for our benefit. So may we so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life through our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

But there’s a problem. Now, there’s no problem with the Bible. The problem is with you and me. 

 

St. Paul writes to Timothy: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

 

“For the time is coming.” Here, Paul is looking to the future, a future for which Paul wants to prepare Timothy. Paul is preparing Timothy for the bad times to come. A future in which is our reality today. 

 

For the time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but will listen to their itching ears for what they want to hear. This time is today.

 

Here, Paul is distinguishing between what people need to hear and what people want to hear. What people need to hear is “sound doctrine.” It is sound because it is what God wants said. “Sound doctrine” comes from God, and it produces spiritual health. 

 

But ever since the Fall of Adam, humanity has tried to usurp control over God’s Word. Satan inferred that God was lying to Adam and Eve, so they tried to take control to be “like God” even though they were already made in His image. All they did was lose God’s likeness when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Likewise, the children of Israel also complained, criticized and condemned the Lord. 

 

We are not too different from our ancestors who nagged and nitpicked God’s grace. Yours and my sinful nature would rather not put up with sound doctrine, because it does not say what we want to hear. It’s because sound doctrine exposes our sin and proclaims condemnation. Sound doctrine does not flatter us with a recital of what great things we have done. So much of God’s sound doctrine does not make sense to our human reason.

 

So, what does sinful humanity do? It does what sinful humanity has always done. It will look for teachers who “suit their own passions” by turning “away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).

 

So, we look for teachers and preachers who will scratch our itching ears. We become cats or dogs looking for a good scratch. So, we look for teachers and preachers who flatter our egos, who gives credit to man, who satisfies our natural desires and lusts, who preaches to human reason, who reinterpret Scripture to correspond to human reason.

 

And whenever the Church blesses what God condemns, it stops being the voice of Christ. It becomes an echo chamber of the fallen world. You see, the Gospel calls sinners out of darkness, it does not hold the sinner’s hand in that darkness and encourage the sinner to remain in darkness.

 

But Jesus welcomed everyone, pastor! Yes, He did. But He never left anyone unchanged. And that’s the point. He welcomed an adulterous woman, but He said, “Go, and sin no more!” (John 8:11). He dined with tax collectors, but He called them to leave behind their thievery. You see, grace does not re-write sin. Grace redeems the sinner from sin. But sinful man cannot bear this tension. It wants acceptance without repentance; affirmation without transformation.

 

The message goes from take up your cross to drop the cross, because God wants you to be yourself because He made you that way. It goes from repent and believe to affirm and belong.

 

Actual compassion tells the sinner when he is sinning. Actual compassion admits the log in your own eye, because you want to remove the splinter in your neighbor’s eye.

 

Jesus did not die to validate all sinful desires. Jesus wasn’t crucified so that we could all remain in sin. Jesus died to crucify our sinful desires; those desires of the flesh. And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we would not give in to the desires of the flesh.

Today, there are so many ear-scratching teachers and preachers at churches that once proclaimed sound doctrine, but are now teaching what God’s Word so plainly and repeatedly condemns, such as sexual immorality and women’s ordination.

 

God never gave His Church any authority to redefine sin. Christ is still the ruler of His Church. He doesn’t call on pastors to make new rules. His pastors are to simply be His servants as we go about doing what He has said. So, when you hear things like, “We must listen to the spirit of our age,” always remember that the Holy Spirit literally inspired men to write the very Word of God. The Bible was written by God. And He is not going to move in the spirit to our modern age, which is different from the way He wrote the Bible.

 

In short, these ear-scratching teachers and preachers preach anything except God’s revealed truth. So, they will never expose sin and never lead the sinner to any godly change.

 

Thanks be to God that you are here! So, you are like Timothy. Now, you are not a pastor, like me, but you are still like Timothy, because you have not given up. You are enduring. Paul writes to Timothy: “But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5).

 

Here, Paul is encouraging Timothy and us, so that we are able to continue in faith as we “continue in what [we] have learned and have firmly believed” – that is, “the sacred writings, which are able to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15). Being encouraged, we do as Paul encouraged Timothy: we preach the Word.

 

You see, Jesus has commissioned all of us to make disciples of all nations by teaching all that He has commanded us. He has called us to speak of the hope we have in Christ Jesus to all who have ears to hear. 

 

Now, it is true that we have different emphases on this calling. For I have been given the authority to preach and teach through my calling as an ordained servant of the Word. But you, too, have a similar calling. Yes, I am to proclaim God’s Word publicly. But you have a role, too, as you proclaim your faith through your various God-given vocations in life as father or mother, brother or sister, educator or student, boss or employee, friend and neighbor.

 

But you may say? It’s not the right time. To that, God’s Word says: It’s always the right time. It’s always a good time to proclaim the Word. In season or out of season, because God’s Word is always in season.

 

We preach the Word, because His Word will not return to God empty. For He proclaims: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). 

 

This Word is Jesus Christ. He is the One who suffered, died, rose, and ascended to save us from our sinful self, the devil, and this fallen world. So, we preach Christ crucified. For the One who said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34) forgave us.

 

We preach the Word, because Jesus Christ is that very human divine Word of salvation. Jesus is our foundation, our focus and our source of forgiveness. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Advent 3: "Bringing the Good News of Salvation" (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

A messenger of God proclaims: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

 

Isaiah writes our text looking ahead to a day when God’s people are stuck in Babylon. Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem have been replaced by Babylonian building projects. Israel has no king, no temple, no royal city, no land, no liturgy, no sacrifice, no hope, and no future. By the rivers of Babylon, the Jews sit and weep and they reminisce about the good old days when they worshiped in the splendor of Solomon’s Temple. They are permanently exiled in a foreign land.

 

The Babylonian captivity of the Jews was horrific as the city they knew was no more and now they were forced to bow down and worship the Babylonian false gods. 

 

The Jewish people had felt the hammer of God’s judgment, because of their persistent pride, inflated egos, and their own worship of false gods. In the 6^th century BC, God sent these Babylonians as His hammer to smash His people’s egos to smithereens. Some of their relatives had been murdered. But the entire country of Judah had been mocked. Babylon, sent as God’s agent of judgment, maimed the mauled God’s people.

 

But as God’s people who were under judgment, a messenger of God proclaims: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

 

Our text for the Third Sunday in Advent is remarkable. First, like last Sunday, our text has multiple fulfillments. The initial fulfillment anticipates the return of God’s people from their Babylonian Exile. After years in captivity, due to their unfaithfulness to God, God announced their freedom and their return back to Jerusalem to rebuild their land. Even as the Jews were delivered, they, like us, were still held captive. They were held captive by sin and death. So, our focus this morning will be on the fulfillment that would occur in the fullness of time.

 

In the fullness of time, the Messiah would come bringing the good news of salvation bearing these words from Isaiah 61.

 

As it was His custom in Nazareth, Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. On one particular day, Jesus was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. So, Jesus unrolled the scroll and spoke our text: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18a).

 

After Jesus finished reading, He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. All the eyes of those in the synagogue were fixed upon Jesus as they awaited His interpretation of Isaiah 61. But then Jesus said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

 

This was a dramatic moment for everyone in the synagogue. They were amazed and perplexed. “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22). Then they become furious. They were so angry that they sought to throw Jesus off a cliff. But their reaction does not change the fulfillment. Their reaction did not change that Jesus is the One in whose coming fulfilled these prophecies. For Jesus has come to preach, to proclaim, and to comfort. He came as our Savior from sin, eternal death, and hell.

 

Jesus came to fulfill this promise of God. Jesus came as the Servant Messiah. He came to preach the good news to the poor. Now, Christ is not speaking of finances, but being poverty stricken because of iniquity and sin. For Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). To this, Jesus says that His Gospel will have no effect on the callous and comfortable, but only changes the lives of those who are stuck and mired in sin, guilt, and shame.

 

Now, Jesus stops with the words “the year of the Lord’s favor” because He came not to condemn the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). But there will be a day, when at His Second Advent that He will execute this “day of vengeance” (Isaiah 61:2b).

 

But before that day, Jesus has come “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:2a). Jesus has come to bring good news of salvation. He has come to announce a Jubilee, first announced by Isaiah, begun in Nazareth, and is still going on today.

 

To a dead son in the village of Nain, Jesus says, “Young man, I say to you arise” (Luke 7:14). To a sinful woman at the house of Simon the Pharisee, He says, “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48). To a woman with a flow of blood for 18 years, He says, “Your faith has healed you” (Luke 8:48). To Jairus’ daughter, He says, “Child, arise” (Luke 8:54). To the disciples, He says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). To the starved, the famished, the empty, Jesus says, “Come, for everything is now ready” (Luke 14:17). To Zacchaeus, He says, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). Even to the Romans, who maimed Him, mauled Him, and mocked Him, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And to the repentant thief, Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

 

Jesus has come to bring the good news of salvation to a weak and sinful people. Jesus came come to bring the good news of salvation to a people unable to save themselves.

 

And we need to hear this good news now more than ever, because all too often, we hear bad news. A doctor brings you the bad news of being diagnosed with cancer, or that the cancer in remission has returned. Or, you hear from your boyfriend or girlfriend, “It’s not you, it’s me.” Bad news is all around us.

 

Some of us actively choose to let bad news control us. As we turn it on in our living rooms, read it in the newspaper, or scroll for it on social media.

 

Our lives are often filled with misery and trouble. We endure defeat and failure more than we triumph. So, our hearts are broken. And we are disappointed again and again. Those we love even inflict pain upon us.

 

We, like those in Babylonian captivity, are being held captive to sin and death. But unlike them, we don’t have to wait for salvation, since the Savior from sin has come!

 

“Hark the glad sound! The Savior Comes!” He has come to bring the good news of salvation! Jesus comes with the soothing voice of salvation!

 

Christ’s preaching is the glad sound by which the Old Testament Scriptures are fulfilled in the ears of those who hear. His same voice is heard today at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and His same voice will be heard to the end of the age, in the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

 

It is through the preaching of the Gospel that those who are held in the bondage of sin and death – you and me – are set free. For Christ the Lord bears all the burden and the weight, and He suffers all the brokenness and bloody death of sin, in order to release the prisoners of Satan and grand them the peace of heaven.

 

Through the healing Gospel, Jesus “binds up the brokenhearted” (Isaiah 61:1d). He does as a physician does. He binds up and heals our wounds: the Law, our sin, and eternal death. Christ alone is the cure from the Law’s demands, our sin, and eternal death. Without Christ as the Physician, the Law would trouble us, since we always fail at doing what we ought to do. And if we can’t do the good we ought to do, we get our reward: eternal death.

 

But not with Christ, He came to “proclaim liberty to the captives” (Isaiah 61:1e). He came to die, so that we by grace through faith in Him alone would be free from the power of sin and death. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has opened the door to everlasting life. Jesus has come to proclaim the healing message of forgiveness from God. He bandages brokenhearted sinners with His soothing message of forgiveness. He removes the burden from guilty consciences. He releases sinners bound in the hopeless dungeon of our own depravity. He breaks the bondage of Satan’s controlling influence over our lives. 

 

The promised Messiah has come to heal, to console, and free us from all evil. He has come with the never-ending message of deliverance from sin, death, hell, and Satan.

 

Today, Christ is here to bring you His good news of salvation! We hear His voice as He absolves our sins. In His Body and Blood, He removes our sorrow and gives us joy. He has come to bind up your wounds by bringing you the good news of your salvation! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.   

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 17: "Not Fair!" (Matthew 20:1-16)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to Me? Or do you begrudge My generosity?” (Matthew 20:15).

 

Each time I read through the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, I always say to myself, “This is not fair!” You mean, despite the hours worked, everyone was given the same wage! This is not fair! We expect that the longer we work, the more pay we receive. We expect those who work fewer hours to be surely paid less.

 

This is a terrifying thought. God does what He wants with what belongs to Him!

 

As hard as it is for our old sinful nature to accept, our work really counts for nothing. This is the point of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. 

 

Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-2).

 

This Master is pictured as a person of considerable importance and enormous wealth. So, there is no need for Him to do any of the vineyard work personally as He hires laborers who would be delighted for any work. So, He goes out to the marketplace to find laborers first thing in the morning. These laborers, who needed an income, were excited to know that they were guaranteed a denarius. So, off they went to the vineyard.

 

As time went on, the Master comes to realize that He needs more workers in His vineyard so that the work would be accomplished. So, He hires more workers at the third hour – 9 a.m., the sixth hour – noon, the ninth hour – 3 p.m., and the 11^th hour – 5 p.m.

 

Up until the end of the workday, every laborer is happy, since they have all been given something to do, and they knew they would receive a wage worthy of their work. 

 

We, too, know what it is like to work for the Lord all day. For many of us, we have been Christians since infant Baptism. Many of us have been Sunday School teachers or served on various church boards. You may be a faithful giver. You may be one who has had regular church attendance all your life.

 

And, like the early laborers, we don’t mind when the Master goes out and hires others later in the day. We delight knowing that more hands make light work. I’m sure the early laborers were happy knowing that they didn’t have to work as hard with more laborers in the vineyard. Like them, we delight, looking around the pews as we see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who have joined Prince of Peace Lutheran Church through adult instruction, or at the invitation of friends, or by coming as our guest one Sunday morning or Monday evening being filled with the Gospel of Christ. We even give thanks to God for those occasional deathbed conversions that we have heard about.

 

But then what does the Master of the vineyard do? “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house” (Matthew 20:8-11).

 

With possibly the exception of the first laborers, the Master has exceeded all expectations. He is very generous with His payroll as He pays everyone the same wage – a full day’s pay – no matter how long or how hard they worked.

 

You likely sympathize with those first called laborers. I sure do. They worked from dawn until dusk. They worked through the heat of the day. They are drenched in sweat. Their muscles are sore. And they are getting paid the same wage as those who worked only a fraction of the day? Worse yet, those who worked barely an hour are getting paid the same wage?! This is not fair!

 

This Master is giving the last as much as He gave to the first. Yes, we rejoice knowing more hands make light work, but is that really fair? Yes, we want more brothers and sisters in the kingdom of heaven, but should those last-minute converts receive the same reward as me, who has been a follower of Christ all my life? Or what about those who put their left overs in the offering. Is it fair that they get the same reward as me who gives to God a proper tithe? This is not fair!

 

In the Parable, the only reason that some came last, and others came first is that the Master chose to call them in that order. The last could have been chosen first. What really matters is that they were chosen. In the Parable, we see Jesus calling laborers into His vineyard. He is calling you and me as His laborers in the morning, mid-day, and even as the sun is setting. 

 

You see, God does what He wants with that is His, and He desires to be generous! Jesus and His kingdom are not about what is fair. Instead, His reign is all about the giving what isn’t fair: His grace!

 

Grace is not fair! Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Do you know what we all deserve? Death, hell, and damnation. Ouch pastor! This is true.  Our sinful nature would rather agree with those attorney commercials that proclaim, “You deserve compensation,” and with the classic McDonald’s ad which says, “You deserve a break today.” But we don’t deserve anything good, since even our best work is soiled with sin. 

 

Since the Fall of Adam, our hearts are not pure, but factories for sin. Like the first laborers, we focus on our sinful pride as we resent others. Our sinful nature leads us to compare one another, to grumble against one another, and to complain about each other. The “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). This is the proper payment that we all deserve. 

 

But despite our fallen sinful nature, God is generous! I am sure thankful that God’s ways are not our ways. I am thankful that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). I am so thankful that God is God and we are not. Just imagine how life would be if humanity – and not God – were in charge? There would be no grace. There would be no forgiveness. In Christ, God the Father shows His generosity.

 

Just think about the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). There, God shows His lavish grace shown upon a wayward son who squandered everything – his money and his possessions – through reckless living. When this wayward son came to his senses, he came up with a plan of what he would say to his father. But he never had the chance to say the first word to his father. Instead, when his father saw him at a distance, he ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. On top of that, he gave his son the best robe, a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet – and a royal banquet.

 

Or think about the forgiveness Christ offered to those who crucified Him. As He was nailed to the cross, even as those below were casting lots for His garments, and mocking Him, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). 

 

Or what about the 11^th hour conversion. You know, the promise of paradise for the repentant thief? As the repentant thief was hanging on his cross, he came to faith in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

 

Jesus is truly generosity in the flesh! In Christ alone, God does – here and now – what He wants with what is His! Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom of grace!

 

In Holy Baptism, He pours out His generous forgiveness upon sinners as He makes you His own. In His Word, He speaks His abundant forgiveness as we repent and confess our sins and He absolves those sins. In the Lord’s Supper, He feeds us generously His very Body and His very Blood as He forgives our sins and strengthens our weak faith.

 

Just as the owner of the vineyard absorbed the costs of paying all workers the same wage, our Lord Jesus has absorbed the full cost of our sins, including our sins of comparing, grumbling, and complaining. In His death on the cross, our Lord Jesus made Himself last in order to make us, by His grace, first in His kingdom. We then live by faith and mercy as grateful workers in His vineyard. We live by faith in the Lord’s grace. We all receive the same favor and the same forgiveness.

 

Yes, each laborer received the same wage. It goes against everything we hold dear, against all our notions of what is right and fair. It goes against our sinful nature on fairness. And praise God for that! Praise be to God that He doesn’t operate according to our standards of what is right and fair. Instead, He does what He wants with what is His! Thanks be to God that He gives us what we do not deserve. Instead, He gives us His grace. He gives us His undeserved favor, love, and mercy because of His suffering, death, and resurrection. He gives us His blood-bought, cross-won forgiveness, life, and salvation. In Christ alone, we are truly given what is not fair: God’s amazing grace! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

  + SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Easter 4: "The Shepherd and the Door of the Sheep" (John 10:1-10)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Happy Good Shepherd Sunday! A careful reading of today’s lesson from John 10 might leave us with many questions. I’m sure that if I had questions, you have questions, too. What is Jesus talking about? That day when Jesus first spoke those words, His hearers didn’t understand what He was saying.

 

Jesus seems to make His words even more challenging by changing the metaphors. Is He the shepherd? Is He the door? Is He both? This can be rather confusing. And if you put all the metaphors together, you get the Lamb is the Shepherd who is the Door that marks the Shepherd who leads the sheep. Are you confused? But do not worry. With these very words, the Good Shepherd calls His flock to hear His voice and follow it all the way to abundant life!

 

First, let’s look at how Jesus uses the term shepherd. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1-2).

 

Before Jesus gets to the true shepherd, He speaks of false shepherds – those who enter the sheepfold by another way, who He calls thieves and robbers. For these people, it is thought that Jesus is talking about people like Judas the Galilean and Theudas, since they falsely claimed to be the messiah. These are the men that the Pharisee Gamaliel mentioned to his fellow members of the Sanhedrin when the council was growing tired of the Apostles’ witnessing and evangelizing to the bodily resurrection of Jesus. To this, Gamaliel said, “For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody… he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up… he too perished, and all who followed him were scattered” (Acts 5:36-37).

 

Thieves and robbers were also used to designate the more violent messianic revolutionaries, as well. Barabbas comes to mind. He was referred directly as a robber by the gospel writers and Luke tells even more about Barabbas’ exploits as an insurrectionist and a murderer (Luke 23:19).

 

But another possibility that Jesus may be referring to are the Pharisees. Yes, those false messiahs convinced many people to follow them, but they all came and went. The real opponents of Jesus are the Jewish authorities and more specifically the Pharisees, since the Pharisees created new man-made laws as a worldly way to abide to God’s Ten Commandments.

      

The one thing these thieves and robbers all have in common is that they all creep in secretly and use sweet words by pretending special faithfulness and love for the sheep. For Judas the Galilean, Theudas, Barabbas, and the Pharisees, they all desire to rule over the sheep with only human wisdom. They each teach human doctrines, precepts, and the worship of their works.

 

What about today? False shepherds are still with us. Any pastor who proclaims another apart from Jesus is a false shepherd. So, if a pastor says that Jesus is one shepherd among many or that God’s Word is no longer sufficient in today’s world, that pastor is a thief and a robber.

 

These false shepherds may have a following for a time, since humans are easily deceived. We are compared to sheep, after all. Although sheep have almost 360-degree vision without turning their heads, they don’t have the best eyesight. So, sheep tend to follow the sheep that is in front of them. Even from birth, lambs are conditioned to follow the older members of the flock. This instinct is “hard-wired” into sheep. So, if one sheep jumps over the cliff, the others are likely to follow. 

 

People are that way, too. We have a herd mentality. For what we perceive as the majority, influences how we think. Our sinful nature has a natural tendency to follow the crowd. We want to be the “cool” kid. Herd mentality is behind the must-have toys, the listing of preferred pronouns in email signatures, and the transgender craze.

 

As the Babylon Bee – a Christian parody website says of today’s craze – “We’re absolutely stunned by this. We can’t begin to explain why young, impressionable kids who are desperate for popularity and affirmation are suddenly choosing to become members of the most popular and affirmed group in human history. Every single movie, TV show, corporation, TikTok influencer, YouTuber, public school teacher, pop star, and Hollywood star in the country openly promotes and celebrates this group. Why on earth would teenagers want to be a part of that? It must be biology.”

 

 

This parody, which is more reality than not, is another example of herd mentality. Instead of buying toys and videogames, today’s craze is questioning everything, including your own very being. If you desire to be liked, why wouldn’t you want to be a part of the world’s most celebrated group? This is what our sinful nature desires. It desires to be liked. And Satan uses this to his advantage.

 

These false shepherds are only popular for a time. They are fads. Some last a while, but in the long-run, they are all short lived. Eventually, they all come to nothing, because lies cannot be sustained forever, since the truth is always revealed.

 

But as we are like sheep with herd mentality, we are also like sheep when it comes to voice. Some time ago, a seminary professor visited two of his students who lived on a farm. While there, the students’ father asked the professor if he would like to help call the sheep. The professor enthusiastically agreed.

 

“Go ahead,” the father asked. “Call them in.”

 

“What do you say?” the professor asked.

 

“I just say, ‘Hey, sheep! Come on in!’”

 

The professor thought, well, this sounds pretty easy, so he began calling for the sheep, “Hey sheep! Come on in!”

 

As you likely expected, nothing happened. Not one sheep moved. But he tried and tried again. No change. Not even a sheep twitched an ear.

 

Jesus says the true Shepherd is known by His voice and He gives to the true Church this comfort: “My sheep listen to My voice, but they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:4-5).

 

As sheep, we may be deceived for a while, but in time we naturally know that something is wrong if the supposed shepherd is preaching doctrines against Jesus’ Word, such as changes in morality. This is what has led so many Christians to seek out churches that do proclaim God’s truth.

 

Faithful pastors sound the Shepherd’s voice. They warn the flock of dangers. They cleanse and bind wounds with the Gospel.

The voice of Jesus is the voice of comfort in a morally decaying world. As sheep, we may not be really smart, but we know our Shepherd’s voice. He calls us all by name. He cares for you, feeds you, and protects you. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects you and guides you through the dangers of this life all the way to life everlasting.

 

As the Good Shepherd, Jesus is not only the One who enters by the door, but He is also the Door Himself. Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). Now, what to make of Jesus as the Door?

 

One way to think about it is that Jesus is the doorway. Now, don’t think of a door with hinges that open and close. Think of a doorway. The opening by which people come in. Jesus is the only way people come into eternal life. And Jesus isn’t blocking people from eternal life. We do that on our own through unrepented sin and unbelief.

 

Jesus is the Door, the one and only exclusive entrance to eternal life. All who enter through Him are saved and find pasture. On our own, we are stray sheep, who are destined to the slaughter, which is what we deserve due to our sins. But through Jesus becoming Man for you, suffering, and dying as the Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the world, and rising to life on the third day, all who trust in Him are given the gift of eternal life. The Good Shepherd has nothing but selflessness at heart.

 

As we live in a fallen, sinful world, we sheep need sustenance to keep going. God does all the saving, and He credits that to us by faith. We have the Shepherd who guides us to the calm waters of Holy Baptism where He calls you by name. We have the Shepherd who speaks to us through His written Word – the Bible. We have the Shepherd who prepares a table before you as He feeds you His body and blood under the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of your sins. We have the Shepherd whose cup of grace overflows. 

 

Christ, the Good Shepherd, seeks to bring His sheep eternal life. He doesn’t just get us through day by day, but beyond this life, so that you shall have life and have it abundantly in the house of Lord forever. Jesus is the Shepherd and the Door of the Sheep! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Good Friday: "The Seven Words of Jesus Upon the Cross"

1.    Luke 23:34 [Luke 23:32-38]

The climax of Jesus’ passion is His arrival at the place called the Skull, where He is crucified. The journey is over. Jesus has now reached His goal.

 

Jesus, who knows no sin, is among criminals. And each criminal carries forth his own cross to the place of execution. After constant mocking, insults, and flogging, Jesus is exhausted. Soon, it was feared that Jesus may die before being crucified. For this, the Roman soldiers compel Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross. Simon follows the footsteps of Jesus. This procession of cross-bearers draws a crowd. Just days earlier, the crowds had welcomed Jesus into the city with shouts of acclamation: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13) Now there are tears as He is led out of the city.

 

Amid the great noise of weeping, jeers, and rattling armor, Jesus is humble and quiet as He stumbles toward the cross. As He arrives, He is placed into position. As He stands, Roman soldiers begin driving nails through His wrists and ankles. Then the cross is hoisted up and dropped into its hole. Lifted above the crowd, Jesus peers through swollen and bloodied eyelids and with bruised ears He listens to the carnivallike scene below: the scoffing and insults of the crowd, soldiers haggling over His clothes, thieves on his left and right cursing Him. Jesus has shown nothing but God’s love to these people who treat Him with such contempt. He could call down the wrath of God on them if He chose, but instead He takes the whole wrath of God upon Himself as He says a prayer for the Father’s absolution of the people: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

 

2.    Luke 23:43 [Luke 23:39-43]

 

Two criminals are crucified with Jesus, one on His left and one on His right. No one weeps for them. The crowd likely thinks good riddance. Maybe a victim or two of their crimes is weeping, but not for the perpetrators who die, but for the stolen possessions never recovered or for the loved ones murdered. One of those criminals, who is on the brink of eternal death and hell is converted by Jesus’ announcement that sin is forgiven by virtue of the cross. This criminal expresses his repentance by confessing His sin. He fears God, unlike the other criminal, and he recognizes that his tortuous death is the just punishment for the sins he has committed. He stands under the judgment of God’s wrath, and he confesses that his guilt merits such punishment. Combined with his confession of sin is his confession of faith in Jesus: for “this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).

 

Helpless and hopeless but for the Man who is dying beside him, the criminal cries out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). With His arms outstretched in love, Jesus replies, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

 

3.    John 19:26-27 [John 19:25-27]

 

Jesus is fully conscious in spite of all that His body and soul had endured. He is almost unrecognizable from the brutal beatings. With nails piercing through His wrists and ankles, He is bearing the sins of the whole world upon that cross with each breath being more painful than the last. As He endures great agony, He continues to care for Mary, His mother.

 

It is a tearful thing to lose a parent. It is even more tearful to lose your child. For some time now, Scripture has had no mention of Joseph, so we assume that he is dead. Thus, the tears of Mary must now be a flood. First, she lost Joseph, and now she sees her son Jesus nailed to a cross. The oldest son is supposed to care for his widowed mother. Now, even when Jesus is dying, who will take care of Mary? Who will comfort Mary in her grief? Who will protect the mother of God? Jesus meets her need, even as He meets our needs saying to Mary, “Woman, behold your son!” And then to John, the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27).

 

4.    Matthew 27:46 [Matthew 27:45-49]

 

There is perhaps nothing more tearful than sensing abandonment by those we hold most dear. Before the Last Supper, Judas abandoned Jesus, and he had been one of Jesus’ twelve closest friends. It must have hurt Jesus deeply. An even deeper hurt would have been the panicked desertion of the other disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, when a mob came to arrest Jesus. Peter and John followed to the courtyard of the high priest, but here even Peter, the rock, crumbled like a handful of sand before accusations that he was a disciple of Jesus. So, Peter, too, after denying his Lord three times, fled weeping into the night. Surely the pain of Peter’s denial is greater than the nails and thorns.

 

But the most tearful moment of all is the abandonment of Jesus by His own heavenly Father. The words Jesus speaks are from Psalm 22, a Psalm of David. Jesus, like his ancestor David before Him, feels abandoned by God. In the case of David, and all of us, it isn’t true; our heavenly Father does not abandon us. But in the case of Jesus, it is true. Jesus, the innocent Son of God, hangs from the cross, bleeding, bruised, and burdened with the sins of the whole world. 

 

From noon until three o’clock that day, a strange darkness came over the earth. All astronomical learning points to the fact that this could not have been a natural eclipse of the sun. It was God who darkened the sun’s light by means of His own power just as He shook the earth and split the rocks. This darkness signified judgment. It was not a mere reaction of the natural sun, but a sign wrought in the sun by God. Darkness and judgment go together. So repugnant has Jesus become with the refuse of our guilt laid upon Him that even His own Father cannot look on Him. Thus, Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

 

5.    John 19:28 [John 19:28-29]

 

A mystery full of mysteries is how we might describe the Holy Trinity. Scripture teaches that there is One God, but that this God is forever in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person is different in role and work, yet they are not three gods, but one God. 

 

Just as incomprehensible is the mystery of the incarnation. Scriptures reveals Jesus Christ to be fully and completely both God and Man. As eternal God, our Lord Jesus Christ created the world, set the stars in the heavens, and put the seas in their basins. He governs the passage of seasons and the course of history. He determines the length of our days. Yet, as man, like you and me, He becomes tired and thirsty. He weeps over the death of His friend Lazarus. He holds children in His arms and blesses them. He bleeds when His flesh is pierced. His mouth becomes dry. He chokes on dirt and blood that become paste in His throat. He can make rain fall from the sky, but He can’t give Himself a cup of water, for He will not use His almighty power to His personal advantage. Helplessly, the Second Person of the Trinity begs for something to drink, saying, “I thirst” (John 19:28).

 

6.    John 19:30 [John 19:30]

 

At last, the cup of God’s wrath has been drained. Jesus has swallowed the awful medicine for sin that we should have drunk. Every transgression has been atoned for – for Adam’s sin, yours, mine, the sins of the whole world for all time. From now on, you and I can know for certain that no matter what evil happens to us, it is not God punishing us. This is still a fallen world and bad things will continue to happen, but our debt has been paid in full. The devil may rant on and tempt you to think otherwise. But he’s wrong. The cross says you are forgiven; God is at peace with you. There on the cross, we receive God’s grace. And if you should ever doubt this truth, just look to the cross. For upon the cross, Jesus proclaims, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

 

7.    Luke 23:46 [Luke 23:44-47]

 

It’s 3 o’clock. Jesus has hung on the cross for only six hours. Not long, really. But it’s not the amount of time Jesus spends on the cross that atones for sin, or even the degree of pain afflicted. Rather, it is the fact that, concentrated into this time, Christ has born all the punishment that all the sins of all history deserve. God the Father accepts the suffering of Jesus as full atonement for sin.

 

In just six hours, Jesus’ suffering draws quickly to an end. Slowly the crowd still remaining begins to realize that this is no ordinary man who draws His last breaths. Since the noon hour, darkness has covered the land. There is an earthquake. The temple curtain is ripped in half. Graves are broken open. With one last great shout, Jesus cries out, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit!” (Luke 23:46). With those words said, He breathed His last. Jesus has died. God is dead. The Holy Trinity is fractured. Upon all that has taken place this day, the centurion standing guard confesses aloud, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).