Midweek Lenten Meditation

SERMON

Text: Zechariah 13:7

The LORD of hosts (says), “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

In Christ Jesus, whose passion secured our eternal redemption, dear fellow redeemed:

Photo-albums are a tradition in many families and they play an important role in maintaining a family’s identity and traditions. Cousins get together and have uproariously good times laughing at old pictures of aunts and uncles with funny hair-does and old fashioned clothes. Parents and grandparents sit down with curious children and grandchildren and rehearse old stories about great-uncle Willie’s role in World War I, or great-grandmother Gertrude’s move from the farms of Pomerania to the homestead south of Good Thunder. Children, too, seem to love photo-albums and ask all sorts of questions. “Who is that, mom?” “What is that guy doing, grandpa?”

This year during our Lenten Season we are going to focus on a series of scenes—photographs you might say—taken from the passion history. We want to ask questions about those scenes and then allow Old Testament prophets, who foretold those incidents, to answer our questions.

This evening I would ask you to picture for yourselves the scene of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday evening. You will recall that after eating the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples walked to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, arrived later that night with a band of servants and soldiers from the high priest. Peter tried to defend Jesus with the sword, only to be told by Jesus to put his sword away. The scene I want you to picture occurred right after Jesus’ healed Malchus’ ear. The soldiers grabbed Jesus and arrested him. At that moment the disciples, filled with fear, turned and ran away. Picture, therefore, two soldiers holding Jesus, while in the distance men with their backs turned are fleeing. The evangelists Matthew and Mark record this scene and both then cite the words of our text as a prophetic explanation—“The LORD of hosts says, ‘STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP WILL BE SCATTERED!’”

I.

Now, if a child were to look at our photograph, the first question he might ask would be, “Who is that guy?” The prophet Zechariah would respond, “That Guy is Jesus. Jesus is the shepherd!” The title Zechariah gave Jesus is certainly not unique. We immediately think of Jesus’ own words in John 10, “I am the good shepherd” (Verse 11). But such a title was given both to Jesus and to our Triune God long before this. David wrote in that most familiar Psalm, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah all referred to the promised Savior as a shepherd, and they spoke of the Savior performing the work of a shepherd. They spoke of Jesus taking the lambs up into His arms and carrying them close to His bosom (cf. Isaiah 40:11). They said He would gather Israel and keep them safe as a flock (cf. Jeremiah 31:10). They described Him feeding His flock only that which would be good and healthy for them (cf. Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:4).

Zechariah, however, spoke of the shepherd differently, for he said, “The LORD of hosts says, ‘Strike the shepherd.’” The shepherd would be harmed and have to suffer, but that too is not a new thought. Jesus had said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). So in answer to a child’s first question, we would answer, “The man in the picture is Jesus. He is the shepherd God promised to send, Who would suffer.”

II.

You might well guess what the next question a child would ask would be. “Why? Why are those men arresting Jesus, the shepherd?” Without giving it much thought, we might immediately object. For, after all, Jesus was the Son of God. He had lived a perfect life. He had committed no sin, and, therefore, he was surely innocent of any crime. It would be unfair to arrest Him! Yet, if we listen carefully to Zechariah, we would hear him repeat in response to the child’s question, “The LORD of hosts says, ‘Strike the shepherd.’” Jesus’ arrest was part of God the Father’s plan to rescue us from our sins and from enemies, Satan and death. For you see, the shepherd alone could atone for sins!

The Scriptures make it very clear that “all (men) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Scriptures also make it very clear that because of sin men deserve God’s everlasting judgment for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Furthermore, the Scriptures point out that no one “can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom…for the redemption of their souls is costly” (Psalm 49:7-8). There is not enough time or money in our entire world to work off or pay off the debt we owe God in view of our sins. That is why God established His plan of eternal redemption, in which He sent His only-begotten and beloved Son into this world to become the shepherd, who would give up His life for the sheep! He alone could atone for sin, for He alone lived a perfect life. He alone could pay the penalty for our sins, for the shedding of His blood and the sacrifice of His life was the shedding and the sacrifice of the blood and life of the Son of God! Peter wrote in his first epistle, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1:18-19).

“But, who then are those men running away, and why are they running,” our child might ask? Zechariah’s response would be, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Those men were Jesus’ disciples, who were unable to atone for their sins. Their running away simply demonstrated that fact. It was left up to the shepherd alone to atone for sins!

III.

But, our young child, might well ask, “Whatever happened to those men?” For that questions Zechariah leaves no answer. But we, who know the entire story of salvation, can answer with joy. For after Jesus arose from the dead and to this very day, He—the shepherd—fathers His scattered sheep! Those disciples scattered Maundy Thursday evening and we find them again in hiding in the upper room on Easter Sunday evening. It was there that Jesus appeared to them passing through a locked door. He gave them His peace and instructed them to be His witnesses among all nations, proclaiming the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins! Yes, Jesus gathered those scattered sheep and beginning on Pentecost they boldly proclaimed a risen and ruling Savior!

In His “high priestly” prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus says, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (Verse 20). Jesus has been gathering His scattered sheep throughout the ages and continues to do so even today through the preaching of His Word and the administration of His sacraments. When you and I were baptized, the Good Shepherd gathered us into His fold. Jesus says in John 10, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Verse 27). When we learn the truths of God’s word in confirmation; when we read the Scriptures and have family devotions; when we gather as we have today to worship together, Jesus is gathering and caring for His flock. To that flock, which follows the guidance of His hand, He says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

My dear friends, what meaning this picture has—of two soldiers holding man, while in the distance others flee! “The LORD of hosts says, ‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered!” The Scriptures reveal the Good Shepherd giving up His life for the sheep and bearing them home to heaven! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting