The First Lesson; Acts 7:2a, 51-60
The Second Lesson; 1 Peter 2:19-25
Gospel Lesson; John 10:1-10
Sermon Text; 1 Peter 2:19-25

Remember that the words we are looking at here, during the course of these six weeks, are from the book of 1 Peter. And remember that the words of this text and the words of this book were written to Christians who were suffering. We are now in the middle of this sermon series that we are going through.

Two weeks ago, I reminded you of the comfort and the hope that Peter lays out for us in God's Word, to Christians who are suffering.

‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from the dead.’

We have a living hope through the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus, from the dead.

Last week, Pastor Bartels reminded us (from our text from the end of 1 Peter, chapter one), that we are to fear and love our God and Lord. And, he reminded us how we can fear and love our God and Lord. He had us look at that verse, 1 Peter verse 17,

"Since you call on a Father

who judges each man's work impartially,

live your lives as strangers here,

in reverent fear."

Well, today as we look at our section of scripture, (again looking at those Christians in the first century, and also looking at ourselves today); this is written to Christians who are suffering. In its immediate context, here, Peter is speaking to slaves. He is talking to Christian slaves, who have unbelieving masters. But today, these words also apply to you; because this very section of scripture also says we should submit ourselves to every authority.

Today is also Good Shepherd Sunday. Next week, Pastor Bartels is going to be preaching on a section just right prior to this, but it is this section that talks about Jesus being our Good Shepherd and the overseer of our souls.

When you hear the words of our text for today, listen to it from the perspective of sheep. You are sheep and you are suffering. Listen to the way of the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd's way is for your salvation. Notice what it is that the Good Shepherd did for you. Before you came to faith to believe in Jesus as your Savior, you were going astray. And it is the Good Shepherd who has come to you and has safely brought you into His ‘sheep pen’. A sheep that does not have a shepherd and goes astray will soon perish. There is a verse at the end of the book of 1 Peter that we will look at (here in a couple of weeks) that talks about our adversary.

"Your adversary

the devil

prowls around like a roaring lion,

looking for someone to devour."

And just as a sheep without a shepherd is lost, so also, one who does not have faith in Jesus as their Savior is lost. Look at the Good Shepherd's way. He is leading you to eternal life in Heaven.

Today you may ask, "What is the way of the Good Shepherd?"

The way of the Good Shepherd is that He took your sins upon Himself.

The way of the Good Shepherd is that He took your sins and He carried them to the cross.

The way of the Good Shepherd is that He became a curse for you.

The Bible tells us,

"Cursed is

everyone

who does not continue to do

everything

that is written in the Book of the Law."

The Bible tells us,

"Cursed is

everyone

who hangs on a tree."

Jesus, your Good Shepherd became a curse for you. Jesus, your Good Shepherd endured Hell in your place.

That is the way of the Good Shepherd – carrying your sin to the cross, becoming a curse for you, and enduring the punishment of Hell in your place.

"By His wounds

you have been healed."

As Jesus was on His way to the cross, a crown of thorns was beaten onto His head.

Through

"His wounds

you have been healed."

After Jesus died, His side was pierced with a spear.

Through

"His wounds

you have been healed."

The soldiers took nails and they pierced them through Jesus' hands and through His feet.

Through

"His wounds

you have been healed."

As Jesus had a whip go across His back, the Bible tells us,

"By His wounds

you have been healed."

You see, in a very immediate context, those Christian slaves to whom Peter was writing, would easily be able to identify with what he is talking about, here. There would have been times in their lives, as a Christian slave, that they would have been unjustly beaten. And yet, what great comfort they could take in these words,

"By His wounds

(Jesus, the Good Shepherd's wounds),

you have been healed."

Today, for you, too, my dear Christian ‘sheep’, it is also words of comfort for you. Through the wounds of Jesus, your Savior, through the wounds of Jesus, your overseer, through the wounds of Jesus, your Good Shepherd, you have been healed, because Jesus stepped in as your substitute.

He took your sin.

He carried them to the cross.

He became a curse for you.

He endured Hell for you.

Through His wounds

you have been healed.

That means you have been forgiven of all of your sin. The ‘sheep pen’ of eternal life in Heaven is yours. The way of the Good Shepherd was to lay down His life for the sheep, so that they may have salvation.

That now changes the way that we want to live our life. As Peter tells us, Jesus died for our sins so then we want to live for righteousness.

In Peter’s day, as those slaves were enduring unjust punishment, they may have been tempted to do one of two things. They may be tempted to retaliate against their unbelieving masters, or they may be tempted to reject their faith in Jesus, as their Savior. If they were to do the first, by retaliating against their masters, they would not be a very good Christian witness. But, if they did the second, by rejecting their faith in Jesus the Good Shepherd, it would be disastrous. It would be detrimental to their salvation. And so, that is why Peter, in speaking with those Christian slaves, and that is why Peter, in speaking with us today, goes right to the words of our Savior. The words of our Savior, from His Sermon on the Mount,

"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek, also."

And Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount also says, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you, because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

That means for us today, no matter what is your circumstance in life, always do your best.

If you are a student and you feel that you are being unjustly persecuted, look at the way of the Good Shepherd. Do your best, giving glory to God.

If you are a pastor or a teacher, and you feel that you are being unjustly persecuted, look at the way of the Good Shepherd and do your best and give all glory to God.

If you are an employee and you feel that you are being unjustly persecuted, look at the way of the Good Shepherd and do your best, and give all glory to God.

If you are a parent and you feel you are being unjustly persecuted, look at the way of the Good Shepherd and do your best. Give all glory to God, our Heavenly Father.

After all, it was to this that you were called. Jesus suffered, and we should follow in His steps.

I love this example from our text for this morning, as it says, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example."

For youth who are in pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade this is how their penmanship classes go. I have seen papers come home from my daughter, Kira, as she is learning to draw her letters of the alphabet. The very first few times that she are doing that, she is following little dashes on the page, little dots. She is asked to connect those dots. She is following a pattern. She is following an example that has been left for her. Once she has followed that example, she is then able to do freehand. She is able to write those letters on her own.

It is Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who has laid an example for you. He has laid down a pattern for you and He has laid down an imitation for you.

What is that example that He left for you? Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has endured unjust suffering. He was not suffering for His own sin, but He was suffering for your sin and He was suffering for my sin. And even though He was being unjustly punished, what was His example?

No deceit was in His mouth.

He did not retaliate.

And, He left things to His Father, and He submitted to God's Will. Jesus said, "Not my will, but yours be done."

In the same way, we as Christians are called to place our lives in the Father's hands. Place God first, and then place our own comforts and our desires second.

As we look at many peoples' lives in scripture, I suppose a couple that come to mind are that of Joseph and that of Job, certainly the suffering that they went though was unjust. And yet, God was working through their suffering. And in the end, not only was it beneficial for the individual, but it was beneficial for their family and it was beneficial to their nation.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, I close with this true story.

There was once a boy who fell down the stairs, when he was one year old. It shattered his back. When he was seventeen years old, his pastor went to talk to him and interviewed him. He asked him, "How many years have you spent in the hospital, because of your back injury?"

That seventeen-year-old boy said, "For thirteen years I have been in the hospital."

And the pastor said, "Don't you think that is unfair?"

I love the response of that seventeen-year-old boy. He said, "God will make it up to me in eternity."

You see, he wasn't pitying himself about his suffering in this life. He wasn't pitying himself, because of the condition that was dealt to him. He was looking past this life. He was looking to eternity. He was looking forward to living in that ‘sheep pen’ of eternal life in Heaven.

My dear Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, the words that Peter writes today, apply to us, as well. There may be times when we feel we are suffering unjustly, because we are Christians.

Well, what is the way of the Good Shepherd? The way of the Good Shepherd is that He laid down His life as a substitute in your place. He took your sins upon Himself. He carried them to the cross. He became a curse for you. And, He endured Hell for you, to win salvation for you. May we follow the example of our Good Shepherd. May we imitate the pattern that He has laid for us. When He was unjustly suffering, He did not retaliate. When He was suffering, He did not have any deceit in His mouth. And, He submitted to the Will of His Father.

May we, as 21^st century believers, also do the same, submitting ourselves to the Will of the Father, and following the example of the Good Shepherd.

Amen.