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My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal and they will never perish; and there isn’t anyone who will snatch them from My hand.
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᛭ INI ᛭
Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The Lord Jesus knows. He knows your grief Frank, Doug, and Nancy, as well as for you his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the rest of His family and friends. Just the next chapter of John, Jesus went to the graveside of His friend Lazarus and wept, and from what we can glean from the Net Testament, He would’ve had to bury His Guardian, Joseph.
But more than that, Jesus knows His own. He knows His sheep. He claims them as His own. He shepherds them to Himself. They are His sheep, and He is their Shepherd, their Good Shepherd. They, of course, know Him, and we’ll get to that a bit more, but first we must consider more of our Good Shepherd Jesus, and the comfort He that He is on a day like today.
So, what can you know about Jesus? Well, the Lord’s a talker. Talkers are a good gift. They talk about many things, keep our attention, give us details about the past—their past!—and tell stories. Frank was such a gift.
Jesus, too, is a talker. He speaks! He talks about many things. He talks to many people. He talks in many different places. He talks, and He talks. Most importantly, though, He talks about Himself! He talks about what He’s done. He talks about what He’s promised to do. He talks about what He’s going to do.
The Lord’s a Savior. That’s the summary of what Jesus talks about. He’s the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He’s the One who comes back from the dead. He did all those things for His sheep, for you. But that’s not all. His talking does things, because when He talks, well, things happen!
That’s what happened at His friend Lazarus’ graveside. He said, “Lazarus, come forth,” and the dead man came out alive from his grave. Jesus also came out of the third day, after He laid down His life for the sheep, for you. He was dead, then was alive again, “never to die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Rom 6) Jesus did what Job prophesied, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the Last Day He will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19)
That’s what happens at Holy Baptism. “I baptize you,” and you’re baptized—made a sheep of Jesus. “I forgive you all your sins.” You are forgiven. “This bread is My body given for you; this cup of wine is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” And the bread and wine are those things for you and your forgiveness. Each Word from the Bible, each devotion, each sermon is the Lord speaking giving life. Frank heard one every day over the past few weeks!
He speaks life into the ears His sheep, and they live! Each time Jesus talks Jesus is giving eternal life to His sheep, “and they will never perish.” For “I am the Resurrection and the Life, says the Lord, He who believes in Me will live even though He dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” That is the true comfort that Jesus gives on a day like today! He talks, He speaks, and in that talking and speaking He’s breathing out life.
THE LORD TALKS (HE SPEAKS), AND YOU LIVE!
The sheep are listeners. That’s faith. “My sheep listen to My voice,” He says. Listeners are followers. Wherever Jesus goes, wherever He leads there go His sheep, listening to Him talk. They hear His story. They hear His Word. They bleat their “Baaa-men.” And He gives them life. He gives new life and promises life eternal. They “depart to be with Christ.” (Phil 4) Or “come out of the great tribulation” of life, as Revelation 7 put it. He shepherds them to Himself, “to the streams of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
THE LORD TALKS, AND YOU LIVE!
You really will. That’s His promise, and “whoever lives and believes in Him,” trust Him, “will never die.” He’s true to His promise! It’s all founded upon the bedrock of Mount Calvary, where He died on the cross for you, and founded on His empty stone tomb, from which He rose again from the dead. He talked about those things many times. Then He did them, and so we can trust and bleat our “Baaa-men” when He says that through Baptism you’ve been united to His death and resurrection, when He says that your sins are all forgiven, when He says that His body and blood are for your forgiveness and “whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will resurrect him on the Last Day.” So also His promise: “I give them eternal life and they will never perish.”
The Lord’s a talker. Jesus was a talker in the beginning: “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Jesus was a talker in Judea, “Lazarus, come forth.” And Lazarus came back to life and came out! Jesus was a talker in Linn, “Frank, I baptize you.” (Same wherever you were baptized.) A talker at His Supper, “For you for the forgiveness of your sins.”
THE LORD TALKS, AND YOU LIVE!
Just as surely as He Himself is risen from the dead, too. The sheep follow His talking. He’s shepherding them by voice. Leading them wherever He goes. He went through suffering, death, grave, and then resurrection to eternal life. That’s what His sheep will do, too. He’s with them every step of the way—His baptismal promise. (“I am with you always.”) And soon, very soon, one day, the Last Day, He will cry out to all the dead, “Come forth!” And they will. You will. His sheep unto to eternal life with Him.
After all, the Lord’s a talker, and when the Lord talks, you live!
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