Preparing for Worship - April 21, 2024

This Sunday is the 4th Sunday of the Easter Season and is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Two of the readings have a very direct connection to Jesus as our Good Shepherd, as you will see.

The Psalm is Psalm 23, another psalm of David. David had been a shepherd for his family’s sheep when he was younger and knew what sheep needed. He speaks of those needs in this psalm but applies them to himself and to us, as spiritual sheep of our heavenly Father, and especially of His Son, Jesus, the true Good Shepherd. Sheep are not the smartest animals and need lots of help and protection. Spiritually, we are the same. We need nourishment and protection in times of danger and restoration when we go astray and get into trouble. The Lord disciplines and directs us with His rod and staff, the Law, and forgives and blesses us with His Gospel, His goodness and mercy and love, through this life and on into eternal life, as we trust in Him by His gift of faith.

In the Gospel lesson, John 10:11-18, Jesus clearly identifies Himself as our Good Shepherd, Who truly knows and cares about His sheep. There are “hired hands” who do not really care for the sheep and abandon them in a time of danger. Jesus gave His life for us sheep and then took up His life again in His resurrection so that He can continue to help and bless us always. Jesus knows us as His sheep and seeks to keep us always trusting in and following Him. He also has other sheep He wants to bring into His flock, as he is the one true Good Shepherd. No other will do.

In the first lesson, Acts 4:1-12, we see that there was opposition to Jesus and those who taught about Him. The Sadducees, who did not believe in life after death, were especially upset with the talk about a resurrection from the dead and had Peter and John arrested. The next day they questioned them about how and by what name the crippled man had been healed (Acts, Chapter 3). Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke boldly about Jesus’ death and resurrection and that the man had been healed by Him and His power. Though rejected by many, Jesus is the Cornerstone for faith and life and our eternal future. In fact, there is no other person or name by which we can be saved. Christ alone is our salvation, together, of course, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the one true Triune God.

The Epistle lesson, 1 John 3:16-24, begins with what we heard in the Gospel for today. Our Good Shepherd, Jesus, was willing to and did lay down His life for us and our salvation. As He loved us, we are called to love one another, not just with words, but in deed and truth. However, when we fail, at times, and our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our guilty hearts and forgives and strengthens us. Seeing His love and forgiveness, we are moved again to seek to do His will more faithfully, believing in our Lord Jesus and seeking to love one another in a better way. God the Father abides in us to help us, along with Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the one true Triune God at work for us and with us.