1 Peter 2:19-25 [Easter 4/Good Shepherd Sunday A]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
April 30, 2023
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, dear friends, Life isn’t always fair. You know this, right? Sometimes we might feel quite strongly that the wrong people have all the advantages while the right people—and this always includes us(!)—are just trying to get by as we suffer disadvantages of all kinds. At other times it’s not just a feeling, we literally suffer at the hands of others—and we don’t like it, so we strike back or retaliate with words or spread gossip about them. Even if we do nothing outwardly, sinful anger burns inside of us. We can find many ways to try to ease our suffering by making others suffer too. If you’ve done this, you’ve no doubt found that it really doesn’t work. It doesn’t take your hurt away and it even makes you feel worse. If you are a child of God, you end up with the added burden of knowing you have sinned against God and the other person. Our sinful nature doesn’t handle suffering well. Today our Savior shows us the proper way to view suffering. He also shows us a way to handle suffering. The Apostle Peter points to Jesus, our Good Shepherd, so that we can specifically learn about SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD 1. The Good Shepherd Shows the Way 2. The Sheep Follow the Good Shepherd When it comes to SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD, Jesus, the GOOD SHEPHERD, SHOWS THE WAY for his sheep. Vengeful thoughts, words that pay back wrong with wrong, accusations against God when we suffer, sinful complaining…these kinds of things prove that we are just as God says—we are like sheep going astray. We are like sheep wandering away from their shepherd. It could be that you have not thought about this as being such a big deal, but these sins are as damning as any other. But there is hope. There is hope when we look to Christ, our Good Shepherd, the One who shows the way. God says: you were called to do this (to suffer), because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you would follow in his steps. There are plenty of non-Christians who would agree that Jesus was a good person whose life is worthy mimicking—you know, the kindness, gentleness, reaching out to the poor... But God says that he is more than that. In this context of suffering, Peter explains why: He did not commit a sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he did not insult in return. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself carried our sins in his body on the tree so that we would be dead to sins and alive to righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.