Posted on 04/20/2024 4:24:59 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“Salvation in the Good Shepherd and in No One Else” (Acts 4:1-12; John 10:11-18)
Today we are celebrating “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the day every year when the readings, the hymns, etc., all deal with Jesus as our Good Shepherd. Which makes our first reading today seem a little out of place. Because in this text from Acts 4 there is no mention of “shepherd” or “flock” or that type of language. But it is a strong resurrection text, which makes it fitting during this Easter season. And it certainly proclaims salvation in Christ most clearly. And this does tie in very well with Jesus calling himself the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. And so our theme today: “Salvation in the Good Shepherd and in No One Else.”
In the reading from Acts 4, the apostles Peter and John are “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” This is what Jesus told them to preach when he said: “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” So here in Acts, the apostles are doing what Christ had told them to do. They are being witnesses of these things. Peter and John had seen Jesus risen from the dead, they had heard his words, and now they are being his witnesses, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, and calling people to repentance and forgiveness in his name.
What did this preaching get them? Well, for one thing, the Holy Spirit worked through their preaching to bring many people to faith: “many of those who had heard the word believed,” and the number of believers increased to about five thousand. But this preaching of the resurrection in Jesus’ name also brought the apostles something else: persecution. The temple guard came and arrested them. Peter and John had seen Jesus arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, not long ago. Now it was happening to them. When Jesus was brought to trial, Peter was afraid and denied that he even knew Jesus. Now Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, with great boldness declares what he knows to be true. Unafraid, he says that what they’ve been doing they have done “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” What’s more, Peter tells the Sanhedrin, straight up: “Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified . . . God raised from the dead.”
Think of the courage it took for Peter to say that! “You guys crucified Jesus, but God raised him from the dead. You were wrong, dead wrong, but God is mightier than you.” And Peter doesn’t stop there. He goes on: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” And Peter wraps it up by saying: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
“There is salvation in no one else.” “There is no other name by which we must be saved.” Only the name of Jesus. No one else can save you. That’s it. There is only one road to salvation, not many roads. There is only one name by which we must be saved, not many names. It’s like Jesus had told the disciples: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
This is the exclusivity of the Christian faith. Do you realize how distasteful and out of step this is to the people of this world? They hate it! Take, for example, militant Islam, the Muslim terrorists who will murder Christians for believing what Peter says here, that there is salvation only in the name of Jesus. On the other hand, in Europe and here in America, you have the secularists, the non-religious types, who are highly offended if you dare to say there is salvation only in Christ. They will try to shut you down and silence your voice, if you speak like Peter is speaking here.
But our voice will not be silenced. We will not shut up. We will not be intimidated. No, we will proclaim boldly what Jesus has given us to say. We will preach what Peter preached, no matter how powerful or threatening the opposition. We preach Christ crucified and risen from the dead. We preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name. We proclaim salvation and the resurrection of the dead in the name of Jesus Christ. For his is the only name by which we must be saved.
“There is salvation in no one else.” And so Islam is a false, made-up religion. Their imaginary god, Allah, will not save you. Their prophet, Mohammed, will not save you. There is no god named Allah, and Mohammed is his false prophet. God’s wrath be upon them. Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, any other “-ism” that does not teach Jesus Christ as the very Son of God, crucified and risen bodily from the dead, the only Savior of sinners--those false religions will not save you.
Oh, and then there are those who say they have no religion at all. They say they are “spiritual but not religious.” And their numbers are increasing. Over the last ten or twenty years, we have seen what is called “the Great Dechurching of America.” Church membership and church attendance have plummeted. If you tell these folks there is salvation in no one but Jesus, they may not even care. They don’t even think they need to be saved. “Saved from what? I’m good enough. I’m a nice person.”
But your own goodness, your own niceness, will always come up short. Imagining that there is no god to whom we are accountable--that doesn’t change the fact that there is. Wishful thinking about death--well, let’s not think about that. The delusion that there will be no day of judgment? Good luck with that. Wishful thinking will not save you. And make no mistake: You need to be saved. Death is a reality to be reckoned with. Your sins will condemn you. There is a God who will judge you. There is an eternity to be spent either in heaven or in hell. How will you be saved?
It is the recognition of this reality, and, more than that, it is the knowledge of the wonderful reality of how God has rescued us from sin and death and judgment--this is what gave Peter and John the courage to preach, even in the face of persecution. The blessed reality of the gospel of Christ--this is what will give us the courage to persevere in our faith and in our commitment to support the preaching of the gospel. This type of courage and commitment comes from knowing Jesus, the one and only name by which all people must be saved.
What is it about Jesus that saves us? Now this is where the Acts 4 reading ties in with our reading from John 10. Listen to what Jesus says about himself: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” And again: “I am the good shepherd . . . and I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”
Here Jesus is saying that he will lay down his life as a sacrifice to save the life of his sheep. Friends, that’s us. We are those sheep. Jesus willingly laid down his life for us by being lifted up on the cross. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered and died for you, for your sins, so that you will never die eternally. He is your forgiveness. He is your righteousness. He is your life and salvation.
And just as Jesus had the authority to lay down his life, so he has the authority to take it up again. Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners, rose from the dead--visibly, physically risen on Easter Day. Now he lives forever, victorious over death, and he shares his resurrection victory with us. You who are baptized into Christ--when Jesus comes again, you also will be raised from the dead, whole in body and soul, raised to eternal life with Christ and all his saints. This is the salvation your Good Shepherd has won for you, and it is sure and secure in him.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He laid down his life for us to rescue us from sin and death and all that would harm us. He has taken up his life again in resurrection victory, the pledge of our own resurrection at the Last Day. This is God’s plan for all people in sending us a Savior, and there is no Plan B. This is the inclusivity of the Christian faith, that the Good Shepherd has other sheep all around the world he is bringing into his flock, the church. “So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
Friends, it is with joy and confidence that we who know Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd can boldly say with Peter: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
John 10:11-18 (ESV)
[Jesus said:] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. 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. 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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Ping.
Thanks for the ping.
Christianity really is inclusive because it’s open to ANYONE who wishes to avail themselves of it.
Social status, religiosity, good works, money, education can’t buy it.
Anyone can accept Christ and His forgiveness and repent and be saved no matter what age, culture, or ability.
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