“I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” Ezekiel 34:15-16 (Read Ezekiel 34)

God lays much of the blame for the fact that His people of Israel had turned away and came under His judgments upon the shepherds who should have been feeding and nourishing God’s sheep with His Word.

Had they been preaching and teaching God’s Word, admonishing and bringing back those who were erring and wandering from the fold and comforting those who were overwhelmed with guilt and the problems of life, God’s flock would not have been scattered and carried away by their enemies. Instead, those who should have been shepherds to God’s people were busy feeding themselves and taking advantage of the sheep under their care.

The same, of course, is true today in regard to the pastors who have been given a charge to shepherd God’s flock over which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers (cf. Act 20:28). Instead of shepherding the flock and using God’s Word and His Sacraments to feed and nourish the souls entrusted to their care, pastors take advantage of the sheep and seek worldly gain at the cost of those they should be nourishing. Instead of watching over the flock and protecting it from false doctrine, pastors are often the ones advancing false doctrine and erring views that destroy faith (cf. Romans 16:17-18). Instead of admonishing the erring and giving God’s comfort to the penitent and suffering, pastors say nothing against the sinful lifestyles of our day and offer false comfort to the impenitent and erring.

What does God say He will do? “I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them — My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken” (Ezek. 34:22-24).

God promised to send His only-begotten Son into the world, born a descendant of David, of the Virgin Mary. He would be the Good Shepherd who would gather God’s sheep from all the nations where they had been driven. He would give His life for the sheep to redeem them and restore them to God’s flock. He would feed His sheep with His Word and Sacraments and protect them from the assaults of those who seek to destroy and devour God’s flock, and He would judge the shepherds who took advantage of God’s flock and failed to be true shepherds to them.

In Isaiah 40:10-11, we read: “Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.”

In Jeremiah 23:1-4, we read: “‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!’ says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: ‘You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,’ says the Lord. ‘But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,’ says the Lord.”

And we heard Jesus’ words today in John 10:11-16: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

What does this Word of God say to us today? To pastors, it is a stern warning to shepherd God’s sheep with God’s Word. It is a warning not to abuse or neglect God’s flock but to preach the whole truth revealed in the Bible and to faithfully apply God’s Word to recover the straying, to admonish the indifferent, to comfort and bind up the weak and injured and to gather the lambs to their Savior. Those who don’t fulfill their duties will be held responsible for their failures to shepherd God’s sheep, but those who do the work entrusted to them will receive a reward (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1-2).

Peter writes (1 Peter 5:2-4): “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

And to the sheep, it is a reminder that the Good Shepherd continues to watch over our souls. He feeds and nourishes us with His Word and Sacraments. His Word reveals to us our sinfulness and comforts us with the good news of forgiveness and life through faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. He gave His life for us, His sheep! Cf. Isa. 53:6. With His Word, He admonishes us when we go astray, He comforts us when we repent and look to Him for pardon and peace, He encourages and comforts us when we are weighed down with guilt and overwhelmed by the troubles of this life.

His Word tells us in 1 John 1:7 — 2:2: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

When His called ministers are faithfully doing their duty, God commands us in Hebrews 13:17: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

And, of course, the ultimate goal is that we, God’s sheep, dwell with the Lord Jesus forever. The goal is that expressed in Psalm 23:6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever if, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through the Word and Sacraments, we are preserved in the true faith and trust in Christ and His cross alone for pardon and for life everlasting!

“Savior, like a shepherd, lead us; much we need Your tender care. In Your pleasant pastures feed us, for our use your fold prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us; we are Yours. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us; we are Yours.” Amen. — Lutheran Service Book, Hymn No. 711, Verse 1.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7 (Read v. 1-10)

We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were born into this world, not alive but dead — spiritually dead. We did not and could not love God our Maker with all our heart, soul and mind. We didn’t and couldn’t trust Him or seek His honor and glory. Rather, we were lovers of self and sought to use God and others for our own selfish and sinful desires. We were disobedient to God’s commandments, did not walk in His ways and were headed for eternal death and damnation.

Yet, as Christ was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God the Father after He was sacrificed for us upon the cross, for our sins, so God has graciously called us to life through the Gospel and raised us up from spiritual darkness and death to life in Christ Jesus. Through the Gospel, He has assured us that through faith in Christ we are acceptable in His sight for the sake of Christ’s holy life and innocent sufferings and death in our place. He has assured us that, when we trust in Jesus, all our sins are washed away for the sake of Christ’s blood, shed for us upon the cross.

And as believers, God the Father has raised us up with Christ to sit with Him in the heavenly realms, and we will reign with Him in His eternal kingdom.

And why did He do it? “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Now we don’t begin to grasp the riches of God’s grace toward us in Christ Jesus, but when we are in heaven with Jesus, we will see and know how great God’s merciful kindness toward us in Christ truly is.

Dear gracious and merciful Father, thank You for the redemption You provided for us in Christ Jesus and for graciously calling us to life through the Gospel and bringing us to know and trust in Your Son as our Savior. Open our eyes that we might see and appreciate the richness of your grace toward us in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

While some are quick to criticize Christians for celebrating Easter and point to ancient pagan observances in spring and to worldly customs involving such things as Easter eggs and the Easter bunny, Christians celebrate Easter for none of these things. They have an entirely different reason to observe the festival and to celebrate. Christians observe Easter to remember and celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day following His crucifixion just outside the walls of Jerusalem.

For the critics, it is true that Easter Sunday, set on the first Sunday immediately following the Paschal full moon, does not always fall on the third day after the Jewish Passover. But since Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Christian churches observe the day of His resurrection on a Sunday each year. Eastern Orthodox churches usually observe the festival on a different Sunday than Western churches because of their use of the Julian Calendar to calculate the date of Easter rather than the Gregorian Calendar and the astronomical full moon rather than the Paschal or ecclesiastical full moon. Yet, all of this is neither here nor there. It wouldn’t be an issue if Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth in July and His resurrection in November because it’s not about the date of the observance but the event that is remembered.

And there are those who claim that the very name “Easter” comes from the name of a pagan goddess or a pagan celebration — and many blindly accept this assertion — but a far better explanation is that the name Easter comes from the old German word “Oster” or “Ostern,” which means “the rising of the sun.” Oster comes from the old Teutonic of auferstehen (or auferstehung) which means resurrection. This comes from two words: Ester, which means first, and stehen, with means to stand. And these two words combine to form erstehen, an old German form of auferstehen, which is the modern German word for resurrection (Nick Sayers, “Why We Should Not Passover Easter,” http://www.easterau.com).

In a 2011 article published by Answers in Genesis, Roger Patterson adds the following information: “When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German (New Testament in 1522), he chose the word Oster to refer to the Passover references before and after the Resurrection. William Tyndale translated the Bible into English from the Greek and Hebrew. His New Testament (1525) uses the word ester to refer to the Passover. In fact, we owe our English word Passover to Tyndale. When translating the Old Testament (1530), he coined the term to describe how the Lord would “pass over” the houses marked with the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12). The usage of ester was retained in the 1534 revision of the New Testament, and it was not until later that it was known as Easter, adding that Luther and Tyndale were the first to use a translation of pascha rather than a transliteration.”

Whether called Easter or Resurrection Sunday, we as Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the crux upon which Christianity either stands or falls. If Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead, His death on the cross for the sins of the world would have been insufficient and there could be no promise or certainty of forgiveness of sins, of our being accepted by God or of our own resurrection and eternal life when we place our faith in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:14-19): “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

But the Bible goes on to say (1 Cor. 15:20): “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Jesus’ resurrection proves that His death was a ransom accepted by God for the sins of the world and that God, for Jesus’ sake, reaches out to us lost and prodigal sons and daughters with the promise of mercy and forgiveness upon all who look to Jesus in faith (cf. Rom. 4:23-25). His resurrection proves that Jesus was true to His word that He would rise again on the third day, and it gives us the assurance that He can and will raise up unto everlasting life all who have believed in His name.

How do we know that Jesus really did rise from the dead? By eyewitness accounts.

Again, St. Paul summarizes the evidence for us (1 Cor. 15:3-8): “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”

If anyone had doubts about the bodily resurrection of Jesus in the first century, there were plenty of living eyewitnesses who could attest to seeing Jesus alive again following His crucifixion. Our faith rests upon the testimony of those witnesses recorded for us in the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament, as well as in the Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s death and resurrection. Compare the resurrection accounts in the four Gospels — Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20-21.

Without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, Christianity would be no different than other religions of the world which tell people all the things they must do or not do to be accepted by and at one with their god and maker.

Christianity is the only religion that teaches that man does not and cannot measure up to God’s perfect standards because we are all fallen sinners. Instead of man somehow reaching up, the Bible teaches that God reached down to us in the person of Jesus Christ and redeemed us from the guilt and condemnation of our sins by the innocent sufferings and death of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in our stead (cf. Rom. 3:21-26). Jesus’ resurrection is proof that we indeed have been redeemed to God! And it is proof that we who have placed our hope in Him will be raised up from our graves on the Last Day to the eternal joys of His kingdom!

And yes, this is cause to celebrate and rejoice! It is a reason to join together and sing God’s praises for accomplishing the salvation of lost and condemned sinners, for winning for all pardon and forgiveness, and for offering and giving the blessings of forgiveness and life eternal through faith alone in Jesus’ name!

“I know that my Redeemer lives; what comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, He lives, who once was dead; He lives, my ever-living Head” (Samuel Medley).

Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior….’” Isaiah 43:1-3a

There are many who would have us believe that the Christian’s life in this world will be one without trouble and suffering, but God never makes such a promise. In fact, God tells us that our lives in this sinful world will be full of suffering. Not only will we be hated and persecuted because of our faith, but we must suffer pain, sorrow and even temporal death because we are sinners living in a sin-filled world which is under God’s curse (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12; Gen. 3).

But need we be afraid in the troubles of life? God’s Word tells us: “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.’”

While God does not promise us a trouble-free life in this world, He does promise to be with us and keep us through all the sufferings of this life!

As Christians, we can draw on the comfort of Isaiah 43. Each of us has been created by the LORD God; and He has redeemed us with the holy and precious blood of Jesus, shed upon the cross for our sins. Through the preaching of the Gospel, God’s Spirit called us to faith in Christ Jesus and has made us the beloved children of God (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Gal. 3:26-29; 1 John 3:1-2). We are God’s own special people (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9-10).

God, who has both created and redeemed us, promises us: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior….”

We can think of the examples of Israel passing safely through the waters of the Red Sea and the flooded Jordan (Ex. 14; Josh. 3- 4); and we can think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, whom God preserved in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3); but this promise of God’s Word applies to the troubles and problems we face in our lives as well. Our Savior, Jesus, is with us always as He promised in Matthew 28:20. He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5).

Even though troubles may be all around us, God promises us that “no evil shall befall you” (Psalm 91:10; cf. Ps. 121), and that all will work together for our good (Rom. 8:28).

Even in the valley of the shadow of death we need not be afraid, for our God is with us and will bring us safely through it that we may dwell with Him in the house of the LORD forever (Ps. 23).

Why does God do this for us? He tells us: “for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.” He is JEHOVAH our God. He is the Holy One of Israel, and Israel includes all who share in the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And, He is our Savior. He has redeemed us from our sins and from everlasting death by His holy life and innocent sufferings and death for us upon the cross, and He will return to take us to dwell with Him forever.

As we suffer in this world, we also remember that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

Dear LORD God, our Maker and Redeemer, we give You thanks for the comfort of Your Word and for the assurance that You will be with us and bring us safely through this vale of tears to Yourself in heaven. In the name of Jesus, our Savior, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

Under the Old Testament, God’s people each year observed the Passover, in which a lamb, without blemish and without spot, was killed and its blood shed and smeared upon the doorposts and lintels of their homes. And the people roasted that sacrificial lamb in the fire and ate of it in readiness. They were to observe it each year in remembrance of the Lord’s Passover, when the angel of death passed over God’s people and spared their firstborn sons but killed the firstborn of the Egyptians — all who did not have the blood of the lamb upon the doorposts and lintels of their homes. Read Exodus 12.

It was indeed fitting that, during the observance of the Passover, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the holy and righteous Son of God made man (1 Peter 1:18-19), instituted the New Testament sacrament to show forth His death for the sins of the world until He comes again to receive us to Himself.

As, under the Old Testament, a lamb was sacrificed each year so that the people would remember how the LORD God had delivered them from death and brought them out from the land of their slavery, so, under the New Testament, we are to observe the Lord’s Supper often to remember Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross for our sins and to partake of that sacrifice in faith that we might be spared from God’s judgment upon sin and be delivered from death and hell and given a place in God’s everlasting kingdom.

Jesus said: “This do in remembrance of me” and “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”

But, as Jesus said, when we partake of the bread, blessed and consecrated for this purpose, and when we partake of the cup of wine, we partake not just of bread and wine as mere symbols; we are given to partake of Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for us upon the cross for the remission of our sins. We are given to partake of His atoning sacrifice for sins; and the benefits, through faith in Christ Jesus, become our own.

Thus, according to Jesus’ words, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you” and “This cup is the new testament in my blood,” we are given to partake of His body and blood, given and shed for us. We partake of the sacrifice by which God established a New Testament (or covenant) in which He forgives our sins and gives to us eternal life (Cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 9:11-28). How Jesus gives us to eat and drink of His true body and blood in this New Testament sacrament is beyond our ability to comprehend, but we accept and believe His words.

Those who partake of this sacrament in faith receive the blessings which Christ won for them when He shed His blood upon the cross and died for the sins of the world as our sacrificial Lamb. Those who partake of this sacrament in impenitence and unbelief become “guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” Instead of receiving the blessings Christ offers and gives, they partake of His sacrifice to their own condemnation, counting the blood of the covenant by which they were redeemed as an unholy and common thing (cf. Hebrews 10:29).

Dear Lord Jesus, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, grant that we partake of Your body, given into death for us, and Your blood, shed for the remission of our sins, with penitent hearts and with faith in You as our Sacrifice and our Savior. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible]