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"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 whoever 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 our current reading, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, an autumn festival taking place approximately six months before He will go to His Passion. He has debated with the religious authorities, and enraged them by saying, "Before Abraham was, I AM." They took up stones to throw at Him, but He hid and passed by, going out of the temple. There He met a man blind since birth, and restored His sight (see Monday's reading). The Pharisees questioned the man who had been healed, they did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered them and said, "We know that this 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." His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "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." Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" He answered them, "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?" Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." The man answered and said to them, "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 that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who may 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." My study bible notes that this is the continuation of Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees from chapter 9. Everything is taking place at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles. Here, Jesus contrasts their leadership with His own. My study bible says, "They have failed as pastors of God's people ('pastor' comes from the Latin word for 'shepherd'). Their leadership has been marked by deceit and pride and has lacked compassion. Christ, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue. According to St. John Chrysostom, the door is God's word, meaning both the Scriptures and our Lord Himself, since the Scriptures reveal God the Word. The one who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor according to the teaching of the Scriptures is a thief and a robber. Rather than using this door so all can see His works openly, these false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls (v. 10). In contrast, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life (v. 9)."
"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. My study bible says that as Christ has intimate knowledge of each person, so also true pastors in the Church strive to know people by name -- in other words, personally. These pastors, it says, seek to understand each person's situation and their needs, from the greatest to the least, and therefore possessing Christlike compassion for each one (see Hebrews 4:15). That's a true leader that people, in return, respond to. They trust that such a person is a follower of Christ. Ignatius of Antioch has been quoted as saying, "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather." My study bible says that, indeed, the response of the faithful can be a better indicator of who a true shepherd is than the claims of leaders (7:47-49). In many cases, and particularly in the Eastern Church, this is what truly begins the process of sainthood.
Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All whoever 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." My study bible says that "all who ever came before Me" doesn't refer to Moses or genuine prophets, but rather to people who claim to be the Messiah both before and after Christ (such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas -- see Acts 5:36-37).
"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." My study bible notes, "The ultimate thief is Satan, who spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, luring away both leaders and people. Life means living in God's grace here on earth, while the more abundant life indicates the Kingdom to come." Jesus' words are a good marker, and remain a steady compass, by which to judge those who would be leaders. A "thief" is one who preys on the sheep for his or her own gain -- one who uses people (and doesn't mind misleading) rather than pastors to them.
"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." How does Christ reveal Himself as the good shepherd? My study bible suggests that (1) He enters by the door -- that is, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself; (2) He knows and is known by the Father; (3) He knows His people personally, and therefore is known by them; and (4) He gives His life for the sake of His people, which is a direct prophecy of His coming Passion.
"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." The other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under one shepherd. Therefore, says my study bible, the Church transcends ethnic and racial lines. From the beginning, the Church has held that there be one bishop serving a city (Canon 8 of I Nicea); therefore this principle is affirmed for every generation. My study bible quotes St. Ignatius, writing in the early second century to a church that held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians. He wrote: "Be careful to observe a single Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup of His Blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there is one bishop. . . . This is in line with God's will."
"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." My study bible says here: "The Lord is clear that His life-giving death will be voluntary. He does nothing apart from the will of His Father. As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others."
There is so much to "chew on" in today's reading! Jesus lays down many principles for us in this soliloquoy, if we may borrow a word from the theater. He is teaching us about Himself -- that is, He who is the Good Shepherd -- but also about what it takes to make a good shepherd. He's teaching us about what He will expect in His Church. And, perhaps most importantly, He's modeling for us the great model of leadership that must stand the test of time. And, indeed, it does, even 2,000 years later. How do we take in this Good Shepherd? He is one who calls the sheep by name and knows each one. More than that, they know Him. He is the door Himself to this sheepfold. He is leader and protector, but more than that, He truly loves His sheep: and not as a collective, but in each one and personally; by name, meaning he knows thoroughly each one. He contrasts the Good Shepherd with the thief and the hireling, the ones who don't really have any relationship to these sheep at all, but instead see them as prey for their own selfish purposes. They are users and manipulators, liars and exploiters, and this is the way know what a false shepherd is. (Like the "father of lies," or those who wish only to "lord it over" others.) And no matter how far apart this flock of sheep may be from one another; no matter, in fact, which flock they are from, all these sheep know one another and they are united in Him. No matter how far flung, where one may find oneself, the sheep know the shepherd and He knows them, and they are one flock. Moreover, the true Father of the flock is His Father, who loves Him because He will lay down His life for the sheep. What we see from this collection of the qualities of the Good Shepherd is one very powerful, potent, and important thing. It's not His sacrifice that Jesus is pointing to here, although that is something extremely significant, and it is central to the whole mission of the Redeemer, the Good Shepherd. But the sacrifice itself points to something else, as do all the qualities of this Good Shepherd, and the real thing they all point us to is love. The Good Shepherd acts and lives (and will die) in and through love. Love characterizes the relationship to His Father, who in turn loves Him because of His great love for the sheep. Compassion, love, knowing each sheep by name, protection, and yes -- sacrifice: all these things are qualities of love, a great love of One who teaches us how to love and what it means to love. He teaches us the central importance of love to all the things that are truly of God. And this is what He brings to His Church and to the world, to each one of us who may reflect His light and seek to be like Him. He calls all those who would be pastors in His Church to be like Him. And if we are His sheep we respond to that love in kind, and we must seek also to be like Him as much as possible and throughout our lives learning from Him, the Good Teacher as well as the Good Shepherd. If we leave love out of all of this equation of what it means that Jesus is our Good Shepherd, then we have missed the boat, and perhaps are misleading ourselves or are being misled by someone else. The qualities of compassion and love remain valued commodities, something rare when it's genuine, and all too often implied as being for the "collective" or "institution" or "body" rather than for "each person." Let us remember what a genuine love is and does, and look for it in those whom we'd call our leaders -- even if that person is sitting right next to you. In ourselves, we show that leadership by following and being "like Him," no matter where we find ourselves or in what circumstances.
