Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 17, 2016 - 4th Sunday of Easter - C
[Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30]"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." [John]
This Sunday is traditionally known as "Good Shepherd Sunday." Each of the three "Sunday Cycle" scriptures features a passage from John 10, in which Jesus uses the shepherd/sheep image to speak of his relationship to his Father and to his disciples. Once more I recommend reading the entire tenth chapter of John to get the big picture. The small passage for today comes well toward the end. And the last line provokes his audience to pick up stones to throw.
The relationship between Jesus and his Father was not as clear then to his audiences as it might be to us who have the benefit of 2000 years of reflection on this gospel. Even now scripture scholars will debate just how clear it is! But it was clear enough for the audience to be provoked because they thought he was being blasphemous. In pious Jewish eyes, no human could claim the relationship that Jesus was claiming: "The Father and I are one."
The extended metaphor of shepherd and sheep ranges from the gate of the corral to the way of calling one's own sheep out of a mixed group of flocks, to the way of protecting the flocks from predators or thieves. All of this seems designed to insure that we as disciples can count on Jesus' help in following him. The image of the shepherd in Psalm 23 would be familiar to us as a way of poetically representing the message.
Hearing, seeing, believing, following......all of these are elements of our faith and call for our trust in the "Good Shepherd" who is One with the Father. AMEN
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