The Good Shepherd’s Voice
- Significance of shepherds throughout history and today
- Shepherds lead and defend the sheep
- Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads us with His voice and defends us with His life
- Pastors are shepherds
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Jesus said: “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.” This follows what Jesus said earlier: “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I would guess that this imagery of Jesus as a shepherd is one of the most popular images of our Lord. It’s one of the oldest existing depictions of Christ. It’s a very common painting to have as an altarpiece, in sanctuaries, or simply hung on the walls of our homes. The psalm most commonly known by people, the 23rd psalm, tells us that the Lord is my Shepherd.
The number of shepherds in the Bible is astronomical! Abel was a keeper of sheep, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses were all shepherds, and most famously king David was keeping watch over the sheep when he was anointed king of Israel. Through the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah the Lord refers to His people as sheep, and Himself as the shepherd. The first people to hear the news of Jesus’ birth are shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night.
Just as shepherds are very visible throughout the Bible, so are sheep. Adam and Eve were clothed by God with skins after they sinned, traditionally thought to be sheep skins. Sheep played a significant role in the faith of the Israelites, as two sheep were offered to God as sacrifices daily, sheep’s blood covered the Israelite doorposts at the Passover and was eaten in the meal, a ram was sacrificed in the place of Isaac, Jesus tells a couple parables about sheep, and He often refers to His people as sheep.
For good reason therefore Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a very common image. It’s also a very comforting image when we consider all that shepherds do for their sheep. Namely, Shepherds lead and defend their sheep. Sheep need to be led, because even though sheep are a herding animal, they are also prone to straying and wandering from the herd, and they are especially susceptible to following the wrong leader into really dangerous situations. I’ve had old shepherds tell me stories of sheep all following one of the sheep into blizzards, and until they identify that one leading sheep and take that one back to the barn, all of the rest of the sheep will stay with the leader even if it means their death.
Thus, shepherds must lead their sheep, and they do this with their voices. Like Jesus says: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” This is just how sheep are, they know the voice of their shepherd, they recognize the voice’s pitch and inflections and other characteristics so that they know who to follow.
Sheep also need to be defended by their shepherd. Sure, sheep may headbutt you, but in general a lone sheep is easy prey for a wolf, lion, or bear. This is one reason the sheep need to be led well so that they remain with the flock and have the protection of the herd and the shepherd. Because shepherding isn’t a job for the weak, but it requires the shepherd to fight on behalf of the flock. Remember what king David said about his time defending the sheep: “When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after it and struck it and delivered it out of its mouth. And if it rose against me, I caught it by its beard and struck it and killed it.” Now, presumably David was exceptional in his shepherding since the Lord was particularly with him, but it’s still the case that all shepherds had to defend their sheep.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of His sheep, and He leads us with His voice and defends us with His life. Just as normal shepherds use their voice to lead the sheep, so does Jesus the Good Shepherd use His voice to lead us. Jesus doesn’t take the wheel, or take my hand and guide me, or even walk with me, instead the Good Shepherd has spoken His word and caused it to be preserved in Holy Scripture so that He may lead us throughout life. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Jesus has not left us wandering aimlessly in this life, but has given us an abundance of teaching that we may follow Him through all.
The Good Shepherd also defends His sheep. “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.” But He does not defend us in the ordinary way. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Normal shepherds fight off wolves with all their might, but not at the expense of their own life. Shepherds typically raise sheep for the purpose of fleecing, milking, and eating them. It would be nonsensical to die to protect something you’re going to eat. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He does not raise us for the sake of fleecing, milking, and devouring us, but He defends us because He loves us. He spared not His own life so that our lives may be preserved.
As the Good Shepherd our Lord continues to shepherd us through His servants: pastors. The word pastor simply means shepherd; perhaps you hear its similarity to pasture. The Lord tends His flock by means of sending undershepherds. He instructed Peter: “Feed my sheep.” He told all eleven apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Later St. Paul, who had been made a pastor by Jesus, instructed the pastors of Ephesus, saying: “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.” The work of pastors is to shepherd you primarily by declaring to you, the church of God which has been obtained by the blood of Lamb of God, the whole counsel of God.
Additionally, it is a pastor’s job to defend you against wolves! “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Take note of where those wolves come from! They come from among the sheep and even from the shepherds! The devil disguises himself as an angel of light, he comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He looks like a good christian, and yet inwardly he wants to devour you! Many wolves are hiding in pulpits, wearing churchly clothes, and saying churchly things. Many wolves call themselves christians, pastors, priests, and popes. It is therefore a pastor’s job to defend Jesus’ flock against the devil, false shepherds, namely by teaching against their lies.
Over the past seventy five years of our congregation’s history, the Lord has sent you many pastors, many shepherds, whose job it has been to lead and defend you with the Word of God. When pastor Matheny stands up and preaches, he doesn’t get to just shoot the breeze with you and talk about his own interests, but He comes to you in the stead and by the command of the Good Shepherd to declare to you the whole counsel of God and defend you against wolves in sheep’s clothing.
This means that your pastors over the decades have not always said what you wanted them to say. They’ve had to care for you by warning you against sins and temptations. They’ve shepherded you by calling you to repentance. They’ve stood beside countless graves, hospital and nursing home beds, and sat at numerous kitchen tables during the most difficult days. They have been shepherds, not merely friends.
And through it all, it is Jesus, your Good Shepherd, who has stood in this pulpit, at this altar, at this font, leading you in paths of righteousness and restoring your souls. The Lord sends pastors who dwell among you, to remind you that Jesus dwells among you. The Lord is not far from you, but in your very midst. The men, the pastors, for all of their weaknesses and failings, were but the mouthpieces of the Good Shepherd. When you look at pastor Matheny or myself, or you look at the wall of pastor pictures, those men are but shepherds sent to serve you with the word of the Lord, walking with you through this vale of shadowy death to lead you to the table prepared in the Kingdom of God.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!