The is the sermon for The Fourth Sunday of Easter–Good Shepherd Sunday. The sermon text is: John 10:22-30. The sermon theme is: Jesus Proves That He Is The Christ. Here is the Written Sermon.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

Jesus Proves That He Is The Christ

I love irony. I love it when you expect things to turn out one way, and then they turn out another way. In the words we look at this morning we see a clear, stark example of irony. Jesus goes to the temple for the festival of Hanukkah. He walks and walks along the columns at the temple–for a long time. Then the Jews surround him and ask him: ““How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.””¹ There is such fierce irony in those words. Literally, they ask Jesus “How long will you hold yourself away from us?”² Jesus wasn’t away from them at all. He was right there, walking along the pillars of the colonnade for hours. He wasn’t hiding. He was right there all along.

In the midst of that irony Jesus spends some time speaking about who he is. They give him a command: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.””³ He tells them: “I did. But you don’t believe. The miracles I continue to do testify about me. But you don’t believe.”

Twice Jesus says it: You do not believe. And that makes us ask the question: why? Why did they continually, perpetually not believe that Jesus was the Christ? Was it because there was not enough proof for them? Was it because they did not have enough time for them to make up their mind? was it because Jesus didn’t put in enough effort to convince them. To all of these questions we can clearly and safely say ‘NO.” They continued to not-believe because they hated Jesus. Jesus spoke these words about these Jewish leaders: ““Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand…For this people’s heart has become calloused;”⁴

Jesus was letting them know that the real issue wasn’t one of proof, or time or effort. The real reason why they could never get it was that they hated him. It was a huge problem for the people of Jesus’ time and it’s a huge problem for us today. It is impossible to convince unbelievers that Jesus is the Christ. You cannot prove it with clear logic. You cannot spend enough time being patient with people. You cannot change a person’s heart to be a Christian with all your effort. Why? Because unbelievers hate Jesus.

You cannot prove it to the world out there. And, what’s even worse, you cannot prove it to yourself. You can use all your brain, all your heart, all your time and all your effort and you will never convince that Jesus is the Christ—that he is your good Shepherd. You cannot prove to yourself that Jesus is the Christ.

How then can we be saved? How then can we ever convince the world out there that Jesus is the Christ and our Good Shepherd if we cannot even convince ourselves? The answer is here in these words. Jesus says: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me”⁵
.

There is a very beautiful and important progression of thought here. Jesus says that his sheep listen to his voice. And then there’s a word missing in the english that is there in the greek⁶ It answers a question for us. It answers the question how? How is it that we are able to listen to his voice. He knows us. Now, when it says here that Jesus knows us, it’s not a wimpy sort of knowing. It’s a deep knowing. It’s knowing by experience. It’s not like knowing the lady scanning in your food at Giant. You may know her name by her name-tag. But you really don’t know her. But, you do know your family. You know them well. That’s the sort of knowing we find here. Jesus establishes a relationship with us. Through the visible gospel in the sacraments and the heard gospel in his word he gives to us the gift of faith. He knows us. Then we know him. And then after that we follow him.

We listen to his voice. All throughout our lives we listen to his voice. And it is these precious promises which convince us that he is the Christ and our Good Shepherd. We try to convince unbelievers around us that Jesus is the Christ with our words and our words fall on deaf ears. We become a cheerleader to ourselves saying “what’s wrong with you? Believe in Jesus; follow him!”. And, despite our pleading and passion all we find in our hearts is fear. And then Jesus speaks to us—a Shepherd who knows his sheep. And with one precious promise after another he convinces us that he is the Christ and our Good Shepherd.

Listen to the promises he speaks to us in these words: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” ⁷ Three precious promises which do for us what we could never do for ourselves. He says: “I give them eternal life”. That’s a present tense⁸. He gives to us eternal life not once or twice, but again and again and again in our lives to convince us that we have heaven waiting for us when we die. Then Jesus says: they shall never perish. Here we find one of the most powerful promises in the entire bible. Literally, these words read like this: “And they will never ever ever be destroyed…forever!”⁹ Our Good Shepherd promises to you that you will never be destroyed. One of two things will happen: either you will die or Jesus will come. And neither is all that bad. For in either scenario you will see Jesus Christ face to face. And finally, Jesus says: “no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”¹⁰ The key word in this sentence is the word ‘no.’¹¹ When anyone reaches out to you, Jesus’ precious sheep to snatch you away from him, Jesus reaches out and slaps that hand. He says ‘NO!’ with all the jealousy of a Good Shepherd guarding his sheep.

And so, my brothers and sisters, what will you do with these precious promises? Listen to them. Memorize them. Yes, I mentioned the horrible ‘M’ word. Memorize these precious passages and promises. For they are the ones that will strengthen you when you doubt, when you are afraid and when you are strength fails. Memorize them. And then share them. Don’t share them like the Jehovah’s Witnesses do. Don’t beat people over the head with Jesus as if, by your effort and time and logical proofs you would drag them into heaven. Speak God’s word. And let Jesus prove it to them–not with powerful proofs, but with the same precious promises that first spoke to you and gave you faith.

The famous preacher C. H. Spurgeon once said that you don’t need to guard and defend his word. God’s word is Lion. You don’t need to cage it to protect it. All you need to do it let go. And so, my brothers and sisters, let your Good Shepherd speak. Let him prove that he is the Christ—not with powerful proofs. No, let him prove who he is with his precious promises. Amen.

¹ (John 10:24 NIV)

² ἕως πότε τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις; εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστός, εἰπὲ ἡμῖν παρρησίᾳ.

³ (John 10:24 NIV)

⁴ (Matthew 13:13–15 NIV)

⁵ (John 10:27 NIV)

⁶ κἀγὼ. καὶ…ἐγώ.

⁷ (John 10:28 NIV)

⁸ κἀγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον

⁹ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπόλωνται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα

¹⁰ (John 10:29 NIV)

¹¹ καὶ οὐχ ἁρπάσει τις αὐτὰ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου.

Share on Facebook

 

 Easter 4--Good Shepherd Sunday: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What’s the issue?

In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says these words:

• “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; ” (John 10:28 NIV)




• “κἀγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπόλωνται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα”

“They shall never perish” is a fine translation. But, it’s a good example of why pastors learn the original languages and why they need to strive to bring them out in their teaching and preaching. The construction (in greek) here is called a Strong Future Negation.¹ It carries with it the idea that what is suggested will never happen–not now–not ever. One of my professors used to string along a couple ‘evers’ into the translation to convey the meaning. In this case, the translation would be: “And they will never ever ever ever be destroyed.”

A very forceful way of saying your point! What’s even more interesting is that Jesus could have stopped with just that statement. But he doesn’t. He adds on the word “forever.”

What’s the point?

Jesus rose from the dead. And the effect of that is ever-so-clear. We will never ever ever be destroyed now. And even when we die, we will not be destroyed then. For we will be with Jesus, our Good Shepherd forever. No guilt. No sin. No shame. No darkness. No chill. No tears…forever.

¹ B-D-F §365. BDAG, 646.

Written Copy

Share on Facebook

This is the sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter. The sermon text is: John 21:1-14. The sermon theme is: Jesus Prepares His People Here is the Written Sermon.

The catch of fish

Jesus Prepares His People

It’s important to be prepared. Still, to this day, I have dreams about being in High School. And there’s a test. Everyone is sitting down, taking the test. But, I don’t even know if I’m in the right room, let alone prepared for the test. I remember talking to a guy, who for years after he was married had this dream: He was at the altar with his bride-to-be. And the pastor asks for the ring. And he doesn’t have it. He looks in every pocket in his suit and he can’t find it. Finally, he couldn’t get married, because he lost the ring. These sort of dreams make us laugh when we think of them. But they teach to us the importance of being prepared. And what is true in our every day lives is also true in our spiritual lives. It is important that we be prepared. In the words we read this morning we see our Savior working to prepare his disciples for the life they have in front of them. We read: “Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:2–3 NIV)

You’ll remember from last week how Jesus appeared to his disciples. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus appeared to them. He showed them the marks in his hands and the marks in his side. They could see with their eyes that Jesus had risen from the dead. They could grasp now with their faith what that meant for them. And then, in these words, what do we find his disciples doing? They are waiting. Jesus rises from the dead. He tells them that they will be fishers of men. Then he tells them to wait.

These words are very important for us to ponder this morning. Jesus prepared his disciples with a pause. They needed time to think. They needed time to ponder what it meant that Jesus had risen from the dead. They needed time to put the pieces together and apply this fact to their sins and to their lives. Jesus graciously did this with his disciples then. And he does the same with us today. He prepares us for our lives with a pause.

How so? How many children are there out there who can’t wait to be grown up without realizing that those years of pause in the middle are what prepare them for being grown up? How many impatient people are there out there who yearn to find a person or a purpose in their lives? And they do so without realizing that the years of waiting make them prepared for God’s purpose in their lives? How many elderly people are there out there who are praying for God to take them home to heaven? They are so impatient and anxious in their waiting. And how sad it is, when you consider the fact that it’s the waiting that makes them prepared.

Our Savior prepares us for our lives. He does so with a pause. But he also prepares us with appreciation: “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.” (John 21:4–5 NIV)

Jesus appears and he asks them a question. Here in the NIV, it says: “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” This would lead us to conclude that this is an open question, as if Jesus expects either a ‘no’ or a ‘yes’ answer. The question is actually a little more specific than that though. Jesus is asking a question here which expects a ‘no’ answer. We would say: “So, you haven’t caught any fish, have you?” He wants them to see that they have been up all night fishing and they haven’t caught anything. He wants them to see that they are powerless on their own and by themselves to do anything.

Jesus prepares them with a pause. And he prepares them with appreciation. They aren’t the ones who took away their sins. They aren’t the ones who will gather people to hear his word. They aren’t the ones who will give the light of faith to those who are living in darkness. They aren’t the ones who will keep them in this faith. God is the one who does all of this. God prepares them by teaching them to appreciate that God is the one who does it all. Jesus is the one who took away their sins. The Holy Spirit is the one who will call, gather and enlighten the people they will meet and preach to.

This is lesson that screams out to us today. We cannot take away our sins. We cannot take away the sins of those we know. We cannot make people Christians by our clear logic or contagious personality. God is the one who does all of this. And our Savior prepares us for this life by causing us to appreciate this fact. We are powerless. But, he is full of power, might, strength and promise.

Jesus prepares his people with a pause. He prepares them with appreciation. And in these words we find yet another way he prepares us: “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off)” (John 21:7 NIV)

The disciples take the advice of this man on the shore. They throw the net on the other side of the boat. They catch more fish than they can carry. And this is the moment when John starts to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He thinks to himself: “all this has happened before. A couple of years ago, we were fishing in this lake. We didn’t catch anything even though we fished throughout the night. And then this teacher took us out and told us to put out our nets. We told him that it was a lost-cause because we had been out all night and have caught nothing. The fish are just not biting. And he told us to put the nets out anyway. And we caught more fish than we could count.”

John is having this flashback as they are struggling to bring the fish in. And he says to Peter: “It’s the Lord.” The first time they caught this many fish Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, praying that Jesus would go away from him. But, what does he do now? Now, he throws himself in the sea and swims toward Jesus. Why? Jesus is here. The Jesus who was dead and now is alive—he’s here. The Jesus who took away their sins in the open tomb–he’s here. The Jesus who gave them his peace in the upper room–he’s here.

And notice then what happens after they are all on shore: Does Jesus get out into a boat and lecture to them? Does he perform more miracles for them? No, he just eats breakfast with them. He talks to them and is a friend to them. He is their brother. He is their God.

Here again, it’s important for us to learn from these words. Jesus prepared them for their lives ahead of them by strengthening them with his presence. And today, he does the same with us. No, he does not appear around our dinner table so that we can see him and touch him. But he does come to us. He comes to us in his word so that through the eyes of faith we can see what the disciples saw and grasp what they learned. He comes to us through bread and wine, combined with his body and blood to offer and give to us the forgiveness of sins. And through this Holy Supper, along with the forgiveness of sins, there is the promise that what we see by faith now we will see face to face in heaven.

And as we look at these disciples, what is the result of all of this? What is the result of Jesus preparing his disciples with a time to pause and a time to appreciate his resurrection and finally a time to be strengthened with his presence? The result is that they are ready. They are ready to serve their Savior selflessly and joyously. They are ready to save as they share with the world this saving message that Jesus gave to them. And they are even ready to suffer. For, through God’s gift of faith, they have seen the power of Christ’s resurrection.

My brothers and sisters, rejoice that Jesus has prepared us too. Now, with joy in our hearts we serve selflessly. We share joyously. We even suffer for the sake of his name. For Jesus was dead. But now he’s alive. And he is always with us through his powerful word. Amen.

Share on Facebook

 

 Easter 3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fish Dinner

What’s the issue?

In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus’ disciples fish all night and catch nothing. A man (Jesus) appears on the shore and asks them a question (John 21:5):

• “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.” (John 21:4–5 NIV)




• “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”” (John 21:4–5 ESV)




• “πρωΐας δὲ ἤδη γενομένης ἔστη Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸν αἰγιαλόν, οὐ μέντοι ᾔδεισαν οἱ μαθηταὶ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν. λέγει οὖν αὐτοῖς [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς· παιδία, μή τι προσφάγιον ἔχετε; ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ· οὔ.” (John 21:4–5 GNT-T)

In the ESV translation it seems as if it’s an open question. The question expects either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ as an answer. In the NIV, it is worded as if it expects a ‘yes’ answer. In the greek the word “not” (μή) expects a ‘no’ answer.¹ A better translation would be: “You do not have any fish, do you?”

What’s the point?

Jesus isn’t asking this question because he doesn’t know the answer. He’s asking this leading question to lead them to the result of all their effort. They worked all night and had nothing to show for it. The answer ‘no’ is the result of all our human effort. Despite our fancy sonar equipment we cannot get the fish to bite. We cannot take away our sins². Before God gives us the gift of faith to know him and trust in him we cannot pray for faith. For he is deaf to our prayers³. We cannot make other people Christians by the precision of our logic or the power of our persuasion. Only God can give the gift of faith through his word⁴.

All of this causes us to ponder our own frailty and weakness in spiritual matters. All of this causes us to rejoice in Jesus. Because Jesus rose from the dead his power draws us to him instead of repelling us from him. Because of his resurrection, his presence calms us, inspires us and moves us to follow him.

May we always answer ‘no’ when it comes to our own power. May we always say ‘yes’ when it comes to the promises God has spoken to us in his word.

¹ “μή,” BDAG, 646.

² Psalm 49:7-8

³ Hebrews 11:5-6 (faith comes first, following comes second)

⁴ Rom. 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23

^{(picture courtesy of The Stock Exchange)}

Share on Facebook