Word to the Wise
Monday, May 8, 2017 - 4th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 11:1-18 and John 10:1-10 or, in Year A, John 10:11-18,905]MONDAY, MAY 8, 2017 MONDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER [Acts 11:1-18 and John 10:11-18] " I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." [John] I find it helpful in understanding the "Good Shepherd" discourse to think in terms of one image with three parts. The one image is a sheep corral with a gate, a shepherd and a flock composed of several separate flocks. The three parts are gate, guard, leader. (Again I recommend reading the entire discourse, John 10:1-30). Yesterday (Sunday) the gospel scripture featured "the gate." Jesus represented himself as the way in and out for eternal life. Today, Jesus shows himself to be the guardian of the sheep. Typically, the shepherd who kept night watch at the corral would sleep in the gate, to guard against robbers or predators. He would "lay down his life" for the sheep since the sheep would be his entire livelihood.. This, indeed, is what Jesus did. He "laid down his life" for us. Furthermore, his voice would be greater than the voices of the other shepherds, so that the various "flocks" would be united. This is the third part of the image, Jesus as leader. In the practice of the day, all the sheep of the village would be kept at night in one corral. Each shepherd would have a distinctive call that he would give in the morning and his sheep would separate from the larger group in the corral to follow their particular shepherd. In thinking of the second part of the image - the shepherd as guardian - we may realize that we humans were and are worth someone else's life! Jesus laid down his life for us as the good shepherd would do. Tomorrow, we will hear the "voice" of the leader and consider the third part of the image. AMEN
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