September 15, 2025

Today's Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-24

Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 34:1-4, 8-11, 14-33; Nahum 1:1-3:19; Colossians 2:8-23

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 34:11-14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus’ promise to be our Good Shepherd is one of the most memorable and comforting words in our Christian faith. Our Lord has promised to claim us, to feed us, to lead us, and to protect us. But God’s promise to be a Good Shepherd to His people was not something that our Lord Jesus pulled out of nowhere. Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord God promises to shepherd His people Israel. Jesus’ promise to be the shepherd of His people would be familiar to them, as similar words had been brought by the psalms and prophets of old. In the book of Ezekiel, God tells the people of Israel that He Himself would search for His sheep, that He would seek out those who were lost. Surely, God does this time and time again in Scripture when He delivers His people from evil, like His deliverance of Israel from exile in Assyria and Babylon, but His promises are all the more realized and completed in the person of Jesus Christ, who Himself, in flesh, comes to deliver, lead, and care for His people. The Lord, our Shepherd, came to dwell among us and to shepherd us directly. Through His death and resurrection, He rescues His sheep from sin, death, and the power of the devil. In the work of the Holy Spirit, our Lord Jesus gathers together all those sheep who had been scattered by the Fall and brings them to Himself in his generous love. Though we scatter and stray, falling into our sin, our Lord seeks us out, brings us to repent, forgives us, and renews us through His unending mercy and goodness. Finally, when our last hour comes, we will be brought to new pastures, to Paradise, where we will remain as His sheep forever and will scatter and stray no more.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, But yet in love He sought me and on His shoulder gently laid and home rejoicing brought me. (LSB 709:3)

Rev. Benjamin Heinz, pastor of Athens Lutheran Church in Athens, TN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

Join author R. Reed Lessing helps with this chapter-by-chapter exploration of the Book of Numbers in Hope in the Wilderness. With helpful maps, diagrams, and connections to the rest of the Bible, you’ll be able to understand the beauty of Numbers.