What do you think of when you think of a shepherd?  We often see the nice, warm shepherd looking Jesus who cuddles the sheep.  Maybe we have the picture in our mind of Jesus with the little lamb slung over His shoulders carrying them around.  And so He does. But is this really the full picture we have here in our Gospel reading?  Is this really how Jesus is describing Himself to the Pharisees who are questioning Jesus’ teaching and His actions?  Let’s take a closer look.

When we consider Jesus’ words here and look at what He says He does, it becomes very clear.  5 times Jesus mentions that He lays down His life for His sheep.  Twice He mentions He takes it up.  And twice He mentions knowing His sheep and His sheep knowing His voice.  And once He mentions bringing in sheep from another fold.  There you have it.  A shepherd who gives up His life so that they might live.  A shepherd who is truly “good.”

CS Lewis’ quote in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is quite appropriate.  The children have stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia and are hearing the details about Aslan, who represents Jesus, for the first time: “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ..." Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

Jesus, is not safe. He is the very Son of God, the King and the Judge over the world.  He does not tolerate nor condone sin, of any kind or of any degree.  His judgement will come upon the earth and woe to those to whom it comes.  This is something that we often overlook, or downplay. Our God, our Savior, is not safe in the least.  He speaks a condemning word of the Law to each of us here today. We are sinners. We are not good. Our sin drove Jesus to the cross as surely as the sin of the High Priest, the Sadducees and all others involved with Jesus’ crucifixion.

But do not fear, for Jesus is good.  Not just in a moral sense, but in the sense that He does what a shepherd is supposed to do. He does not run away when trouble comes. He does not flee because wolves are on the prowl.  No, He cares for those who belong to Him.  He loves deeply. He is the shepherd who gives His life up, who sacrifices Himself for His sheep. His goodness is expressed in His love, as we heard about from St. John in our epistle for this morning.

This stands in stark contrast to the “shepherds” of Jesus’ day, and still today, who take from the sheep but do not give to them.  Those who try to sneak in by other means than Jesus are not good shepherds, but thieves and robbers, false prophets and teachers.  So how do you know?  How do you know that it is Jesus we are following and not someone, or something else?  How do we know who our shepherd is, and who is simply a hired hand that will turn and run at the first sign of trouble? How do we know that we are right, that Christianity is right, and everyone else is wrong? 

These sorts of questions are what St. Peter was addressing in our First Reading this morning from Acts 4.  These are questions that we all have at times, and the world bombards us with.  How can you know for sure?  The content, authority, and response to the questioning world and our doubts and concerns center among Christ who was crucified, raised, and in whom is the only source of our salvation.  Jesus is the only name by which we must be saved because He is the only Son of God who loved the world in the way of giving His life up to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil.  How do we know?  Because Jesus lives!  We believe the Bible is true and that it is God’s very Word because Christ is risen. 

It is through this wonderful news that people are called to be His sheep, part of His flock.  He calls, gathers, and enlightens the whole Christian Church and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith and He does this through His Word.  He still speaks to His people today. He still searches out and calls His sheep, gathering them from all over the world into His flock.  Sheep know the voice of their shepherd, and our shepherd is the One who calls us out of sin and death and into His abundant life.  So that you are now “good” as well.  Because our shepherd is good and shares that goodness with His flock purely out of His grace and received only by faith in Jesus.

As sheep, we follow where our shepherd goes, even though sometimes kicking and screaming.  We are led through the valley of the shadow of death. He leads us to and from the life giving waters of Baptism.  He abides in us through His promised Holy Spirit whom He has given us.  He abides in us through His Word, and so we live and abide in Him by faith.  Jesus travels to the cross and to the resurrection.  We follow Him through a life of self-sacrifice to others. Of serving others in their time, not running away when things get hard and trouble shows up.  Loving one another as Christ has loved us, not being safe, but goodness of the Lord.  Standing with our Shepherd.  So where should we expect Him to lead us?  Ultimately, through our death and to our resurrection with Him. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.