Monday of Week 4 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 10:11-18

Jesus gives two images of himself connected with sheep.  Earlier in this chapter, he calls himself “the ‘Gate’ for the sheep.”  Only true shepherds pass through this Gate to reach the sheep.  In today’s passage, he speaks of the second image, identifying himself solemnly as the true Shepherd of his people:

I am the good shepherd.

This is the third ‘I AM’ statement.  Jesus’ assertion that he is the Good Shepherd is tantamount to identifying himself as the Messiah.

Of course, the image of God as shepherd of his people is found many times in the Old Testament. For instance, in the much-loved Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd…” or in Ezekiel 34 where God speaks of himself as the shepherd of his people.

Jesus now takes that role on himself.  He is the “good” shepherd because he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep.  In this he is totally unlike a hired hand who, at the first sight of danger (such as the appearance of a wolf or robbers) will abandon the sheep.  He is only being paid to do the job and has no personal commitment to the sheep.  It seems that some of the religious leaders are having a finger pointed at them here.  They are more interested in the literal observance of the Law than in the spiritual well-being of the people.

Jesus, on the other hand, is a good shepherd:

 I know my own, and my own know me…And I lay down my life for the sheep.

His death on the cross is the clear proof of that.  This is what makes him stand out from other ‘shepherds’.  And the ‘knowledge’ here is not mere acquaintance or recognition, but a deep mutual understanding of each other.  A knowledge that is the fruit of experience and an intimate personal contact leading to love.

But not all sheep belong to Jesus’ flock and it is his deep desire that they too should belong to his fold.  This, first of all, points to the Gentiles who were not yet among God’s people.  For us today, it points to all those who have not yet come to know the Way of Christ as pointing to life.

Jesus’ goal is that there be “one flock and one shepherd”.  It should be the dream of all Christians too.  The Father loves Jesus because of his readiness to die for his sheep.  But Jesus’ death is his own free choice, an act of pure love for his sheep.  He has the power to lay down his life and to take it up again.  Our Shepherd will die, but will rise again in glory to take his sheep with him to the life that will never end.

But though Jesus the Good Shepherd will die for his sheep, he does so in perfect freedom.  This is what gives his sacrifice such value.  He willingly surrenders his life into the hands of his Father, and in doing so, guarantees his presence with his sheep for all time and in every place.

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Monday of Week 4 of Easter – Gospel

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.

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