Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 25, 2021 - 4th Sunday of Easter - B
[Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18]"I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. Thi is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep." [John]
The fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally known as "Good Shepherd Sunday." I suspect, however, that unless we are sheepherders, the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd comes from pictures in bibles or stained glass windows in a church. We see actual sheep only at state fairs or when traveling abroad. To the original audience, the image was close to home since the practice of a common corral for all the village flocks was well known, as well as the unique call each shepherd could make to have his/her sheep separate out and follow. Shepherds also took turns sleeping at the gate to guard against theft and predators. Since parables are not a big feature in the Gospel According to John, the use of this one image commands attention!
Jesus presents himself in two ways. First, he is the "gate" through which the sheep come and go to pasture. Second, he is the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He makes the relationship between shepherd and flock an image of the relationship between himself and his Father. This will be reinforced by the image of the unique call: "My sheep hear my voice...."
The original audience (and we) could make the connection between the images from the Old Testament in Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd") and Ezekiel 34 ("Woe to the shepherds") and Jesus' (and the community's) conflict with Jewish religious authority. Jesus would indeed "lay down his life." The image of the relationship between shepherd and sheep is not meant to be one of unthinking passive submissiveness, but rather one of recognition of the life that Jesus offers. He is the gate of access to the Father and he offers us a share in the relationship he has with the Father. AMEN