April 30, 2023

Today's Reading:  John 10:1-10

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 8:1-13,30-36, Luke 9:1-17

“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 ESV)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  All this language of shepherds and sheep has led to some interesting places in the history of the church.  This is especially true in the theology of missions and biblical translation. Sheep are some of the most helpless animals on earth. They are cute and fuzzy for sure, but they are not really bright. In cultures where sheep are unknown this passage becomes a challenge to talk about and translate. In Papua New Guinea they had to substitute ‘pig’ for sheep, but the most interesting debate took place when Star Trek fans wanted to translate the Bible into Klingon and were stumped on how to translate ‘sheep’ into a culture where helplessness wasn’t even a category. 

In a sense this is also true of our own culture. Americans don’t like to think of themselves as sheep either. Maybe the problem is not with the language, but with people.  Maybe we just don’t want to be sheep.  We call people who go along with the crowd sheep, and we do not mean it as a compliment.  Gordon Gekko put it best in the movie Wall Street when dismissing certain people who could not find success in the business world.  He said, ‘they are sheep, and sheep get slaughtered.’  

The thing to remember is that all people, Christian or not, are sheep. The difference is not in what we are, the difference is in the voice  we follow. The voice we follow is that of the Good Shepherd.  All other voices are those of the stranger and they are not to be followed because they do save and do not lead to pasture. 

As sheep of the good shepherd, you are saved and can go in and out and find pasture.  This talk of coming and going sounds awkward to us. We use the same language in our baptismal liturgy. We say to the newly baptized “the Lord preserve your coming in and going out from this time forth and even forever more”  Coming in and going out was a phrase that dealt with the course of human life. The Good Shepherd is there for you in all times and in all circumstances you have nothing to fear from the voices of thieves and robbers.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

-Pastor Grant A Knepper is Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Modesto, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.