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“The [Good Shepherd] sees the wolf coming and [never] leaves the sheep and flees.”

Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

᛭ INI ᛭

What’s true about the hired hand is NOT true about the Good Shepherd. What’s true about the Good Shepherd is NOT true about the hired hand. They’re opposites! They don’t just do different things. They do opposite things! If one goes up, the other goes down. If one sees and runs away, the other sees and is firm to stay. If one would live, the other would die.

So, you really can swap Jesus’ text around for maximum hope and comfort, because that’s what Jesus wants for you!—hope and comfort and confidence and trust in Him alone. That’s the meaning behind what He says: “The hired hand sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.” That’s not Jesus. He’s the opposite. He’s no hired hand. He’s the Good Shepherd. “The [Good Shepherd] sees the wolf coming and [never] leaves the sheep and flees.” In fact,

WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP.

(I. We see this when He lays down His life for the sheep.)

The sheep are in danger. It’s not a matter of “if” the wolf is coming. He’s coming. It’s just a matter of “when.” It doesn’t matter what form that wolf takes, or rather, it’s not just one wolf that’s after them. It’s a whole pack of wolves!

There’s the devil, of course. He prowls around looking to devour the sheep, not just like a wolf, but like a lion. The world wants to devour you and your faith, that you’d be consumed by “cares and riches and pleasures of life.” Death consumes us, too. Not just that final moment of death but the dying. The sheep wasting away, fading away, passing away—bit by bit, sense by sense—being consumed by death, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Sin too consumes them from the inside out!

The Good Shepherd sees these wolves, and He doesn’t flee. He’s no hired hand. He charges into the danger. No matter the wolf, WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP. At His cross, Christ is consumed by sin—your sins!—bearing them in His own body on the tree. “The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander.” (LSB 439) Shepherd dies as Sheep, as the true Paschal “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Instead of caring about His garments or His reputation or His own body, He “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” He took on flesh and blood “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who were subject to lifelong slavery to the fear of death.” (Heb 2) His lifeblood poured out, giving up His strength, His life passing away, slipping away, and yet only given up at the moment of His choosing for the sheep.

(Transition.)

That’s all well and good…then, but what about now? What we see when Jesus lays down His life for the sheep is that WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP. In fact, He stands in the breach, stands in the way, that the wolf would snatch Him and scatter Him, His body laid in the grave. He takes it back again, of course, showing that His death did deal with the deadly enemies of His sheep.

But the wolves are still around. The devil’s prowling around. Sin still springs up from within the sheep. “Each person is tempted when he’s drawn away and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, after it conceived, births sin, and sin, after it has matured, brings forth death.” Yes, there’s death, too, for “the last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Yet, even now, WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP.

(II. We hear this in hearing His Word.)

When they’re sullied by sin, pursued by the devil, and in the process of being devoured by death, sheep are keenly aware how hopeless life seems. How absent the Shepherd seems! We bleat and cry out then, often in doubt and unbelief! “Where’s the Good Shepherd!” With sinful words or actions that can’t be undone but often repeated, at a gaping graveside, with a devil closer and more powerful than many believe, how can I say, “WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP”?

It’s not a matter of anything to do with the sheep. It’s not a matter of you praying more, believing more, doing more, getting your act together more. That’s not a message of hope at all! So, how can you know the Good Shepherd’s staying with you? “They will listen to My voice.” Jesus says. That’s how prayer isn’t the key to knowing, believing, or trusting the Shepherd is close by. Prayer, simply put, is the bleating of the sheep. Who knows whether He’s near or far? (Yes, there’s promises about such things in the Bible, but at base, when the wolves are closing in, isolated, alone, those promises are far from memory, aren’t they? One of the reasons prayer stops.)

No, the sheep only know the Good Shepherd is near, that He’s with them, that He stays with them when the wolves come, because they hear His voice. No, “obedience” turn here. For certain, the fruit of “listening” and “following” are part of being a sheep, but with the wolves growling in their ears, what else would sheep do but listen for and listen to the voice of their shepherd?

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” And He is “with you always,” for He also says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” He does. One sip of His blood is more powerful than any demon at the bottom of bottle, more forgiving and redeeming than any sin that’s seeped out from your soul into your actions or relationships with other people. One morsel of bread consumed brings more life than a devouring death and all-consuming grave. His flesh is Life-giving: Those who eat in faith, don’t eat judgment, but rather receive the remedy and antidote of death! “For My flesh is true food, whoever eats has eternal life and I will resurrect Him,” He says.

His “I baptize you,” His “I forgive you,” His “This is My body and blood, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins” is His voice saying, “I’m right here with you. You are Mine. I am yours.” His voice, His Word, reveals where He is for you. His Word reveals that WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP. His Font, His Altar, His Pulpit, His Bible, His Absolution are the only places He says His Word is for you to perk up your ears and hear!

(Conclusion.)

The Good Shepherd and hired hand are opposites! They do opposite things. If one goes up, the other goes down. If one would live, the other would die. If one is silent, the other speaks. So also when the wolves come.

WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP.

So it is with Christ’s death and resurrection. He’s the Good Shepherd who becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He’s devoured by sin and death and devil and hell, that you wouldn’t be! He’s the true Passover Lamb, the Paschal Lamb. He’s the “Paschal Victim” for you. He also rose for you. The very reason the Paschal Candle is lighted and prominently placed at Easter, but also baptisms and funerals.

Because He didn’t just stick around at Calvary and the first Easter. Even now, WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH HIS SHEEP. You can hear it! Hear Him! A message of hope, not new but the old hope, the only hope, that endures to eternal life. For He is your paschal hope, your paschal Life. See Him. Hear Him! Paschal water! “I baptize you.” “Paschal blood!” “Paschal bread.” “Blood and body for you. Eat and drink.” Be forgiven and live forever. Paschal preaching! So that WHEN THE WOLVES COME, JESUS STAYS WITH YOU, HIS SHEEP, and the only thing that “shall follow you,” literally “shall pursue you” (יִרְדְּפוּנִי), “all the days of your life” is “the Goodness and Mercy” of Your Good Shepherd, and “you will dwell in [His house] forever.”

Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

᛭ INI ᛭