Am I in plan B, C or Z of a life that should be so much better?

A painful breakup. A missed opportunity. A relationship off the rails.        A bad career event. A chronic illness that changed everything. A family that fell apart. A drug habit.

Every single one of us has reasons that drive us to fear: Am I missing my only chance at my “best life”?

For someone reading John’s Gospel, they saw Jesus in conflict with the Pharisees in chapter 9 about appropriate teaching about the Sabbath. And now in chapter 10 Jesus introduces the metaphor of a shepherd to talk about leadership and teachers in the church.

Jesus has claimed to be the true door, the true shepherd of the sheep—that’s us, the sheep.

And immediately before our passage, he said he’s come to give us life to the max, v. 10 he says:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

So, the reader of John’s Gospel is probably thinking: If Jesus came to give abundant life, then why is MY life a graveyard of missed opportunities?

Jesus is the “good shepherd”—but what does that actually mean? Why is that relevant to my life? …and not just some religious mumbo jumbo.

Well, it means that Jesus does give an answer to that question:

Am I in plan B, C or Z of a life that should be so much better?

And Jesus’ answer in this passage is not fluffy or vague, he makes two sharp contrasts:

1) False Gospels are preached by leaders who consume you
2) The true Gospel is that Jesus died for the life you have

The first contrast: 1) False Gospels are preached by leaders who consume you

Please look again at verses 12-13:

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

The context of the conversation is about teachers and leaders. And Jesus’ picture of himself as a teacher and leader is as the good shepherd. These hired hands and wolves are contrasted to Jesus as the good shepherd, and so they are also a picture of teachers.

In v. 12 the wolves scatter the sheep… …whereas in v. 16 more sheep are gathered …and look how Jesus gathers them, v. 16:

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

This reinforces the context that the wolves and hired hands are teachers… and the issue is: whose voice will the sheep listen to?

Let’s look more carefully at the wolves and hired hands… …what do we learn about them? Why does Jesus use this particular picture to represent the false teachers he’s been debating with and others?

Well, first see what hired hands and wolves have in common: they use the sheep for their own benefit, they don’t act for the benefit of the sheep.

They’re about the things they can get as teachers. Not about the needs of the people they teach.

They serve themselves. They don’t serve the sheep.

This is the characteristic fruit of false teaching: It serves the teachers, not those who are taught.

That’s how the hired hands and wolves are the same, but, we also learn something from their differences.

The hired hands are employed by the owners, they only look after the sheep because they’re paid. They’re “insiders” motivated by money.

The wolves have nothing to do with the sheep, the wolves snatch the sheep to feed on them. They’re “outsiders” motivated by their own desires.

So, because the wolves are outsiders, motivated by their desires… …Luther described these teachers as those who teach human wisdom and doctrine.

And because the hired hands are insiders, motivated by working for wages… …he described these teachers as those who teach the Law, and not the Gospel.

Teaching false promises and legalism… these are ways to get money and glory from people. But, this kind of teaching does not unite people… …it scatters them. It doesn’t result in churches where people are united in what they believe. It results in churches where people are divided and confused.

False gospels like these are why we feel our lives are on the wrong path.

Human wisdom, the teaching of wolf, says: “Your life would be better if you were wiser.”

The Law, the teaching of legalism, says: “Your life would be better if you were more obedient.”

These messages can only crush you, convict you of guilt. We naturally listen to these accusing messages, and that’s why we feel we’re on plan B, C, or Z.

Some of you are listening to wolves and hired hands right now.

You’re consuming media, advice, books, or TikToks, that teach you that your problem is:
—you didn’t love yourself enough,
—you weren’t smart enough.
—you’ve missed out because you weren’t wise.

And the solution they offer? “Be better. Do more. Try harder. Work smarter. You might have missed out so far, but there’s still a chance to make things a bit better!”

That’s the hired hand. That’s the wolf. Those voices don’t love you. They don’t know your name. They abandon you the moment you make a mistake. And they scatter.

Legalistic teaching divides by telling you you’ll miss out, you’ll miss your chance, unless you do things the right way.

And so we fight each other: worried that we’re missing out… …that people are keeping us back… …that we have to compete for the best… …suspicious of one another. That’s the effect of the wolf and the hired worker in our lives.

But in sharp contrast to these false teachers… 2) The true Gospel is that Jesus died for the life you have

Look again at v. 11:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

This is so important, Jesus says it twice, look again at v. 15:

I lay down my life for the sheep.

Why would Jesus say this twice? Why would he stress it? It’s important because it means this: Jesus died for the life that you have.

Your life—the one you’re living—really matters to him. You really matter to him. That is how seriously he takes it. That is how far he goes.

Think about what that means… Why would he do that? Why would he die for your life… only to leave you to rot in plan X, Y, or Z?

Jesus died for the life you have. Jesus died for the life you’re living. You are on plan A. You have abundant life. You’re not missing out on what could have been.

That doesn’t mean you don’t have struggles—or even serious ones. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus will pray this:

this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Abundant life is a life of relationship with your heavenly Father.

If Jesus is your shepherd, if he cares about you so much to die for you, if he is your leader and your teacher… then no matter how difficult, messy or screwed up your life often feels: You are not being punished.

You have not been shifted onto plan B, C, or Z. You are not missing out on what could have been.

Jesus is your shepherd. He died so you could live the life you’re living. It has purpose, value, substance to him.

Jesus doesn’t say: live your life better. He says: I lived a better life for you.

Jesus doesn’t say: make these sacrifices if you want the best. He says: I already made the perfect sacrifice for you.

Jesus doesn’t say: if only you were wiser, you wouldn’t have missed out. He says: true wisdom is hidden in foolish trust, you haven’t missed out on anything.

Because Jesus is your shepherd, he assures you that even your failures, misteps or mistakes, are redeemed by him: they actually have a positive purpose in his plan.

I can’t tell you how. But the Bible shows us this truth in many places:
—Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery.
—Peter denying Jesus.
—David committing adultery with Bathsheba.
—Saul murdering Stephen

Even heinous acts like these turned out to have positive purposes in the lives of those who did them.

Jesus redeems us. He leads us as a shepherd, even using our mistakes for good.

And he is the good shepherd. Whatever plan for your life he has as your leader, it is a plan for YOUR good, not for his good.

Jesus died for you. He didn’t die for himself. Jesus gave himself for you. He’s not using you.

And his plans go even wider, look again at v. 16:

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Jesus rose from the dead and is still gathering people, and those people will be united together.

Jesus’ purposes for your life include belonging to his body, the church.

He is uniting us together as a church: that’s why Jesus rose from the dead, that’s why we take communion every week.

The new life we have in him is a new life with others in his body.

Because we belong to him and he belongs to us, that’s what he says in vv. 14-15:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;

And that is the direction to look to overcome that feeling that we are living a substandard life.

When Jesus promised in v. 10 that he would give life abundantly… …this is what he meant: the true life of knowing your heavenly Father intimately.

Your life is not on plan B, C, or Z. Jesus is your shepherd. He died for the life you have. And he wants you to enjoy real intimacy with your Father in heaven.

He gathers us together, to him, through his voice, v. 15:

they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

That’s why the true mark of God’s People is not the traditions they follow, or the works they perform… the mark of God’s People, of the church, is this voice of Jesus: God’s Word.

Through this Word he is destroying those false legalistic gospels of the hired hands and the wolves.

Through this Word he is assuring us that our lives really matter to him and bringing us together into the sheepfold.

Through this Word he is gathering others also to join us, and be united with us as his body.

And so, look at Christ in his Word.

But, this doesn’t just mean read the Bible or listen to the Bible. God’s Word is Law and Gospel… …but the hired hands confuse the Law and the Gospel.

Look at Christ’s free grace and kindness in the Gospel. Look at your Baptism, where this Gospel was applied to you. Come to the Supper, where this Gospel is offered to you.

So… Am I in plan B, C or Z of a life that should be so much better?

So often when facing the sufferings in our lives, we feel this way.

Jesus tells us…

1) False Gospels are preached by leaders who consume you

Hired hands who preach the Law. Wolves who preach human wisdom. Both do so for their own benefit. These messages are divisive and discouraging. Convincing us we’re missing out on something better.

But…

2) The true Gospel is that Jesus died for the life you have

Jesus died for life now, the life your living, not for some different plan you’ve missed out on. He’s your shepherd, he knows that he’s doing, and through his voice, his Word, he gathers us and others to become one body. So look at Christ, look at his Gospel, look at your baptism, receive his Holy Supper.

And as you do so, hear his voice saying:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”