The following is my translation of Martin Chemnitz’s homily outline for the Second Sunday after Easter (Dominica Misericordiae Domini) as found in his Postilla (Vol. II, pgs. 117–18). Chemnitz’s text is John 10:11–16, 26–30. As far as I know, the last few verses are not normally included in the reading for this Sunday and this may be unique to Chemnitz. Square brackets indicate my own personal notes.
Chemnitz’s Homily Outline
“In order that we may now deal with this doctrine so that we may grasp and retain something useful from it, we will deal with aforementioned text of today’s Gospel this time in four parts:
- First, we will hear how this Gospel speaks of the single Good Shepherd of whom the sheep are His own, who therefore takes care of them with such faithfulness that He lays down His life for them rather than allowing them to fall prey to the hellish wolf, and how herein the entire office (Ampt) of our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is described and grasped, and how we ought to learn to know and consider from this the faithfulness and and great love of the Lord Christ.
- Second, when we know this, that Christ is the only Good Shepherd, who has acquired and merited salvation for us, His little sheep (Schäflein), granting it also to us all together that we may become partakers together of these goods, therefore, He ordains (verordnet) in His stead (an seine Stat) other faithful pastors (Hirten) and caretakers of souls (Seelsorger), to whom he commits and entrusts His little sheep [see Ephesians 4:11ff.]; how they ought to conduct themselves in their office (Ampt), that they be found faithful and neither neglect nor lead astray the little sheep from the Lord Christ; and how they ought to lead and carry out their office with great diligence, that they remember that the time will come when they must give an account [Hebrews 13:17] to the Chief Shepherd (Ertzhirten) [1 Peter 5:4] on that day as to how they have carried out their office, and thus, how they ought to expect either reward or punishment according to what they have done.
- Third, how the devil also sends his apostles so that he may also enlarge his kingdom and draw away the little sheep of Christ to himself and snatch them, strangle them, and devour them. In order to do this, he makes use of false teachers, who with their lies and errors lead the people away from the pure doctrine onto an erring path and seduce them through scandalous examples so that they all turn aside from God’s ways and fall prey to the hellish wolf. Or when He cannot accomplish anything through such wolves in a place, then he makes use of the hirelings, who indeed conduct the teaching (Lehre) rightly, but do not make right use of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven1 [by] not rebuking false doctrine, not warning their little sheep of [false doctrine], not speaking to anyone concerning their sins, but rather they are concerned only that in their office they may have everyone’s favor and enjoy great benefit and pleasure from their hearers; how one ought to learn to recognize such wolves and hirelings so that he can guard himself and beware of them, because there is great danger and concern in this that such people deprive us of our salvation and blessedness.
- Fourth, concerning the little sheep, how thy ought to conduct themselves, how about all they ought to hold fast to their Shepherd, the Lord Christ, hear His voice, and follow Him, how they ought to listen to the preachers which Christ has ordained (geordnet) in His place (an seine Stat) and given to them, how they ought not to despise them, but rather to accept their teaching, how they ought to guard and beware of wolves and hirelings so that they are not led astray by them and thus delivered into the jaws of the hellish wolf; and what comfort they should have if they are and remain the little sheep of the Lord Christ, how they ought to comfort themselves already at this time that they will be pastured and be cared for with temporal and eternal pasture, that is, that they will have their necessities, and that they will be sustained through the saving nourishment of the divine Word and the most worthy Sacraments to eternal life, and thereafter, in the world to come, that they will have fullness and satisfaction.
We will now deal with these four parts briefly. May the beloved God be richly among us with His Holy Spirit, grace, and blessing, and grant that we may rightly receive this teaching (Lehre) and heartfelt warning (Vermahnung) from our faithful Shepherd as obedient little sheep, and make Christian use of it. Amen.”
Footnotes:
PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS 