Apr. 21, 2024

“The Good Shepherd”

Vicar Dylan Meyer

Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Throughout Scripture, the character of our LORD God has been described as, revealed as, and likened to a shepherd. For example, when we look to the Psalms (most of which are written by King David, a former shepherd) we read familiar passages such as, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Similarly, when we look to what the prophet Ezekiel writes, we see the LORD saying to Ezekiel, “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out… I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down” (Ezekiel 34:11-15). God establishes and reveals Himself as the Shepherd of His people and His people are His sheep! Thus, when Jesus enters into His public ministry, it is remarkable that He would then say to His disciples and the religious leaders, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus not only establishes unity with His Father, but He also establishes Himself in unity with His Father’s work of shepherding! Jesus, the Christ and Son of God, came to powerfully show God’s care for His people once again! He came to be the Good Shepherd that intimately knows His sheep and to sacrificially die for them! And it is because of this truth that John writes in his epistle, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). We are called to “love one another” (3:23) as our Good Shepherd first loved us!

Questions:

1.    What does it mean that Jesus is our Good Shepherd?

2.    Who are the “flock” that Jesus describes?

3.    What is our calling as followers of Jesus in response to this kind of love?