I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

- John 10:1-18

In yesterday's reading, Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem. We have just read of His time at the Feast of Tabernacles, in which He preached, "I am the light of the world" and "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." In the recent readings, He has just healed a man blind from birth. The leadership, who seek to have Jesus arrested, and even sought to stone Him but failed, try to disprove this miracle of sight. It occurred as He passed out of the temple, evading those who sought to stone Him. He taught, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." His disciples had asked who sinned -- the man or his parents -- that he was born blind? And Jesus told them it was neither, but for the glory of God. In yesterday's reading, the leadership called the parents of the healed man, to ascertain whether he was really blind from birth. The parents, afraid of the leadership, said, "We know that is is our son, and that he was born blind, but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself." This was because the leadership had agreed that anyone confessing faith that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the temple. They then asked the formerly blind man himself to take an oath, saying, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see." They asked again, "What did He do to you?" The formerly blind man said, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?" The leaders told Him that they were disciples of Moses, but didn't know where Jesus was from. He said, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, yet He has opened My eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. Jesus heard he was cast out, and found the man Himself. He asked him if he believed in the Son of God. "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" said the man. Jesus taught, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." Of today's entire passage, my study bible notes, "Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees continues. . . . Christ tells the Pharisees that they, not the blind man, are alienated from God. They are blind, and false shepherds of God's people." Of these verses, it notes, "This parable of salvation uses the symbolism of the shepherd and his flock." From this we receive all our notions of leadership in the Church. What is a bishop but a shepherd? What then, is a good shepherd, and who is the real Good Shepherd? To my mind, this parable depends so much on the sheep, on us. Earlier in John's Gospel, Jesus has already noted in several ways that it is the Father who prompts the real faith of the sheep, and that He is here so that He will lose none of what is given Him by the Father. And here in this parable, it is the sheep who know their shepherd, the true shepherd who enters by the door. My study bible says, "In calling Himself the door, Jesus signifies He will bring His flock into an enclosed sheepfold with a central gate. Normally a hired guard would tend the gate while the shepherds rested through the night. But Jesus is the tireless Shepherd, always guarding the entrance. No one can enter except by way of Him."

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." How do we hear His voice? There is a kind of recognition here, and it is in the relationship of trust, of faith. Even more powerfully, He calls us all by name. He knows who we are, each of us, better than we know ourselves. He gives us and shapes our identity. And He is the one who leads us forward.

"And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Here is an even deeper understanding of the relationship between Shepherd and sheep. His voice the sheep know in their hearts when they hear it.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door." Here is an extraordinarily powerful claim. He says twice that He is the door. He lays sole claim to this identity for Himself. Anyone else claiming this identity is a thief and a robber, someone who would steal away the sheep, and take away their lives, their life. But the sheep didn't hear them.

"If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Here is the great statement about the true gift of our Shepherd. He is here so that we may have life, but also so that we may have it more abundantly. I don't think we can describe the contrast between what the thief offers and what Christ offers too strongly, especially if we look at the vividness of the Greek. The thief utterly destroys, kills, steals; Christ offers not only life, but an extraordinary, even extreme abundance of life. This language conveys an urgency -- the real significance of the faith. My study bible notes: "The thief -- the devil -- steals, kills and destroys the virtues of Christian life and lays waste those who follow his heresies. Life more abundantly is the life of God's Kingdom, offered us by Christ Himself." It also refers us to Psalm 23:5 -- You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep." My study bible contrasts Christ and His under-shepherds with the hireling, whom it calls "the non-committed religious leader:" "The true shepherd ... considers the sheep his own. The hired hand looks primarily after himself." Is it personal ambition that marks the hireling? Or the real care of a shepherd?

"I am the good shepherd and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus speaks of the place of the good shepherd in the heart of his sheep: He knows the sheep, and He's known by His own. And this relationship goes further and deeper, because everything comes from the Father. So the Father also knows Him, and He knows the Father. And in that context, He will lay down His life for the sheep. Not only that, but there are other sheep from other folds to be gathered into one flock, and these are the Gentiles who will come to faith. My study bible says, "Hence, the Church cannot be divided along denominational, ethnic, cultural or family lines."

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." He reiterates even more strongly and distinctly His commitment and what is coming. It is a command of the Father and it is in His control. He has already said earlier in John's Gospel that He is the bread of life, that as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, so the Son gives life to whom He will. It is all about a relationship of love that begins with the Father and extends through Christ to all of us. But this relationship is circular: it is also the Father working in us that brings us to faith and confession of faith in Christ. My study bible notes that Jesus makes clear His death is voluntary: "Though He is God, He does nothing apart from the authority of His Father. If we seek to experience God's love and His power, we do so as Christ Himself does: by obeying willingly the Father's commands. As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him, willingly and out of love."

So let's consider the love that is in this Gospel. What marks this relationship of love? First of all, that Christ will lay down His life for the sheep. In so doing He will be "lifted up" so that all may see, and those of other folds will also be drawn to Him so that they, too, may receive life in abundance. These other folds are not merely the Gentiles which were apparent during the time the Gospel was written, but quite obviously those who will come later, throughout history, any time and any place this Gospel may be preached. Therefore this atoning death of Christ's is not merely a one-time event for a one-time purpose, but an all-time event, for every time and for all people, for so many reasons, for so much love, for life in abundance. We really have to consider the faith of Christ and what it means in terms of God's love: that this is a circle that can't be broken, that lives in us and through us and among us, in Him and through Him, and from and through the Father. In all ways, we find the great strength of this love in our faith. It sustains us and builds us and gives us life in abundance even in all the circumstances of our lives. There may be times when we find ourselves at the hands of a thief or a hireling, but even in those circumstances -- and maybe particularly then -- God's abundance comes through for us. And that is the message of faith at work in our lives. Lest we leave out another aspect of this love in our lives, Christ will also send His Spirit to be at work within us at all times, from which we are blessed in baptism and sealed: yet another protection and help in all times. So let us remember the great love in which we are bound, protected, blessed, so that we, too, may experience this love at work in us and in our lives. How do you share that? How do you feel it? In times of the greatest deprivation, we may still know that it is there.