Homily For The Second Sunday After Easter 2026

Today is the 2nd Sunday after Easter, which is known more commonly as Good Shepherd Sunday.  Because Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the one who lays down his life for the sheep.  He is the perfect model for all who have the vocation, the calling to be pastors.  The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is the earliest image in the Christian Church of Jesus - earlier than the cross, earlier than the ichthus.  Here, at Holy Cross, the theme of the Good Shepherd is always front and center in our worship - it is the main feature of our altar window.  It was one of the earliest images, in part, because it communicated a tremendous amount about the nature of the relationship between God and his people.  It communicates our nature as his needy creatures and his character - whose property is always to have mercy.  

Christ the Good Shepherd is the theme in this early Sunday in Eastertide because He laid his life down for the sheep and then took it up again through His resurrection, bringing joy.

Let us begin by considering our collect, the introductory prayer that summarizes and “collects” the themes in the Epistle and the Gospel.  Today we find it on page 171 where we read, “Almighty God, who hast given thine only begotten Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an ensample (example) of godly life, give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow in the blessed steps of his mostly holy life.”   The collect begins by acknowledging our indebtedness.  What we receive is not a wage but a gift.  God gave his only begotten Son to be first a sacrifice for sin.  There is no forgiveness of sin without sacrifice, there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.  There was no blood, no gift adequate apart from that of Jesus to be a sacrifice for sin.  

The old testament sacrifices pointed to this reality - they were efficacious for those who offered them with faith but they were repeated over and over again because they were shadows, types of what Christ would do in his own flesh - the testimony of Good Friday.   He truly died, he was truly buried, and thanks be to God, he was raised truly, physically, really into a new life at this Resurrection. There is no resurrected life to walk in for the Christian if Jesus did not die and rise again. So, the first part of our collect is an acknowledgement that all that follows proceeds from the gift of God through Jesus Christ that brought forgiveness of sins through His perfect sacrifice for sin. From this flows the next part of our collect, the application for the Christian who joyfully receives the work of Christ for them. In response to the exclusive, inimitable sacrifice of Christ, we walk in his footsteps or in the words of our collect - follow in His  example of a godly life.  We receive his benefit and we desire to walk in this world in obedience to his commandments, desirous to be as he was in this world.  

We acknowledge our dependence. We need his sacrifice to walk as he did.  As one has said, We sinners cannot invert the order, and say that He was given first as our Example, and secondly as our Sin-offering before God. For we cannot imitate Him until He has redeemed us from the power and guilt of sin. The first need of the sinner is pardon and moral freedom, the second the ideal of new life."

Indeed, the self-giving sacrifice of God is evident throughout our Gospel.  His sacrifice for sin, being a willing sacrifice for us.  Jesus in his description here contrasts the actions of the hireling with the Good Shepherd.  The hireling is helpful until there is an emergency, when he might be hurt by predators.  He runs away from the wolves who seek to destroy the sheep.  Jesus says that the hireling runs because he is a hireling - he is only there because of the wages of the work. 

 The Good Shepherd, in contrast to all before him, knows and loves His sheep.  They know Him and recognize his voice. They recognize in his words the truth of God. They believe fully that he has the words of eternal life.  They recognize Him, hear his voice, and follow Him.  

His love moves him to deliberately offer himself to the wolves that the sheep might be saved.  He gives himself over, willingly, to the jaws, the pains of death, so that he might redeem His sheep. He does not seek his own preservation, but lays down his life, indeed, not just for the flock of Israel, but on behalf of all of mankind.  Through Christ’s sacrifice, all the nations will be blessed, so that all can be brought together as one flock having the Good Shepherd as their own.    Later in this passage, Jesus says he gives up his life so that he might take it up again with the same deliberateness as he laid it down in sacrifice.  He says, “...I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again”  

We need to remember the power of Christ’s sacrifice and the power of HIs resurrection. Jesus Christ was a willing sacrifice and completely self-aware that he would return to life again.  

So, we begin with his sacrifice, his work and then ask God for power to walk in his steps.  To make our lives align with His commandments.   We see the pattern over and over again - Christ’s self sacrifice for our sins - purchasing our right standing before God.  Then, our response to the loving redemption of Christ - faith and trust leading to growing obedience to God’s will and commandments.  

Our Epistle for today is taken from the First General Epistle of St. Peter - one of the seven Catholic or general Epistles in the New Testament. St. Peter wrote two and St. John wrote three  catholic epistles, Jude wrote one and James wrote one. 

What classifies them as “catholic” is that they are written to the church at large rather than Christians in specific locations such as the epistles written to the Corinth and Philippi churches.  All the epistles were meant to be shared beyond the churches that are named in them, but these catholic epistles tend to be more focused on the practice of the Christian faith generally, rather than addressing issues occurring at a specific location. In his first general epistle, Peter writes about the pattern of suffering established by our Lord.  He corrects wrong attitudes toward suffering - contrasting suffering the consequences for sin with suffering for Our Lord’s sake. St. Peter says the true test of our faith is how one suffers when one is doing the right thing, when one is obedient to Christ’s commandments and then is punished by a temporal authority for it.  Perhaps you have experienced this yourself, having your motives misunderstood or being falsely accused.  

Such suffering is not only a good thing, says St. Peter, he tells us suffering for doing right is the reason why we were called into God’s kingdom, brought into the sheepfold of the Church, that we might do the right thing even when the result is our own suffering.  Christ suffered for us and showed us how to honor God in our actions.  We follow in his footsteps, what our collect says is the ensample of his most holy life. That strange term, ensample, is an Old English and French word which refers to a living kind of example, not just an object lesson, but a person who lives in such a way as to model behavior for us. What does this kind of obedience look like in such a situation?  It takes the form of not being reactionary, not being responsive to the false accusations of our persecutors. It might look like not fighting back, like turning the other cheek.  Instead of getting angry and insisting on our rights or righteousness, we join with our Lord by committing ourselves to God who sees all things and never fails to do what is right.  

Moreover, God is known to take the evil actions and intentions of men and convert them into a blessing for his people. St. Peter here tells believers to keep a lively remembrance of Christ’s suffering, his righteousness, his willing gift of redemptive suffering, his receiving our punishment, so that we might actively put to death all that is contrary to His will and commandments. We are to exchange all the works of darkness and put on us the armor of light - a theme from advent.  We are to exchange all evil speech and are compelled to bear the fruit of the Spirit. In sum, we are to live unto righteousness as a true thanksgiving for the healing that came through our Lord’s deliberate suffering - known through the stripes on his back, the pierced side, hands and feet.  It is tempting to lash out when we are attacked, but we remember Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was silent when facing false accusations.  

Let us see our situation soberly.  Jesus was sinless and he endured unjust treatment, but truly, we have all gone astray.  

Everyone of us wandered, strayed from the safety of the sheepfold but now we have been returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.  We have been sought out and redeemed by the Good Shepherd so that Jesus Christ might protect and rule his people.

Here in the early part of Easter season, we remember the sacrifice for sin - the perfect offering of Christ for us.  Understanding His sacrifice comes first for the Christian for without that sacrifice, without reliance on the objective reality of His death and resurrection, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. St. Paul would say that without the resurrection, we are people who are to be most pitied, for we are still in our sins. We are liars, deceivers.  So we anchor our hope in Christ’s work and then he calls us to conform ourselves to his pattern of living.  Bearing witness to Christ’s redemptive power through testimony - words to the effect that God saves men and women - and practice - redirecting all my priorities, all my actions to directing others toward His work.  

Our walking in his footsteps is an act of thanksgiving, for Christ’s agony in the Passion.  We are encouraged in our Gospel and Epistle not to serve out of guilt but instead out of thanksgiving. When we look at the gory reality of Christ’s willing sacrifice, if we truly understand our hopelessness apart from Him, our spiritual rebellion and destitution, and then we see His love, his active self-giving - the perfect for the sinner, God would have us be thankful - truly delighted to be received by God and that is the foundation for a life that is ultimately well-pleasing to him.  It is in the spirit of godly thanksgiving that we see so many good things to do, so many people to bless, so many encouragements to share.  Beloved we were sheep gone astray but we have been returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Let us rejoice in His matchless work and let us walk in thanksgiving through obedience to His will.  Amen.