Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Often times, when Jesus taught and preached, the people did not understand Him. Sometimes it was because He often spoke in parables, but even when He didn't, what He said was so different than their teachers and what they were saying that the people didn't understand. Not at first. And what Jesus said today is one of those times. Now, that may surprise you to hear me say that. You want to hear about the Good Shepherd. You want, you need, that comfort and assurance. But in first century Israel, a shepherd who died for his sheep was not a good shepherd, but a stupid one! Sheep were a commodity. A valuable one, perhaps. But still, a commodity.