Fourth Sunday after Easter
John 10:11-18
Dear listeners assembled in the sheep pen of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep...Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.
He has laid down His life for the sheep, dieing the death due the sheep on the tree of the cross. He has taken it up again, risen on the third day. This is good news for you, for you are a sheep of His fold. He has died that you would not have to, suffering the full wrath of God in your place with every last bit of your sin, and gives you the benefits of His death and resurrection—namely, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—sealed to you personally with the sign of the cross made on forehead and heart with the waters of Holy Baptism whereat He called you His own—His own sheep, His own child, His own brother and fellow heir of salvation.