FROM LUTHER’S PRAYERS:

My Lord Jesus Christ, you are indeed the only Shepherd, and I,
sorry to say, am the lost and straying sheep. I am anxious and
afraid. Gladly would I be devout and cling to you, my gracious
God, and so have peace in my heart. I learn that you are as
anxious for me as I am for you. I am eager to know how I can
come to you for help. Anxiously you desire above all else to
bring me back to yourself again. Then come to me. Seek and
find me. Help me also to come to you and praise and honor you
forever. Amen.

The 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters,
he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, God of all power, you called from death
they comfort me.
our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the
Thou preparest a table before me sheep. Send us as shepherds to rescue
in the presence of my enemies; the lost, to heal the injured, and to feed
thou anointest my head with oil, one another with knowledge and
my cup overflows.
understanding; through your Son, Jesus
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
all the days of my life; with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord now and forever.
forever.

FOURTH SUNDAY GOSPEL: John 10: 11-18

OF EASTER (Jesus said): “I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired
hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the
sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs
away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not
care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my
own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason
the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to
take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it up again. I have received this
command from my Father.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ?
I am the good shepherd.
John x. 14
These are comforting words, which set before
our eyes a gracious picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
teach us what sort of a Person He is, what sort of work
He does, and how He is disposed towards men.
And if you ask me whether Christ is saintly, I
answer without hesitation ‘Yes’, and I place Him like a
shield before my own saintliness, and I trust in Him with
my whole heart. For I was baptized in Him and have
received in the Gospel a letter and seal, that I am His
dear lamb, and that He is my good shepherd, who seeks
His lost lamb and deals with me in no legalistic way. He
demands nothing of me, neither does He drive me on;
He does not threaten, neither does He frighten me, but
He shows me His sweet grace, and lowers Himself to
me, even beneath me, and takes me upon Himself, so
that I now lie on His back and carried by Him. Why
then should I be afraid at the quaking and thundering of
Moses or even of the devil? I am under the protection of
the Man who has given me His saintliness and all that
He has, who supports me and upholds me that I cannot
be lost so long as I remain His lamb and do not doubt
Him or wilfully fall away from Him.
Sermons from the year 1532. W.A. 36. 296.
Taken from the book:
Day by Day We Magnify Thee by Martin Luther
Page 182