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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026
John 10:1-10
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a favorite Sunday for many Christians who follow the Revised Common Lectionary. On the fourth Sunday of the Easter season we always hear Psalm 23, and we always hear a portion of John 10. This Sunday is informally known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.”
The imagery of Jesus as a shepherd was a favorite image of the early church. Some of the earliest depictions of Jesus in Christian art use this imagery. It remains popular to this day. It is popular among all Christians, but it is especially popular among Lutheran Christians – perhaps because historically we have been concentrated in rural areas, in regions of agriculture. When I lived in North Dakota, the largest employer in our county was an assisted living facility called Good Shepherd Lutheran Home. As I started working on this sermon, I wondered how many Lutheran congregations have “Good Shepherd” in their name. A regular Google search didn’t help me – I mean, I wasn’t going to count the results! – so I did an AI-assisted deep dive, which estimated that there are between 300 and 700 Lutheran congregations in the US with some variant of “Good Shepherd” in their name. That’s a lot! That’s a high rate of occurrence!
Our gospel reading for today only includes the first ten verses from John 10. It actually stops just short of Jesus referring to himself as the Good Shepherd, which he does in verse 11. So, we’ll get that next year. This year we hear Jesus instead refer to himself as a gate. “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep.” And then a verse later he says it again: “I am the gate.”
“Gate Sunday” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? Do you know how many Lutheran congregations are named after the gate? I could only find one. There’s a Shepherd’s Gate Lutheran Church in rural Shelby township, Michigan. But even there they had to include “shepherd” in the name too! There is also Golden Gate Lutheran Church in San Francisco, but that doesn’t count. That’s referring to a bridge, not a Bible verse.
Even though we don’t actually hear Jesus call himself the Good Shepherd in our gospel reading for today, even though he instead calls himself a gate twice, we can still celebrate this Sunday as Good Shepherd Sunday. Because, you see, the gate and the shepherd are the same thing! They are literally the same thing.
Sheepfolds in the ancient world, and even in the not-so-ancient world, were square or circular enclosures, often constructed with stone. There was one small opening in the enclosure. The shepherd would lead his sheep into the enclosure for the night to keep them safe from predators and then lead them out of the enclosure the next morning so they could eat, so they could graze. During the night, when the sheep were safely in the enclosure, the shepherd would lie down in the small opening. His body was literally the gate! He would lie in the opening so that nothing could enter without getting past him. The shepherd was literally the gate! Jesus wasn’t mixing metaphors; the shepherd and the gate are the same thing!
Jesus is the gate. And as the gate, he protects his sheep against thieves and bandits who only come to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus protects us from anything that would steal our joy, or kill our hope, or destroy our faith. Jesus protects us from false teachers and false gods and false ideas. Jesus protects us from these thieves and bandits by speaking to us, by giving us his Word. His sheep recognize his voice and follow it. Jesus is the gate by which we are saved, and he blocks the door so that those thieves and bandits can’t come in and steal us away.
Jesus is the gate who has come so that we may have life, and have it abundantly, Jesus says. In our Bible study on John’s gospel earlier this program year I kept reminding people that there are three words in Greek which can be translated as “life” in English. The first is bios, which is where we get the word “biology.” This refers to biological life. If your heart is still beating, you have bios. The second word is psyche, which is where we get the word “psychology.” This refers to one’s inner life, your emotions, your selfhood. Then there is the word zoe, which refers to the spiritual life, to life with God, to eternal life. When you see the word “life” in the gospel of John, it almost always zoe-life.
It is important that we get this right, because otherwise we might misunderstand what Jesus is promising here. When Jesus promises us abundant life, he is not promising abundant bios. He is not promising that Christians will have above-average life spans, that we will live longer than other people. Being Christians doesn’t make us immune to illness or accidents or age. That’s not the kind of life Jesus is talking about.
When Jesus promises us abundant life, he is also not promising us a perfectly calibrated psyche, free from all interior troubles. He is not promising us a care-free life, a life free from all negative emotions or inner struggles. He is not promising that we will never suffer. The reading from 1 Peter for today should make that clear.
What Jesus is promising us is abundant zoe-life. He is promising us a rich and rewarding relationship with God. He is promising us an abundant life overflowing with God’s love and grace. He is promising us peace and joy and hope, even in the midst of hardships and troubles. He is promising us that we will ultimately share his zoe, his eternal life. He is promising to keep us safe in his sheepfold forever.
This goes beyond bios. It is deeper than mere psyche. Jesus is the gate that ensures that we are safe. Jesus is the gate which creates the safe space for zoe-life to flourish, for the abundance of God’s gracious presence to give us the peace and security that nothing else in life can.
I don’t know how many of you saw the movie Project Hail Mary, but you really should. It is teeming with religious imagery. There’s the title, of course, but also the main character’s name is Grace. Come on! It isn’t even subtle! Many have noted that unlike many movies over the last several years, which have been grittier and more cynical, this one is altruistic, earnest, sincere, and full of hope. I agree.
One of the scenes I’ve been thinking about this week – and this isn’t really spoiling anything, so don’t worry – is where the alien, named “Rocky,” explains to the human astronaut that in his culture they take turns sleeping so that there’s always someone to watch over them. Rocky insists on keeping watch so that the astronaut, Dr. Ryland Grace, can sleep. “I watch, you sleep,” Rocky says. The phrase has become a tag line for the movie, showing up on merch and on Instagram and Tik Tok. “I watch, you sleep.” It is a touching, cross-species, intergalactic gesture of care. It is a promise of protection. It creates space for a beleaguered soul to find rest and renewal and, ultimately, hope.
This is part of what it means for Jesus to say he is the gate. He watches so we can lie down in green pastures. He watches so that our souls can be restored. He lies down in the entrance to the sheepfold so that nothing can get past, so that nothing can steal our joy or kill our hope or destroy our faith. He lies there and says to all thieves and bandits, “Over my dead body,” which, as our Risen Lord, was already tried once and didn’t work!
Here’s another illustration for this: I’ve been honored to participate in a few Naval retirement ceremonies over the years, and my favorite part is when the newly retired sailor and his or her family are “piped ashore.” They walk across a red carpet while a bell rings and a pipe whistle is blown, signifying that they are leaving active duty behind for a new life. They are at ease as those who remain assure them that they’ve got the watch.
When Jesus says, “I am the gate,” he is describing his work of leading us into a new life where he keeps the watch, where he protects us from every enemy, where he ensures our safety, where he stands guard so that we can stand down, so that we can be at ease.
“Gate Sunday” will never have the ring to it that “Good Shepherd Sunday” does, but it doesn’t have to, because the two are the same thing. The Good Shepherd is literally the gate! His presence protects us from the thieves and bandits who would come after our souls. His Word leads us away from all the deadly lies that would destroy us. His voice leads us to green pastures and beside still waters, so that our souls can be restored. He watches so that our souls can rest. He stands guard over his church, his people, his sheepfold, in order to create the safe space in which he can give us life with God in abundance, both today and forever.
That’s a Good Shepherd, alright. So whatever wolf is staring you down today, do not be afraid. Jesus, your Good Shepherd, has got you.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church