Monday of Week 4 of Easter – Gospel
1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Commentary on John 10:1-10
The Vatican II Missal offers us a description of shepherding that is relevant to today’s Gospel:
“Two kinds of sheepfolds or corrals are mentioned in today’s reading. In the common town sheepfold, the shepherd makes his special call and his sheep follow him out confidently. Out on the range, however, a “gatekeeper” sleeps across the corral opening: his body is the protecting door. So we live, pray and are saved through Jesus our Good Shepherd.”
We now jump from chapter 7 to chapter 10, omitting the whole episode linked with Jesus as the Light of the World and the dramatic healing of the man born blind, texts which we reflected on during Lent in relation to baptism. We begin today to consider two images that Jesus gives of himself: the first is that of a gate and the second that of a shepherd.
We have to imagine a “sheepfold” as an area surrounded by walls or wooden fencing but open to the sky, and with only one entrance. The walls kept the sheep from wandering and protected them from wild animals at night. Only a genuine shepherd enters the sheepfold through the single gate. Thieves and brigands will try to enter by another way, such as by climbing over the walls or breaking through the fence.
All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them.
Jesus is referring to all the ‘false shepherds’, including some of the Pharisees and religious leaders of his time who are quite unlike the true prophets of the past.
However, The real shepherd enters by the gate and is recognised and admitted by the “gatekeeper” (the one mentioned above who sleeps across the entrance). There are many sheep in the sheepfold belonging to different shepherds so the shepherd calls his own sheep out one by one. He then walks ahead of them and they follow their shepherd because they know his voice. They never follow strangers. (This is quite different from the European or Australian custom where the sheep are driven from behind.)
We are told that his hearers failed to understand the meaning of what Jesus said. They failed to realise that the parable applied particularly to the religious leaders.
So he spoke more clearly:
Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
Here we have the second of the seven ‘I AM’ (ego eimi) statements made by Jesus in this Gospel. Again Jesus points to his divine origin by using the name of God which was given to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).
In contrast to the ‘false shepherds’ mentioned earlier, Jesus, as the Gate and the Way, has come:
…that they may have life and have it abundantly.
This is a constant theme we have heard many times already, especially in chapter 6, about Jesus as the food and nourishment giving us life.
