Text: 1 Peter 2:18-25
OPEN:
Our sermon series is: "Life Lessons from a Lifelong Fisherman: Studies in 1 Peter." The Apostle Peter was a professional fisherman when Jesus called him to become a fisher of men, and he reverted to what was familiar after the crucifixion. Evidently, he never lost his love for the feel of a ship under him or the thrill of pulling in nets full of fish. How many tilapia would this haul hold? In fact, tilapia are known around the Sea of Galilee as "St. Peter's fish."
In light of that reality, it's interesting to me that after just three years of discipleship, Jesus tells a fisherman (Peter) to think and act
like a shepherd (John 21). "If you love me, feed my sheep." That would be like telling a banker to leave his vaults and go give money away for a living. - Fishermen and shepherds have opposite values and attitudes. Fishermen only value the biggest fish and throw out the small, while shepherds focus on the smallest and weakest in their flock.
So, don't miss the weight of the imagery Peter uses here in 2:25, where he turns to the metaphor of shepherd to say something enormously important about Jesus and about us.
We have an example to follow and a Savior who cares about us.
I. Jesus is our Example to Follow (2:18-24).
The context of our focal text is the entire section of chapters 2-4 that deal with the command of "submission." Coming from hupo (to place under) and tasso (authority/rank), submission ("accept the authority of" NRSV in v. 13) means voluntary humility. This attitude of the heart allows us and, in fact, forces us to approach every possible human relationship "for the Lord's sake" -- political, vocational, marital, social, ecclesiastical.
Knowing that this command to voluntary submission seems to be asking too much of believers, Peter provides an unavoidable example. Peter was a great preacher and he knew it was time for an illustration. He holds Jesus before us like a multi-faceted diamond, so that in considering Christ as our standard, we might better understand what submission is all about.
Peter describes Jesus' extraordinary sacrifice in the following terms:
1. Absolutely perfect man (2:22) "He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth."
2. Total absence of retaliation (2:23) "When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten."
3. Consummate submission/ ultimate sacrifice (2:24a) "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross."
4. His sacrifice secured our recovery/ redemption (2:24b) "so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
Here is where Peter surprises us by introducing the language of the shepherd....
II. Jesus is our Shepherd (2:25).
This, then, is the real focus of all that Peter is telling us:
"For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."
This is the message we need to hear; when our world crumbles around us, when we can't pay our bills, when depression threatens to engulf us like the dark of the night, when the challenges before us appear insurmountable, Jesus is the shepherd and guardian of our very souls.
To understand this talk of shepherds and sheep, we must understand the work and mindset of the eastern shepherd:
The Shepherd's attention/ concern is extremely personal.
(Luke 15:3-7)
1) The Bible is full of references and reminders that God knows each of us intimately and individually: hairs on our head are numbered, knows our name, names written on the palms of his hands, calls us from our mother's womb, etc.
** I'm truly glad that Jesus never referred to himself or to God in fishermen terms:
- Because the Romans taxed the fishermen based on the number of fish they caught, seasoned fishermen threw out the small fish and kept the big ones. In order to find 100 keepers for the market, a fisherman might have to catch 250 or 300. For a fisherman, size mattered more than numbers. Big fish were important. Small fish were throwaways.
- The attitude of the shepherd was exactly the opposite – every sheep was
valuable, not just the big and strong. In fact the good shepherd was
expected to leave the 99 strong and mature sheep and go after the lost.
He was expected to protect and care for the weak. Before he did
anything else, he was supposed to feed the lambs – the smallest.
2. The Shepherd does what is best for the sheep, whether they understand it or not.
- The familiar image used to represent shepherds is the shepherd's staff. The purpose of the shepherd's staff:
1) Crooked to lift sheep when they've fallen over a ledge and can't get up on their own.
2) Solid in order to use as a weapon for defending the sheep.
3) Hard in order to break the leg of the sheep if it continues wandering off. Sheep stray gradually, always looking for choice pasture/ greener grass.
- God disciplines his children out of love for us.
Hebrews 12:5-7, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
- There is a divine law of consequence for God's children.
Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
God forgives completely, but we will reap the consequences of our choices.
3. The Shepherd has compassion for his sheep.
- Matthew and Mark describe the multitudes for whom Jesus felt compassion, grieving that they were "like sheep without a shepherd."
- Mark says that it was a result of his compassion that Jesus began to teach them many things (Mark 6:34).
- Matthew says that Jesus' compassion motivated him to challenge his disciples to pray for more workers to enter the spiritual harvest fields (Matthew 9:36).
- Since the people of God were like sheep without a shepherd, God provided a compassionate Shepherd in the person of Jesus Christ.
1) Jesus really does care about what you're currently enduring, or the personal battle you're waging.
1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."
CLOSE:
Jesus is the Shepherd of our souls. He knows, and he cares. And he's available to help you out of whatever difficulty you're experiencing.
Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are -- yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)
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