I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep

 

 "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 is 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 

 

Our recent readings take place at the Feast of Tabernacles, during the final year of Christ's life.  He has healed a man blind from birth, giving us the sixth sign of seven in the Gospel of John.  Yesterday we read that the religious leaders 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 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.  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.   As we begin chapter 10, there is really no break in the conversation carried over from yesterday's reading which ended chapter 9:  Christ's conversation with the Pharisees continues.  As noted above, all takes place at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the autumn of Christ's final year of earthly life.  My study Bible comments that Jesus here contrasts the leadership of the Pharisees with HIs own.  It says that they have failed as pastors of God's people ("pastor" coming from the Latin word for "shepherd").  Their leadership has been marked by deceit and pride and has lacked compassion.  But Jesus, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue.  Here in these verses, my study Bible points out, Christ speaks of His intimate knowledge of every person, showing therefore that true pastors in the Church strive to know their people by name, that is, personally.  Such pastors endeavor to understand each person's situation and needs, from the greatest to the least, possessing Christlike compassion for each one (Hebrews 4:15).  In return, my study Bible continues, the people will respond to a true leader, trusting that he is a follower of Christ.  It quotes St. Ignatius of Antioch:  "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  It is the response of the faithful which is the best indicator of who is a true shepherd than the claims of leaders (John 7:47-49).  

 

 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."   My study Bible comments that, according to St. John Chrysostom, the door is God's Word, indicating both the Scriptures and the Lord Himself, as 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.  My study Bible says that the phrase all who ever came before Me does not refer to Moses or genuine prophets, but rather to people claiming to be the Messiah both before and after Christ, such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas (Acts 5:36-37).  

"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."   Rather than using this door so all can see Christ's works openly, my study Bible says, false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls.  By contrast, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life.  The ultimate thief, it says, 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.  

"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."  Christ reveals Himself as the good shepherd in the following ways, according to my study Bible:  First, He enters by the door; that is, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself.  Second, He knows and is known by the Father.   Third, He knows His people personally, and therefore is known by them.  Finally, He gives His life for the sake of His people, a direct prophesy of Christ's 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."  Other sheep, my study Bible explains, are the Gentiles.  They will be brought into one flock with the Jews under the one shepherd.  Therefore, for example, the Church transcends ethnic and racial lines.  From the beginning, my study Bible continues, it has been the teaching that there can be one bishop serving a  city (Canon 8 of I Nicea), a principle which is affirmed in every generation.  Writing in the early second century to a Church that held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians, St. Ignatius taught, "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 is 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."   Jesus makes it clear ("I lay down My life") that His life-giving death will be voluntary.  Once again, an iteration that He does nothing apart from the will of His Father.  My study Bible adds that as He laid down His life for us, we lay own our lives for Him and for the sake of others.  

Jesus casts Himself here, repeatedly, in the role of the Good Shepherd.  As my study Bible pointed out, the word "pastor" comes from the Latin word for shepherd, and we should consider deeply what this means.  Christ is the Son who tends the flock of His Father.  He is not a hireling who will run when there is trouble, but He is rather the door, the gate that guards the sheepfold -- the enemy must come through Him to get to the sheep.  He is at once protector and guide.  He says that "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."  Moreover, Christ emphasizes repeatedly that He will lay down His life for 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."  There is this deep connection of knowing:   The sheep know His voice, just as the Father and the Son know one another.  In this knowing is a connection of love, for Christ will lay down His life for the sheep beloved of the Father, and given to the Son that He should not lose one of them (John 6:39).   And, more deeply powerful is the hidden context of all of this:  "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again."  The love of the Father is all-encompassing; it reaches to the Son who will lay down His life and take it up again, and that love reaches to the sheep, who, in that love, will all be made one flock, no matter who we are, where we come from, when we live in this world, when we come to faith.  We are His sheep, and our gratitude must be felt that we belong to this loving Shepherd, for "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  To be a part of His flock is to know and to be known, to be embraced and held in a kind of protective love that surpasses what we understand of love, for it is absolute and it reaches to the infinite mystery that is God.  This love embraces us and fills us, and it heals us, and it will keep on teaching us how to live by its laws and guidance.  Let us consider this Good Shepherd, and be grateful He remains so, even to the end of the age, for us.