EASTER 4 – May 3, 2020 – 1 Pet. 2:19-25
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from 1 Peter 2. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- The most familiar passage that likens God to a Great Shepherd is Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” The psalm meditates upon God’s provision for all or our needs in this life, upon God’s protection even when we go through the process of death, and how we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
- Jesus called Himself “the good Shepherd.” He once said, “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” And that is precisely what He did for us in His suffering and death on the cross. All that threatened and imperiled our eternal existence – our sin and the law’s condemnation – were taken away and resolved in His self-sacrificial death.
- In our text, Peter asserts that believers have “now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” If we know Jesus, and our Heavenly Father, this is a very good thing!
- Now, there are a number of reasons why we balk at being compared to sheep. Sheep are not the most attractive of animals. They are often foolish, defenseless, and even rebellious. They require someone else to take care of them, to lead them to good pastures, to protect them from predators, and to lead them safely home.
- We may want to be self-sufficient, capable of self-defense, and free to self-determine, but this is not going to be wise when looked at from a cosmic perspective. Our enemies are too great, too strong. The wisdom required for a truly successful life is too high, too complex. We need Someone to Shepherd us through this fallen world, and God is the One!
- So, we must always remember that:
I. Jesus, Our Good Shepherd, Suffered And Died For Us
A. He Did So To Take Away Our Sin, Guilt, And Punishment
Text: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.”
Eph. 1:7 “In Him we have redemtion through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins.”
B. He Did So To Heal Us From Sin, To Reorient Our Commitments In Life
Text: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
1. Note that one purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was that we might die to sin
2. Note that it is Christ’s purpose to free us to live to righteousness
3. Note that it is the very wounds of Christ that have healed us
Statement: Whether we like it or not, our sin and guilt have made all human beings liable to eternal death and damnation. Our main enemy, the devil, “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” He is our accuser, the cosmic prosecutor at the bar of God’s justice. These are enemies and dynamics that no mere human being could possibly hope to overcome. Those who arrogantly attempt to do so, pushing aside the help of the Good Shepherd, are engaging in a most foolish and braggadocious suicide. Alas, sheep sometimes do just this.
Application: So, thank God that we have been rescued from this – He has returned us to “the Shepherd of our souls.” And in Him everything has been made new for us! We know that we are safe from our enemies – “if God is for us, who can be against us?” Our sins are all taken away from us and forgiven. We are in the process of “dying to sin” – we despise it, and repent of it each time we sin. We are oriented to what is good and righteous, committed to living to righteousness.
And we remember each day that it is the wounds of Christ that have done this for us, that have “healed” us. What thanks and praise we owe to Jesus, our Great Good Shepherd. And so:
II. Now We Are Tight With Jesus – Seeking To Follow His Example, To Walk In His Steps
Text: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
A. We Aim In All Things To Be Sinless
Text: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.”
B. We Are Willing To Suffer Unjustly Without Malice Or Retribution
Text: “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him Who judges justly.”
Text: “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
Statement: Some people might say that such willingness to submit to and endure injustice and abuse is “sheeplike” and foolish. They would also advise us that “nice guys finish last,” that sin and deceit are required to get ahead in life.
Application: Two responses: First, that if sin, deceit, and greed are required to get ahead, then maybe it’s best not to get ahead. Why not just allow God to supply our needs, our Good Shepherd? Second, though suffering injustice may appear to be weakness and vulnerability, stop to consider Who it is that stands nearby protecting us. Remember what He said: “Vengeance is Mine, declares the Lord, I will repay.” I would not want to be on the side of those who abuse Christ’s dear sheep!
Conclusion: Note that God respects and loves those who follow Christ in His love for people. He considers it a beautiful thing when people – because they are mindful of God – have to suffer unjustly. We are privileged, at times, to be involved in this.
Those not “tight” with Jesus are described as “straying like sheep.” That means that for those who think they are in greater control of themselves without God and Jesus, are actually wandering more foolishly. The fact that they are oblivious to this only makes their posturing more pitiable.
Not so for you, dear friends in Christ. You are returned to Jesus, and to the blessed oversight of God. You are among the blessed – thanks be to God. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.