Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The texts for this sermon are Psalm 23, which we just sang—a paraphrased version of Psalm 23, and John 10:11-18, and I will now read the latter.

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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it 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." Here endeth the text.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, At first glance the Good Shepherd seems a fool. What flock of sheep is worth dying for? The hired hand seems to act more sensibly. Better to flee and let the sheep be devoured rather than risk death between the jaws of the wolf, since you only live once and there are always more sheep to be had. If the Shepherd dies saving the flock, who will be left to protect the sheep from lions, tigers, and bears? Why expend the ultimate cost against one lousy wolf?

But the Good Shepherd, who owns the flock, doesn't seem to see the apparent foolishness and futility in dying for the sheep. Love can make us do crazy things, can't it? The sheep are not valuable in themselves, but the love of the Good Shepherd places the value of His own life upon the sheep. To Him, they are worth dying for. He loves their life so much that He gives up His own to save them from death. Such great love cannot be explained, but only proclaimed and marveled at.

And the Good Shepherd succeeds at killing the wolf that sought the flesh and blood of the sheep, so the sheep are safe. As God told that wolf, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel". So it happened that the wolf died, but the fierce battle also pierces the Good Shepherd's flesh and drains His lifeblood. And as we heard about during Holy Week, the flock was scattered during the tumult, straying helplessly, aimlessly. Dead Shepherd, and wandering sheep. Hope seems lost.

But the Good Shepherd knows something the sheep can't. His foolishness is only apparent, not real. He knows who He is and He knows that His own Father loves Him with the sort of love He Himself has for the sheep. He said, "I AM" the Good Shepherd. In Greek that is Ego eimi, as in God's name spoken out of the burning bush to Moses on Mt. Sinai, "I AM WHO I AM," Yahweh, the Lord. So unlike run-of-the-mill shepherds, this Shepherd could say, "I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it 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."

O Mystery of mysteries, that the Good Shepherd is Himself the Lord, with authority both to lay down and take up His own life. God pays to God the redemption price of the sheep. Again, a mystery too great to explain, it can only be proclaimed. Yet this is how it happened, for us men and our salvation. And after the Good Shepherd broke out of the tomb, He gathered together again His little flock in the upper room, to comfort, reassure, and empower them for making sheep from all nations. That's what we heard about last Sunday: "As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you," He said to those apostle-sheep, because He had promised them earlier, "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."

The labors of those first sheep, the apostles, have not been in vain, for the many more sheep have been added to the fold, those who listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. You are evidence of this. The Good Shepherd has led you into this one flock by the pleasant waters of your Baptism, into the one, holy, Christian, and apostolic flock, gathered together and led by the Good Shepherd still.

And that makes Psalm 23 a special one for each of us little lambs of the Good Shepherd. Indeed, this Psalm wonderfully describes our life as sheep in the Good Shepherd's flock. "The Lord Jesus is my Shepherd; I want nothing else." That is what "I shall not want" really means. As little lambs of the Good Shepherd, we need nothing else but His love and care; we shall want for nothing, and so we should want nothing else but His grace and mercy. But this seems too good a promise to be true, doesn't it? We want for a lot of things. We suffer, hurt, mourn, and lack much. It seems like the wolf makes it past the Shepherd and devours us. In such times Satan tempts us to think that we may not actually be "Jesus' Little Lambs." When the shadow of death threatens, when we are beat down, wounded, straying, harassed, helpless, old, achy, depressed, and at the breaking point, where in the world is our Good Shepherd? Yet since we are baptized into the Good Shepherd's death and resurrection, we can confess in the face of trouble, "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."

When we want nothing more than a bit of rest, a tiny respite, or a touch of joy, at that moment has the Good Shepherd forsaken us? No, even then "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."

And here is where He leads us: the paths of righteousness are found wherever His forgiving love and saving grace are found, in the comforting words of Scripture, in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. Though we are still surrounded by lions, wolves, and bears—the devil, the world, and our sinful nature—nonetheless, we lack nothing and have everything: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." In the means of grace that the Good Shepherd so generously bestows on us in the Church, He prepares a Table for us, He anoints us with His Holy Spirit, and He overfills our cup of joy by completely forgiving all of our sins for the sake of His precious blood.

I don't remember where I first learned this, but did you know that in some older Lutheran hymnals, "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb" was included in the Lord's Supper section? That's right—what we consider a children's song was used as a Communion hymn! And why not? Consider these words: "When I hunger, Jesus feeds me, into pleasant pastures leads me." What a pleasant description of the way the Lord feeds us with righteousness in the Sacrament of His body and blood? There is also a hint of Baptism in that hymn about being a little lamb: "When I thirst, He bids me go where the quiet waters flow." When we hunger for righteousness, He leads us to the pleasant pastures of His Gospel and His Table here at church. And when we thirst for grace and forgiveness every day of the week, we can return to the soothing waters of Baptism, which as we confess in the Small Catechism, "works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal life and salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare." And so with such great gifts from the Good Shepherd protecting us from sin, death, and the devil, every day we can confess Psalm 23:6, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Surely, for sure, certainly—all because the Good Shepherd laid down His life for you, took up His life again, and promises eternal life in His house to you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.