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In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Introduction: Before the Fall into sin in the beginning, Adam and Eve were in complete fellowship with God in a sinless state. Their disobedience to God’s command brought sin and death into the world. After their eldest son, Cain, killed his younger brother, Abel, God punished him with the curse of being “a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Gen. 4:12). Prior to the Great Flood in Genesis 6, we read, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (vv 5-6). After the Flood humankind was reduced to 8 people: Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives. Unfortunately, even though most of humankind was eradicated, sin remained. Generations followed and their sins of pride and arrogance led then to want to become like God (just as in Gen. 3). And so they began the building of the Tower of Babel. God intervened by confusing their language and scattering “them from there over the face of all the earth” (Gen 11:8). This theme of being scattered repeats itself throughout Holy Scriptures and describes the consequences of sin and disobedience. For example, in Deuteronomy 28:64 God warned the Israelites through Moses, who prophesied, “Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.” Israel saw the fulfillment of this prophecy, when the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were scattered into exile in Assyria and Babylon.
In today’s Old Testament the LORD says that He will be as a shepherd who seeks out His scattered sheep (v. 12). And so based on this text from Ezekiel and with the aid of the Holy Spirit we consider the theme, “The Lord is Our Shepherd.”
It is important to note the textual context of our text; the first ten verses of Ezekiel 34, prior to our text. The first few verses summarize this section. “The word of the LORD came to [Ezekiel]: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, … Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves.” (vv. 1-2). The political and religious leaders of Israel were feeding themselves, in other words, they were neglecting the sheep … fleecing the flock. And their neglect was thorough. The LORD says, “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts” (34:4-5).
And so, our text today begins, “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out” (v. 11). The Lord himself promises that He will free the flock from negligent, self-serving shepherds. He will be the faithful shepherd, who will gather, care for, and feed His people. In New Testament Jesus is the true Shepherd, (Jn 10:7 – 18) who will seek after “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24).
The opening verse of our text implies both promise and denunciation. God promises that He Himself (and the repetition in the Hebrew is remarkably obvious) will shepherd His neglected people. And God denounces those who have neglected them. And later He also denounces “the fat and the strong” (v16e) sheep ... these are the sheep that abused and bullied and oppressed the thin and injured sheep in the flock
Sin has likewise scattered us from the Lord’s presence and fellowship. The Lord God promises a Shepherd , a Prince, in the line of David. A Divine Shepherd who will seek and rescue His scattered sheep. This Divine Shepherd, who seeks the lost and brings back the strays, anticipates Jesus’ parable, in today’s Gospel, of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one “lost” sheep (Lk 15:4). Today’s Old Testament adds binding up the injured, strengthening the weak, and ‘feeding’ them in justice (v. 16).
The Lord has also raised up other shepherds – under-shepherds, today’s pastors, to rescue us from false teaching, false worship, inappropriate and hurtful behavior from others in the flock, and from being scattered by false shepherds. As the Table of Duties in the Small Catechism instructs: Pastors “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). And we likewise we have an obligation: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Hebrews 13:17a).
Anything less is sin. And for this and all other sins, together with our sinful nature, we deserve only temporal death and God’s eternal wrath.
In Matthew 9 we read: “But when [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (vv.36-38 NKJV). Immediately following in Chapter 10 Jesus gives spiritual authority to the apostles (a term used only here in Matthew’s Gospel); spiritual authority to extend His Kingdom. Today, our pastors hold such apostolic authority. Their ministry consists of faithfully proclaiming the Gospel and rightly administering the Sacraments (AC V).
These under-shepherds bring the Gospel of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and victorious resurrection so that scattered sheep may be restored to the fold. The Divinely-inspired St. Peter, who wrote to the exiled Jewish & Gentile Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor: “Christ also suffered for you, … 24 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. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:21b, 24-25). At the cross Jesus is our substitute … the innocent for the guilty. He suffered and died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. He rose again from the dead – victorious over sin, Satan and death. And now forgiveness, life and salvation are available through faith in Christ Jesus. Through the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, makes us sheep of the Good Shepherd (Ps 23:1). “For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Ps 95:7).
Because God does not want us to remain scattered, He calls and so enables us to repent. He makes our hearts contrite on account of our sin. His Holy Spirit brings us to believe the Gospel that “sin has been forgiven and grace has been obtained through Christ” (AC XII.5). When we repent then God forgives us of our sinful nature and all our actual sins. The Lord, our Shepherd, is a seeking and rescuing Shepherd who declares: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…” (v. 16). This is reminiscent of Jesus’ similar promise: “… all you who are weary and burdened … I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).
In vv 12-16 of the text we have two similar Hebrew words: the verb for “shepherd” . It’s the same characters (consonants) as the participle, “shepherding”
but the vowels change. And the participle, “shepherding” is translated in the ESV as a noun, “shepherd.” The verb “shepherd” means “to feed.” The idea here is to graze the flock. What is the primary responsibility of a shepherd if not to find pastures where they can graze and eat? In the same way, in order to keep us from straying and being scattered, the Lord, Our Shepherd, feeds His people with the Word in all its forms; Holy Scripture and the Sacraments.
In our text the Lord says he will feed His people abundantly “with good pasture,” “on the mountain heights,” “in good grazing land,” and “on rich pasture.” Indeed, the Lord, Our Shepherd seeks, rescues, and feeds us with His Word in Holy Scripture, proclaimed and read here among us and at home; in His Word with the waters of
Holy Baptism wherein He brought us into the Lord’s eternal fold; in His Word with the pastor’s touch of Holy Absolution which consoles and binds our wounds; and in His Word with bread and wine in the Holy Supper which is Christ’s Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins; feeding His sheep with the very same food by which He secured their rescue—His flesh and His blood.
Conclusion: Ever since God’s promise to Adam and Eve to provide a Deliverer to crush Satan, He has made every merciful and gracious provision to bring His scattered flock back into fellowship with Him by repentance and faith and into the sheepfold of eternal life. “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:1).
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.