"The Shepherd is on the loose in the world and is seeking the lost sheep." Misericordias Domini 2025

03. May 2025

Misericordias Domini

John 10:11-16

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd (Jn 10:14–16).

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

The truth that Christ is your Good Shepherd is bound together with His resurrection. Because God has “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep” (Heb 13:20), He has become the shepherd of all and for all. As the Apostle proclaimed, “God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Ac 3:26). The green pastures and still waters He gives you are the forgiveness, life, and salvation He purchased and won for you by His shed blood.

And now that Jesus is raised, the Shepherd is on the loose in the world and is seeking the lost sheep. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). We saw this ministry in Galilee and Judea as He worked long days for His flock. And now we see Him at work by His Apostolic Church, going to the very ends of the earth. He has compassion upon the huddled masses, those caught up in worldly pursuits, the anxious with fear and foreboding, the distracted seeking entertainment and amusement, the click-and-swipe dopamine addicted, for He sees them all as “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36).

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’” (Lk 15:4–6).

Jesus seeks and gathers them all together that there may be one fold under one shepherd. Everyone who wants to be saved must be a part of His flock. The Good Shepherd has given His life for the sheep, and therefore, He is still our shepherd today, “by the blood of the eternal covenant” (Heb 13:20), a covenant of redemption and forgiveness where all are made whole again.

“All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:8–10).

Unlike every shepherd who came before, who demanded the sheep's life, the Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Is 53:6), but God has laid the iniquity of us all upon Him. He bore our sins upon the tree. For this reason, He is now “the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls” (1 Pet 2:24-25), even of the most ragged and most lost are restored and found.

What fantastic good news! But how does this happen? How can I know that Jesus is my shepherd and I am His dear lamb? For many, all this talk is only a pretty picture, a vague idea, or an empty set of phrases. Sheep, Shepherd, flock, etc. Sounds good, but so what? It might even be emotionally comforting, but this Word is for your confidence and hope. But this reaction is not strange. Our sin keeps Jesus at arm’s length. Our flesh wants little to do with Him, especially if it means dying and rising. We are, by nature, opposed to the Shepherd, even while He is seeking us. We try to keep ourselves out of reach of the good shepherd’s hands.

But Jesus speaks, and by speaking, He does. He is the Shepherd who speaks, and His sheep follow. “The sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (Jn 10:3–4). This Christian congregation is His instrument, speaking with His voice, and serving with His hands. Within His holy Church, He has appointed men to preach and teach His external Word for faith and life. And you are called into the sacred vocation of a life lived in faith toward God and self-sacrificial love for neighbor. Our Shepherd has gathered a church of royal priests who praise and thank Him with liturgy, Creed, hymns, and prayer.

Therefore, there is a necessary relation between the Chief Shepherd Jesus and the under-shepherds whom we call by the Latin pastor. When Christ returned to heaven, He had installed the apostles as His messengers and ambassadors. As He said on the night He was betrayed, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18). They were to continue His work, speak in His name, and forgive sins on His behalf. The office of the Holy Ministry, the calling and sending of a pastor, was instituted by Christ Jesus for you. No one can know Jesus unless they hear His Word proclaimed to them, as the Apostle testifies, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Thus, the Good Shepherd continues His work through the many shepherds He has commissioned, not only the apostles but the countless number of those who have followed them. Whenever the Holy Spirit ordains and installs a pastor, Christ has given us shepherds to build up His church until we all attain unity in the faith (Eph 4:11ff). As Paul says to the pastors at Ephesus, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Ac 20:28). Peter likewise admonishes the pastors to be shepherds for the flock of God, which is under their care in such a manner that they may have their reward from the chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:2).

And this is for your comfort and confidence. Christ the Good Shepherd is not squirreled away in heaven or busy elsewhere. He is here for you today and now by the Holy Ministry. As He said to the Apostolic Church, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Lk 10:16). This is why the whole flock of Christ in this place, your pastor, elders, and friends care for you, each within our God-given callings. Don’t think you or anyone can go along as a lone sheep apart from Christ, His Word, or His Church. We work diligently so the flock holds together with Jesus and His preaching voice. We pray that Chief Shepherd Jesus preserves His ministry in this place and throughout the world, and continues to send us His shepherds. Thus, we pray continually to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest fields, the Good Shepherd calling all the lost sheep into His Holy Church today and always.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin