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Jesus is a lot of things. He is the "door," the "vine," the "head of the body," the "well of life-giving water." Jesus is the "Good Shepherd." And, borrowing a phrase from Blessed Martin, "IS MEANS IS." The Lord doesn't just "represent" a shepherd, He IS Good Shepherd! Not a man standing out in a pasture with a stick, some food, and a flock of wooly animals munching on green vegetation, but our Supernatural Shepherd standing at our Fonts, altars, Scriptures, with the stick of the LAW and the Food that is His Word, Body and Blood. And you, His human flock, feast on Him, the "quickening" fruit of the green tree of life.

The Good Shepherd is better than good. He is the beautiful, perfect "model" Shepherd, because He is God.

The Greek word for Shepherd, (the word St. John uses) is in the Latin tongue, translated as "Pastor." We know that word in our own native English. Jesus is the Good Pastor who gives His Life for the Sheep. Literally, He "lays down" His life for His lambs.

Thank God He does. Without Him we have no life at all--only death, decay and dark lakes of eternal fire. Adam's sin unleashed death. Our in-born disobedience follows our first parents' trespass. The way you treat other people brings death. The lies, excuses, temper tantrums, put-downs & insults are like flies buzzing around a "dead body." The petty thefts, the coveting of others' wealth and success, the lusting after other bodies are like the "stench from a day's old corpse." The lack of perfect fear, love and trust in God; the cavalier and lazy attitude over His Word, His Name, His Holy Day are like the "bleached skeletal bones" sitting in front of two large Tablets--tombstones.

For you to have life, you need to get it from someone who can give it to you. For you to have everlasting existence, you need to receive it from someone who is eternal. You need Jesus' Life. He lays It down for you even as He laid It down on the wood of the Tree. He permitted His Life to be spiked down onto the cross, so that He might give It to you.

There are false shepherds, masquerading pastors. You know them by their words, but also by their actions. They are called "hirelings" by Christ. Literally, they are the "wages" guy, the "money" men. They don't really belong because they are not part of the family. They do "what they do" for payback. They are the ones concerned with mammon, filthy lucre. They look to their own bellies and pasture themselves on the sheep. It's no wonder they "cut and run" in times of danger. They're not real pastors because the sheep don't really belong to them, or they to the sheep. For them, it's business not blood. A hired "teen" at Burger King, a babysitter, a mercenary....they can all leave, walk away, because there is no binding, connective, shared reality--No family ties.

Family. Communion. The Father, the Big Brother, the patriot citizen (lover of the land, community, neighborhood)... these all stay and fight. They love and share in that which is precious to them.

Woe to the flock in the hands of the "hireling." The wolf scatters them and they flee before him. The wolf is patient, cunning, the master of the hunt, and armed with teeth for tearing. He comes to kill and feed. The wolf is satan. The wolf is sin. The wolf is even our old wicked natures themselves.

Many of you have seen "nature shows" filmed in Africa. Many remember Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom." You've seen the way wolves and other pack predators hunt. Once the herd is scattered it becomes particularly vulnerable. The animal by itself, especially the young, old, weakened or diseased falls easy prey.

The Church is never to be scattered. Christ desires true unity in true faith; faith in the Good Pastor, the Good Shepherd. He wants the sheepfold to eat the same salutary food. You are to congregate together, not scatter apart. You are rightly called a "congregation," not a bunch of wandering loners. If you are not part of the flock, the family, the wolf wins. Death triumphs.

It's okay to be a sheep. To admit to sheep-hood is to also acknowledge that you can't fend off the wolf; that you need a shepherd, and that you have The Good Shepherd.

He's brought you into His flock. He "knows" His own. And Jesus says, "I am known by My own." That Jesus "knows" you means more than Him having awareness, recognition, and familiarity. The thought behind the Greek word for "know" is a self-sacrificial, volitional and conscious choice to choose, to love, to give and make a "communion" between the Lover and the loved; between the Shepherd and His sheep; between the Savior and His saved.

Ask any "only child" what they wish had been different during their childhood. Their answer, regardless of how good a childhood they had, will invariably be "I wish I would have had brothers and sisters." God made us this way. We need family. Sheep need the flock and the Good Pastor Jesus.

The flock will grow. It has. It will. From Jews to Greeks. From mediterranean people to Germans, English and Indonesians. The "other sheep" are all the other gentiles that Jesus loves (Knows) and that will hear His voice in the beauty of His Gospel, the forgiveness of sins; the Life of Christ.

So, how does one "get" Jesus' Life? How do you get Jesus' Life?

Well, how do you "get into" anyone's life? By being with them. By having them share with you and interact with you and give you of themselves. It wasn't the "stuff" which your Dad gave you that was important, it was the time he spent with you. It wasn't the "things" he bought you from the "world" that mattered, it was when He told you that he loved you; when he embraced you... when you got to sit with him on the couch, stand with him by his work-bench or ride along with him to the hardware store.

So too with our heavenly Father. So too with our Good Shepherd, Jesus. He laid down His life on the cross, letting that awful wolf tear him and devour him. For three days only. So that now, the same Christ lays down His life in His Word preached; in His Word used to absolve, in His Very Body and True Blood layed down to you when you kneel at the rail. Love in the flesh, laying down love for you. Peace giving perfect peace. "The" Life Incarnate giving eternal life. You are what you eat.

The Good Shepherd and His lambs, together for ever.