Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 29, 2007 - Fourth Sunday of Easter [also feast of St. Catherine of Siena]
[Acts 13:14, 43-52; Revelation 7:9, 14B-17; John 10:27-30]Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one
We Americans are proud of the individualism that so marks our character. The "Marlboro Man" or Lone Ranger image has been a popular one for men. Young boys and girls in this country nowadays are raised to be independent and self-reliant. The image of being sheep and dependent is not one that we take to easily. However, as John Pilch, a scripture scholar who writes about the cultural background to the gospel, points out, the image would have made good sense to Jesus' Mediterranean cultural audience. In Middle-Eastern culture, loyalty and unity with one's father is a prized virtue for a young man. Further, in a society where honor is a major cultural force, the "good shepherd" is one who takes care of his sheep and doesn't allow them to perish. The audience would have also seen where the image was going. This is why some of them reacted violently, because Jesus makes himself one with God. "The Father and I are one." It can be a very revealing exercise to examine our own relationship with God to see where our cultural biases enter in. Is God someone that we would be very reluctant to get "close to." Do we prize our independence and self-reliance to the point that God is merely the "Emergency Deity.?" Does our traditionally masculine image of God prevent us from understanding God from a maternal or feminine viewpoint? Does our independence make our faith something like a club we join or not join instead of being our very identity? If we are so independent, where do we expect to get eternal life? Shepherds and sheep may not be a culturally attractive symbol to us, but Jesus' use of the image has a lot to teach us. AMEN
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