The Monday after Misericordias Domini Sunday
Posted on April 20, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 10:1-11 (NKJV)
10:1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Devotion
When we become familiar with something we often don’t stop to think about it. An illustration can reawaken our attention. A sheepfold is a corral where sheep are kept for the night. The shepherd quite obviously enters by the door to retrieve his sheep. The person who seeks to get to the sheep by climbing over the fence has nefarious purposes in mind.
The Church corresponds to the sheepfold as the place where God’s people are gathered. The pastor who faithfully preaches Jesus (the door) is a good shepherd of the sheep. Those pastors who seek to reach the sheep but avoid the Gospel of Jesus Christ do not have the sheep’s best interests in mind. False teachers are like thieves and robbers.
This illustration can also tell us something about God’s sheep, the people gathered around the Word centered in Jesus. The ones who believe in Jesus are like the sheep who know the voice of their shepherd and follow Him. These true believers in Jesus will not follow a Jesus-less preacher. They will only listen to a preacher who rightly divides Law and Gospel. Saving safety is found in a Jesus-preaching shepherd, who comes to give His sheep eternal life.
Collect: God, Who, by the humiliation of Thy Son, didst raise up the fallen world: Grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, do Thou make partakers of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
