4. Sunday of Easter, 04/25/2010

Sermon on John 20:22-30, by Andrew D. Smith

John 10:22-30 (NASB)
     22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.
     24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
     25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 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. 30 I and the Father are one."

New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

              Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
              The text for the sermon today is from the Gospel for today, Good Shepherd Sunday, John 10:27-28, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand." This is our text.
              Good Shepherd Sunday is a day full of comfort for us. I'll admit, it's kind of odd to have Good Shepherd Sunday and not have the reading from John's Gospel, just before our reading here, where Jesus says "I am the Good Shepherd" but I suppose that's the price we pay for a three year lectionary series. That passage is quite familiar to us, not just because of Good Shepherd Sunday but because many families choose that passage in the wake of the loss of loved ones. No doubt we've heard several comforting sermons in which we can hear the voice of Jesus saying to us, "I am the Good Shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
              Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I think this became something of a theme in his ministry, at least toward the end of his ministry. Now, I've not read this anywhere else and I may be wrong but the first part of chapter 10 and our passage today are definitely at two different time periods in Jesus' ministry. John tells us at the beginning of our reading that it was winter and they were under Solomon's Portico at the temple. Solomon's Portico was along the east side of the new temple complex and was a covered area where one could stand out of the weather. The first part of chapter 7 has Jesus teaching at the feast of Tabernacles, which is sometime from late September to late October. Most scholars think this is the autumn before the spring in which Jesus is crucified. Our reading takes place at the festival of the dedication, it's what we know today as Hanukkah, that's roughly mid-December. So I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that Jesus might have been talking of being the Good Shepherd and laying down his life for the sheep for a few weeks now. Just imagine now in your mind's eye, Solomon's Portico that day and the Jews pressing in around Him, and pressing him for an answer, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." If Jesus has been going on for weeks about being the kind of shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep, that has certainly led many to insist that he is, in fact, the Messiah. But Jesus doesn't answer the question they way they want, he says, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;" that is, if you believed, you would know that Jesus is the "Good Shepherd."
              Jesus is under attack. They're not just pressing in on him to find the answer to a pointy-headed theological question. And Jesus is not just being coy. He has said that he is the Messiah, although that was up in Samaria where apparently the women have better theological minds than the men in Jerusalem. If he is to say he's the Messiah in Jerusalem, it's not just theological, or even Christological, it's political. He would be claiming an identity not shaped by the Word of God revealed to the prophets as much as be forced into an identity fashioned by the people's unscriptural "messianic" expectations and the political expediencies of the day. Anything that doesn't fit the mold they have fashioned God into is thought to be insanity or blasphemy. Jesus is under attack to be sure.
              And the world of Jesus is no different than the world of our day. Every day we hear the word and the will of our Lord being demonized as hateful or narrow-minded. Those of you in Sunday morning Bible class know that we've been working through the Manhattan Declaration, which speaks in defense of the sanctity of human life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. If you were to read any of the so-called moderate blogs you would think this was a declaration of war on the homosexual community. Fanatics, zealots, extremists, fundamentalist, Taliban, that's what they call us.

The most extreme example that I can use in a sermon is this one by Michael Stone of the Examiner.

"The Manhattan Declaration is a propaganda stunt sponsored by conservative right wing Christians intent on portraying Christians as victims of a secular America. The Declaration is in actuality an attempt to hi-jack American culture, and force a theocracy upon an unsuspecting and unwilling American public. The true motivation of this document is a call to culture war, an attempt to force conservative Christian values into the body politic. In particular, it is a desperate and futile attempt to stop a natural social progression from darkness to light, from ignorance and intolerance to enlightenment and acceptance."[1]

              Stone continues: "The Manhattan Declaration represents the greatest threat we face as a species, the threat from religious ignorance and superstition. The signers of the Declaration represent the American Taliban; they are Christo-Fascists, and they are every bit as dangerous as the religious fanatics who flew airplanes into buildings on 9/11." (Ibid.) (By the way, that's why we're studying the Manhattan Declaration in Sunday Morning Bible class.) This is the kind of the pressure we are under. "I'm not a ‘Christo-fascist'" we say. But that's the choice, either you accept the "natural social progression from darkness to light, from ignorance and intolerance to enlightenment and acceptance" or you're a Christo-fascist-there is no middle ground. These are the pressures we are under every day to follow after false Christs, the gods of our bellies and appetites, the prophets of prosperity and so-called tolerance. To our society we've become either insane or blasphemers against the god of self. Isn't that what they accused Jesus of? Insanity. Blasphemy. Our day is no different than our Lord's.
              But Jesus was not insane and he was not a blasphemer. "I and the Father are one," he says. Jesus is affirming his identity as God's Son and as God. The church fathers made strong points about this line." Jesus is affirming two distinct persons, Father and Son, and yet unity in essence. Jesus is Lord was the first creed. That is, Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is Yahweh, the Lord of heaven and earth and Jesus is your Good Shepherd. "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. I and the Father are one." He is not a blasphemer. His miracles, his signs as John calls them, attest to who he is and what he has power and authority over. Jesus is fully divine, true God.
              And Jesus promises us the perfect care of a divine and good shepherd, himself. He promises he will always keep watch over us. Through his word he speaks to us. He knows us by name and we follow him. When the world offers us no alternative between bigot and social compliant, we have Jesus' Word, clearly speaking to us his will and his order for our world. Through this word he also calls us and saves us and give us life in the midst of this culture of death. "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." By calling us to himself, he gives us an identity in himself and eternal life. Our identity is secured by our Good Shepherd. "I lay down My life for the sheep." Jesus promises us his personal care and shepherding even to the point of his sacrificial death. He proved the extent of his love for us by willingly going to the cross. "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again." It was through the cross of Jesus that the Father loved the world. "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again This commandment I received from My Father." This is what Jesus means when he says, "I and the Father are one."
              This is the nature of the care and protection we have in Jesus our Good Shepherd. Amen.
              The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] (Michael Stone, "When religion dictates politics: Manhattan Declaration and culture wars ," Examiner.com, 2009-NOV-22, at: http://www.examiner.com/)

Rev. Andrew D. Smith
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
Hickory, North Carolina USA

E-Mail: smithad19+prediger@gmail.com

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