Jeremiah
23:1-6
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 2,
2009
Jeremiah
23:1-6 (New International Version)
The
Righteous Branch
1 "Woe to the
shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!"
declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the
God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you
have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on
them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,"
declares the LORD. 3 "I myself will gather the remnant
of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring
them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in
number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend
them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be
missing," declares the LORD. 5
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, 6 In his days Judah will be saved |
In the 23rd psalm which we sang just a
few minutes ago, we are given beautiful word pictures about why Jesus, God's
Son, is our Good Shepherd. He's our good shepherd because with him we lack
nothing, he refreshes our souls, he leads us in paths of righteousness for his
name's sake, he leads us through death, and one day will bring us into the
house of the LORD where we will live forever. What a beautiful picture that is
of Jesus and of all the things he does for us. Is it any wonder why Jesus is
our Good Shepherd?!
Today, in the words of the prophet Jeremiah,
we have another word picture of why Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Although these
words are less familiar to us than the words of the 23rd Psalm, yet they
present some very important things Jesus does as the Good Shepherd offering
rich comfort and strength to the members of his flock. And so let us
prayerfully meditate on these words and learn some more about WHAT ELSE MAKES JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD!?
I. He
provides the righteousness we need for heaven.
II. He
provides shepherds who will take care of his sheep.
When we think of Jesus
as our Good Shepherd, we picture him as the loving and gentle Savior that he
is.
But you know that's not the kind of image or
picture Martin Luther once had of Jesus.
Because of the things he was taught Luther pictured the Savior as a
harsh and cruel judge. In fact, Martin
Luther spoke about how he actually hated Jesus. Now why would Martin Luther,
the great Reformer, say that? It's
because of a word that appears in our text for today. That word is
“righteousness.” Whenever Luther read in
the Scriptures about the righteousness of God he became angry with God and that
phrase would drive him to despair. Why? Because he felt that if God demanded him to
be righteous, that is holy and perfect, and God knew that that was something he
a sinner could never be or do, then God was truly cruel and unloving.
But
through the Holy Scriptures, God helped Martin Luther understand that there are
really two righteousnesses of God. First, there is the righteousness that he
demands of sinners in his law, as summarized in the 10 Commandments. Then there is the righteousness that he gives
to sinners through the gospel. And what is that righteousness that God gives
sinners through the gospel? Jeremiah
answers that for us: “'The days are
coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel
will live in safety. This is the name by
which he will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!'”
These
words are God's promise that he would send a Savior into the world, a royal
offspring of King David, who would provide the righteousness sinners need for
heaven. That offspring is none other than Jesus Christ. How did he provide the righteousness we need
for heaven? A good way to remember what the righteousness of Christ is all
about is by remembering that the root word of righteousness is “right.” In
other words, “The righteousness of Christ” is all the right things he did that
we could not do, and then by his death he made things “right” with God for all
the wrong things we have done and are still doing. That's what makes Jesus the Good Shepherd and
this is what finally brought great comfort to Luther about the righteousness of
God. By faith Luther knew that Jesus' perfect life was his own and that Jesus'
perfect sacrifice offered for sin was his own too. That's what Jeremiah meant
when he wrote: “The Lord our righteousness.”
What
does this all mean for us? Some time ago while making visits, a shut-in member
asked me, “Pastor, can I really be sure that I am going to heaven?” I believed he asked that question because
someone had told him that it was sinful pride and arrogance to say that you are
sure that you are going to heaven. That
question is answered in our text for today.
Yes, you and I can be absolutely certain that when we die, we are going
to heaven? How? Because the righteousness we need to get
there is the righteousness that Jesus gives us as a gift and which is ours by
faith. That certainty for heaven is not sinful pride, but God's sure
promise.
So
dear friends, do you believe that you are a sinner who deserves God's eternal
condemnation? Do you believe that Jesus
is the of God who lived a perfect life for you? Do you also believe that he died and has
taken away all your sin? If, by the
grace of God, you can truly say “yes” to all those questions, then Jesus is
your Good Shepherd and by faith you are clothed in his righteousness! Heaven is yours!
II.
But there is more that Jeremiah paints in this picture about why Jesus is our
Good Shepherd. He's also our Good Shepherd because he promised to provide
shepherds to take proper care of his flock.
Why
would Jesus have to promise that? At the time of our text, the shepherds of
God's people had not taken care of his sheep. In fact they had caused the sheep
to be scattered. Who were these wicked shepherds? The shepherds were the religious leaders of
Judah, the priests, elders, and the kings of Judah. They were the ones who were to take care of
the flock of God. But they didn’t.
And
how did these wicked shepherds scatter God's flock? Two ways! Since the true worship of the LORD
had been abandoned for idol worship the flock was not fed on the green pastures
of God's Word and therefore scattered to every kind of idolatry and false
worship imaginable. Because those wicked shepherds led them away from the Good
Shepherd the Lord was going to punish them by scattering them among foreign
lands.
But
there would come a time when the Good Shepherd would gather all his sheep into
one fold and he would provide other shepherds who would take care of his sheep.
Listen to that promise in our text: “I myself will gather the remnant of my
flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them
back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will
tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be
missing, “ declares the LORD.”
When
we think of how Jesus takes care of us, we often think of how he daily forgives
our sins, answers our prayers, accompanies us each day, and works out
everything for our eternal good. But do
we ever stop to think that having a pastor in the pulpit, teachers in our
classroom, faithful leaders guiding our congregation are also ways in which
Jesus takes care of us? It is, and that's what he promises to do on these
words.
As
we look over the history of the Christian church, the history of our synod, the
history of our congregation, your own personal history, has not our Good
Shepherd kept this promise? Yes, every now
and then there will be a shepherd who is wicked and does not take care of the
sheep and will have to answer to the Savior for that. But by and large, and for the most part,
Jesus our Good Shepherd has provided pastors and leaders in our congregations who
have taken care of the sheep.
And
how are these shepherds that Jesus will provide to take care of the sheep? The most important way that shepherds are to
take care of God's people is by telling them the good news about the Good
Shepherd and that the righteousness sinners need for heaven is found only in
him. Faithful shepherds take care of the sheep by leading them to the Good
Shepherd, Jesus.
This
reminds of a story I once heard about a preacher who tried to impress the
members with his own eloquence and importance, rather than impress his hearers
with the Savior. I'm not sure who the author is of this little story and you've
probably heard it already. But it's worth repeating to illustrate the point.
One day this rationalistic preacher who wasn't preaching God's Word entered his
pulpit and there was a note there for him.
On it the words of John 12:21 were written: “Sir, we would like to see
Jesus.” The words struck him. He went
back and began to search the Scriptures and there found his Lord and Savior
again; and having found him, he could not help but speak the truths of
salvation. From that time on his sermons pointed to Jesus the only Savior from
sin. A short time later another note
appeared in his pulpit. This time the words were from John 20:21, “Then were
the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.”
Dear
friends, pastors, teachers, leaders in our congregations are people just like
any one else sitting in church. They need and have a Savior. But they are the ones who have been called by
the Lord, through the church, to bring us God's Word. So let us never forget
that when we have pastors and teachers and lay leaders who faithfully take care
of the flock of Christ by proclaiming the righteousness of God, that's just
another evidence of the Good Shepherd taking care of us, his sheep.
Yes,
the 23rd Psalm is perhaps the most complete and comforting picture we have of
the Good Shepherd. But today we have seen another picture of him. As we look at
this picture, I pray that it will be one to which we turn when we need
assurance of our salvation and when we need comfort about our care!