Third Sunday of Easter (2024)

Ezekiel 34:11-16

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have once again a passage from the Prophet Ezekiel who we learned a bit about last week. The passage here today is about God going forth to rescue His flock that is in distress, on a day of clouds and darkness and promises that He will bring them home. It is fitting that we have Psalm 23 as well to go with this set of readings.

The Shepherd Who Seeks

The Flock is lost.

As we learned last week the situation was quite bad for Israel, they were taken into slavery but they had become lost well before that. Their shepherd had sent men to call out to them, and to try and bring them back home, but at this point the sheep.

They have been scattered.

Not just physically speaking, but spiritually. They did realize that this is where they were heading, and they didn’t realize how far they had wandered from home, but now they are in serious trouble and the end draws near.

That is why God says, I, I myself will search...

The Lord is the Shepherd of HIs people and he cares for the flock. They are his sheep and He will seek them out to bring them back to safety. So how did the flock become scattered?

The Scattered Flock

Satan scattered mankind at the garden.

That is what kicked it all off, that instead of listening to the voice of God and His word, we instead looked to satan for our guidance and this lead us down some dark paths that promised us some tantalizing reward.

We have been led further by our sins.

The fall started us down that path, but then we kept following it, even though we can recognize and see that it has brought nothing to mankind but shame, disgrace, death, and that is just in this life.

Jesus says, whoever sins is a slave to sin.

A slave does not remain in the house of God forever, but is lost. For if sheep die while in the wilderness of sin, they do not enter the promised land and instead end up in hell. This is the danger of mankind, and we find ourselves in desperate need of help.

It starts by excusing it.

Finding a way to justify it, and that is how it starts to gain traction. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s like a wolf, that just wants to put its nose in the pen. Now if it was a wolf, we would know flee from it, Satan didn’t lead with the ugliness of sin.

Clouds and Thick Darkness

The sheep can’t find the way back.

This is important for us to realize. You can’t just say they will figure this out on their own. They don’t need me talking about it. The darkness of sin is so deep they can’t see the way out. Sin blinds us to the truth, and that’s why

People become desperate running in circles.

They are searching for something, anything that will give them the answers and anxiety and desperation begin to mount because who does it all fall back on? You. You carry your own sins, your own failings, and there is a realization that there is actual danger. The best you have is what you are making up.

It happened in Israel and it happens today.

Because instead of clinging to what is true, we instead chase after the desires of our heart. The heart is deceitful above all else, our heart leads us down paths that aren’t good. Jesus tells us that out of the heart comes all manner of sin. Don’t follow your heart, but that is what is happening today.

They want to be spiritual, not religious.

What that means, is that they want to find the answers inside of themselves instead of listening to the Word. For once God speaks, you have religion, and you can either abide by God’s word, or you can chase after the desires of your heart. Will you be guided by your heart, or will you hear

The Voice of the Shepherd

God calls to His people through the Word.

It is by the Word that God has revealed himself to us. Think about how He created all things by speaking, He spoke with Adam and Eve as he walked with them in the garden. There was a burning bush that moses saw on the mountain, but God spoke. How does a shepherd find his sheep, He calls to them.

It seems simple.

In fact so simple that in our minds it can’t be true. That is how God is going to bring us to His kingdom? That is how God will save us? That is how we will knwo who God is, by words that have been passed down and shared with each other? What do the Scriptures say?

Faith comes by hearing.

Hearing through the word of Christ. When sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, why wouldn’t go to the one who cares for you? The only reason would be you don’t know him or trust him. But he gives to us hope in these dark moments.

The Shepherd Tends to the Sheep

Jesus bound our wounds.

These are the wounds that come from our wanderings in our sins. They come from our own foolishness and wandering off into the dark. They are also the wounds caused by neighbors, and those we thought were friends. From wandering in a world that is broken, but Jesus cares for us.

Jesus nourished us with food.

That being the Word which we chew and meditate on, and the Sacrament, when we are prepared for it.

Jesus washed us clean.

He washed us in the waters of baptism to cleanse us from our sins, that we might begin to heal, for trying to heal while covered in the filth of this world doesn’t go well. He sets aside by the waters of baptism and regenerates us by the holy spirit.

Jesus does this where?

Well where does God feed us, wash us, and call us together around His Word? It’s at church, Here Jesus comes to us through WOrd and Sacrament. That’s why those who want to be Christian without being where God works upon us with his word, are still in the darkness.

Shepherd Will Judge the Sheep

Jesus deals in justice.

This means that he deals with them fairly and he does so by the promises of His divine word. For he promises to return on that day to separate the sheep and the goats, this was known even in the days of Ezekiel.

He will not abandon the weak.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, that is why sinners come to Him for there is hope found in Christ that we don’t find anywhere else.

This is why at the church are sinners.

For Jesus is the savior of sinners, He doesn’t approve of sin or evil, but He is here to save them from it. For if left us in our sins, then He wouldn’t be our savior.

The proud and strong will be condemned.

These are those who refuse Christ’s Gifts, and have no need of him. They plan to continue in their sins, and think that they can leave safely in the darkness unlike the other weaker sinners. Don’t let that serpent deceive you, and is teaching you day by day to ignore the voice of your shepherd who says stop.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we are blessed to have Jesus as our Good Shepherd, for all of us here were lost in our sins, and without the voice of Christ calling to us, there would be no hope of salvation. We would perish eternally in the darkness and be lost to hell forever. But Jesus sought you through His Word, He picked you up, and carried you home to the church joyfully. Don’t let Satan persuade you wander away from your shepherd, be where Christ is at, and receive these good gifts. Be encouraged to share that Word for there are many out there who are lost in the darkness, and wherever the word is there is Christ who calls to His sheep. In Jesus name. Amen.