A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. [Jesus said:] “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:14-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The image of Jesus as a shepherd captures the imagination of us Christians like no other. Even city-dwellers who have never met a living, breathing shepherd (much less a sheep) find themselves drawn to it. We hang pictures of Jesus with sheep in our Sunday School classrooms. We sing, “The King of love, my shepherd is,” and “I am Jesus’ little lamb,” with childlike faith. We memorize Psalm 23 and expect it to be read at our funeral. And every year, during the season of Easter, we spend an entire Sunday focusing on the idea that Jesus is the Good Shepherd...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Each year, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. Fittingly, all our readings today give us insight to the relationship we have with Jesus as sheep and Shepherd and the benefits of that relationship. Our Gospel takes place during the Feast of Dedication, also called Hanukkah, the Jewish national holiday celebrating the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in December 165 B.C. Jesus was walking in the temple area near Solomon’s colonnade. It offered some protection from the winter’s cold. The Jewish religious leaders encircled Jesus and asked Him point blank: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Sad to say, they ...