"Even Me, Even You"
#92-30Presented on The Lutheran Hour on March 23, 2025
By Rev. Dr. Jason Broge, Guest Speaker
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries
No bonus material MP3
Text: John 10:1-21
It never fails to interest me how one set of words, spoken by one person, can cause such completely different reactions within two people hearing them.
I remember being asked to stay after class in seventh grade along with three other kids. As I sat there waiting for the rest of the orchestra to file out, I remember racking my brain—had I done anything wrong? Other than being a generally lousy violinist, I couldn't think of anything. And, at last chair, there really didn't seem anywhere farther to fall.
But Mr. Peterson, my orchestra conductor, had not held us back to yell at us or give us a hard time. He sat us down and asked us whether we had ever considered being a part of the Mannheim Orchestra. The Mannheim Orchestra! The Mannheim was a strings-only orchestra for the elite high school string players. Unlike the high school orchestra that was open to anyone, the Mannheim was only for the best string players. You had to try out to be in the Mannheim. While I was only in seventh grade, I had already heard stories of all the kids who just didn't make the cut.
Now I looked around the room for the first time and I thought to myself ... something doesn't seem right here. These were not the best of the best. These were the worst of the worst players he was talking to, with me being dead last. I don't remember who piped up first, but eventually one of us became brave enough to speak for the group. No, we hadn't ever pictured being in the Mannheim—was he crazy? We could never compete with the best violinists in the orchestra.
That was when Mr. Peterson really confused me. He told us he was not asking us to consider trying out for the Mannheim playing the violin. He wanted us to think about switching instruments, to play the string bass. Then he laid out a plan. If we were interested, he would intercede with our parents. He would work with the school district to get us two basses. One bass we could borrow for free and keep at home, another bass that would be kept at school. (The string bass, turns out, is a little big for a school bus.)
Mr. Peterson also realized that lessons were not a financial option for me at that time. He made a commitment that, if I was willing to put in the work, he would come to my house and give me weekly lessons over the summer for free. He would then meet me at school before the school day twice a week during eighth grade to continue private lessons all the way up through Mannheim auditions. He promised that in one year I could be ready. And there would be room in his orchestra for me.
This was almost too much to believe. And for some other people it turned out to be too much to believe. This was not a popular decision. You see, I wasn't what you would call "popular" in seventh grade. I wasn't just last chair in the orchestra, I was last in everything social. I had no discernable talent and no obvious ability and just wasn't someone you invested extraordinary amounts of time in. And the idea that Mr. Peterson would do that, would go out of his way to put in all this extra time for someone like me ... it didn't sit well with some people.
But the thing about Mr. Peterson was, he didn't care. He truly believed there was room in his orchestra for all the kids who could make it through the auditions. And he was willing to do whatever it took to get a student there, any student. Even me.
And these weren't just empty words and promises. He came through. For the next year, he provided free lessons and he was a mentor to me all throughout junior high and high school. Even after I found my way in high school, he was still there for me, mentoring me, teaching me how to lead others and make room for them. When I graduated, he helped my parents find and purchase the string bass I play to this day. It might not have made sense to others, or even to me, but Mr. Peterson was willing to go the extra mile for all of his students ... even me.
Looking back, I realize Mr. Peterson's invitation didn't just surprise me—it actually offended some people who thought I wasn't worth the extra time. Words of promise spoken to those on the outside can spark amazement in some and anger in others. That's exactly what happens in our text for today.
Our text for today is one that is familiar to most Christians. It is generally thought of as a comforting text, bringing to mind pastoral images of our Savior as the Good Shepherd, caring for us, His sheep. It is a text that is frequently used at funerals to bring comfort to the bereaved. And it is a text that many churches in America set aside a Sunday every year to read and preach from.
And yet the response from many who heard Jesus speak on this day nearly 2,000 years ago was to assume that He was demon-possessed or insane. How is it possible that, upon hearing Jesus proclaim "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep," the response from so many people would be to think He was crazy and ultimately want to see Him arrested?
Did they just not understand what He meant? Well, in some ways yes, but in other ways I think they may have understood better than many of us hearing the words today. They heard not just words of comfort, but words of blasphemy. And in the midst of that comfort, they heard a call that was larger than they expected, including many that just didn't seem to belong.
Our text for today comes from the Gospel of John 10:1-21. However, before we hear the reading, we need to remember what has just happened. In John 9 we are introduced to a man born blind. Jesus' disciples asked Him whose sin caused this blindness, the man's or his parents. Jesus' reply is not what they likely expected. Because to their eyes, and likely the eyes of everyone around them, this person must have done something wrong. But no, Jesus says, it was not because of sins he was born blind, "but that the works of God might be displayed in him." Jesus then makes mud with His spit, puts it on the man's eyes, and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man washes off the mud, he can see.
This quickly causes a stir amongst his neighbors and friends. The person who had been blind since birth can now see! How is this possible? The man finds himself dragged in front of the Pharisees who begin arguing about the miracle and, more importantly, the Person who did this miracle—on a Sabbath of all days. The Pharisees find themselves divided. Is this man Jesus a sinful lawbreaker healing—doing work, if you will—on the Sabbath? Or is he from God? But wait, they think, the man must not actually have been born blind. So, the Pharisees call for his parents to be brought before them. Now the parents aren't all that much help. They admit that he was born blind, but do not want to be brought into the whole Jesus' issue. They don't want to take sides, because they've heard that if people actually confess Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Promised One, they will be thrown out of the synagogue.
So, the Pharisees drag the formerly blind man back in front of them and begin to quiz him on who this guy Jesus is. The formerly blind man gets a little cheeky at this point. Tells the Pharisees... "Listen, I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?" As you can imagine, the Pharisees aren't too keen on this, and it is not long before this formerly blind man finds himself cast out.
Jesus hears all this. He finds the guy and says to him: "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The guy answers "Who is He, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus says to him "You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you." And the man says, "Lord, I believe" and worships Jesus.
Now some of the Pharisees were there, and they immediately jump in and start giving Jesus a hard time. And it is here, at this point, our text for today picks up. Keep this in mind as we hear this text. This is not just Jesus sitting in a field talking about sheep. This is Jesus being confronted by Pharisees after demonstrating in His words "the works of God."
Jesus says: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But He who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To Him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the Door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 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. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father."
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
This is the Word of the Lord.
Why then the division? Because these people understand what Jesus is saying, and they understand the implications of it.
While there are words of comfort here, the Pharisees, being very well versed in their Old Testament, know that the image of a shepherd is one linked with God Himself and the promises He has made to His people Israel. Even a casual reading of the psalms, Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel will note that it is God who is the Shepherd of His people Israel (as David himself said, "The Lord is my Shepherd"). In claiming to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus is potentially setting Himself up in opposition to God. Of course, in a few verses Jesus will make it clear that what He is doing is to their ears even worse. In verse 30 Jesus says "I and the Father are One." And at these words we are told the Jews pick up stones again to stone Him.
Why are the Pharisees mad? Because Jesus' claims are blasphemous.
Or they would be ... if it wasn't for the fact that they are true.
But to be honest, I don't think the idea of His claims being true were all that comforting to these Pharisees either. I mean, think back to the reading. Jesus makes a lot of claims about what it means to be the Good Shepherd, and a number of them are in direct contrast with other so-called shepherds, with people who are merely "hired hands" or, worse yet, thieves. And while the Pharisees are confused at first by Jesus' metaphor, it does not take them long to catch on. And they have a sneaking suspicion just who the hired hands who flee at the sight of danger and wolves just might be: them. And, worse yet, for those who are more interested in control and power over other people than actually caring for God's people, they may just find that they are the thieves.
None of this is good news for the Pharisees. But potentially worst of all, this Good Shepherd doesn't even seem to understand who the sheep really are. He is going around picking the least likely of people. People like this guy who had been blind from birth. Someone so low that even Jesus' disciples upon seeing him were convinced it must either be his sin or his parents' sin that led to such a deplorable state. People like this just aren't the right sort of sheep.
And, to make matters worse, He is clearly intent on calling in other sheep—people not from this pen. There's only one way to hear this. Jesus seems to think that there is room amongst God's people for outsiders, non-Jews. People who don't look like them, don't dress like them, don't eat the same foods, or have the same customs. Sheep like that! This is just too much for them.
But that's the thing about God, His plan has always been to include everyone.
The Israelites were meant to be a light to the Gentiles, beckoning them into the Kingdom, not a wall keeping them out. And Jesus does the will of His father. He is constantly willing, if not even eager, to throw open the doors to the very people who seem least likely to be included: fishermen, tax collectors, the blind, the lame, the poor, prostitutes, Samaritans, sinners, and yes, even Pharisees like Nicodemus. There is room for all sheep to come in and find pasture.
But there must be a catch.
There is.
Jesus is the Door. Not the Pharisees. Not pastors. Not me. Jesus.
He is the Door, and all who come through Him will have life abundantly. Life eternally. They are His sheep and He will not, indeed He cannot, lose even one.
When I think of how Jesus, calls the least likely, I remember Mr. Peterson. I remember him calling me, calling me when I wasn't ready, calling me when I wasn't worthy, making me ready, making me worthy.
Of course, Mr. Peterson was no Jesus. He promised to give up time. Jesus promised to lay down His life. Lay it down and take it back up again. And these are not just empty promises. Were these just words they would sound nice, but any comfort derived from them would be cold and fleeting. But Jesus lived these words out. He lay down His life on the cross of Calvary. He died for all of us, His sheep. And He rose again for all of us, His sheep, so that we might have that abundant life with Him for all eternity. He died so that our death could be put to death. And He did this not just for the prosperous, not just for the important people, not just for the super-religious, He did it for them, but He did it for the least of these, for the sick, the poor, the lame, the overlooked ones. He laid down His life for me. He laid down His life for you, that you might be one of the Good Shepherd's sheep for all eternity.
As I was working on this sermon, I learned that Mr. Peterson had recently passed away. As I have been reflecting on his life and the gift he gave me, the time, the lessons, the belief in a kid who couldn't even believe in himself—I am also reminded that he was just another sheep in the flock. I remember gigs he would get me with churches to play my bass during their services. I remember him coming along and the conversations we had about our Good Shepherd.
Mr. Peterson knew his Shepherd's voice. He knew the One who laid down His life and took it up again to give us life abundantly. And so, on the day when our Jesus returns, on that glorious day of resurrection, I will be keeping my eyes out for one particular sheep: a conductor ready to continue to lead fellow sheep in songs of eternal praise to our Good Shepherd.
Amen.
Reflections for March 23, 2025
Title: Even Me, Even You
No reflection segment this week
Music Selections for this program:
"A Mighty Fortress" arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
"When I Behold Jesus Christ" arr. Matthew Machemer. (© 2022 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.
"O Perfect Life of Love" arr. Peter Prochnow. The Hymnal Project of the Michigan District, LC-MS. Used by permission.
"Crucifer" by Sydney H. Nicholson, arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
"Lord of Our Life and God of Our Salvation" From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.
