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 fleas; 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 up 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 recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (beginning in chapter 7, with this reading).  He has had extensive dialogue and confrontation with the leadership.  It is the last day of the Feast.  As He passed from the temple, when the leadership attempted to stone Him, He met a man blind from birth whose sight He healed.  Yesterday we read that the leadership 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 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."  As chapter 10 begins, Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees continues.  As noted above, it is still the final day (the eighth day) of the Feast of Tabernacles.  In today's reading, Jesus contrasts the leadership of the Pharisees with His own.  My study bible notes that they have failed as pastors of God's people ("pastor" comes from the Latin word for "shepherd").  Their leadership is marked by deceit and pride and is lacking in compassion.  By contrast, it is Christ who fulfills all virtue.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that the door is God's Word, meaning both the Scriptures and Christ Himself.  The Scriptures reveal God the Word (or Logos).  The one who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor in accordance with the teaching of the Scriptures is both a thief and a robber.  Rather than using this door so that all can see His works openly, my study bible says, the false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls (verse 10).  However, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life (verse 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 every person, so also true pastors in the Church strive to know their people by name -- personally.  Such pastors endeavor to understand each person's situation and needs, from the greatest to the least -- and possess Christlike compassion for each one (Hebrews 4:15).  People will respond to a true leader, if they trust that leader is a follower of Christ.  My study bible quotes St. Ignatius of Antioch:  "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  Often it is the response of the faithful that is a better indicator of a true shepherd than the claims of leadership (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.  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."  My study bible says that the phrase all whoever came before Me does not refer to Moses or genuine prophets, but to people claiming to be the Messiah both before and after Christ.  (Acts 5:36-37 mentions, for example, Judas of Galilee and Theudas.)   The ultimate thief is Satan, who spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, and lures away both leaders and people.  Life, says my study bible, means living in God's grace here on earth, and 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 fleas; 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 is the good shepherd:  He enters by the door -- that is, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself; He knows and is known by the Father; He knows His people personally, and is therefore known by them; and He gives His life for the sake of His people, 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."  Other sheep are the Gentiles.  They will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under the one shepherd.   Therefore, says my study bible, the Church, for example, transcends ethnic and racial lines.  I would add, also, political lines.  From the earliest canons of the Church, one bishop serves a city (Canon 8 of I Nicea), a principle that has been affirmed in every generation.  St. Ignatius is quoted by study bible, who wrote in the early second century to a Church that held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians:  "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 up 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."  Jesus makes it clear that His 'life-giving' death is voluntary.   He will do nothing apart from the will of His Father.  My study bible says that as He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others.

Jesus presents Himself as the door to the sheep, and as the good shepherd.  He is the one who will lay down His life for the sheep.  How do we know the good shepherd?  My study bible cites several ways:  He knows them personally (by name).  A name is a kind of symbol for true identity; the name by which Christ calls us is our true image, true self.  He knows each one intimately, and in prayer personal issues are addressed; through such relationship, we are led into true identity -- that would include teaching and discipline in terms of where we need go, and what we need to discard that we're clinging to.  A true shepherd tells us the truth; He's one in whom we can trust and who also puts His faith into us.  So it holds true for pastors and leaders especially of our souls and spirits.  Trust is all-important.  A pastor doesn't disrupt relationships with gossip and power-mongering.  A true shepherd is one who cares for the sheep above all, and is capable of love and compassion.  This is far beyond what we call "political correctness," or any form of following a set of rules alone.  True care goes beyond temporal disagreements such as political sloganeering or agendas.   In this context, we'd do well to remember that it was the political 'leader' the crowd preferred to Christ at the Crucifixion; and disappointed material and political ambitions that fueled rejection of Him.  Christ is Shepherd of all.  He is far greater than such limited focus.  The most important understanding we can have is that all the characteristics of leadership we can find in Christ all point to one thing:  love.  He is the personification of love, and He teaches us love.  Love doesn't know boundaries.  It doesn't fear the truth.  It is above all trustworthy, worthy of our faith.  A leader doesn't just tell you what you want to hear so He gets followers.  That is the last thing Jesus would do, especially in accordance with what we read in John's Gospel (see, for example, this reading).  A leader is true to God, who is love, setting the pleasing of God before all other things.  This is the one way to lead the people to true health:  physical, mental, and spiritual.  It is the true way to care for their souls.  If we look into our hearts, we find a way to respond to the One who truly loves us, who died for us.  That leader shows us the way, even to the places we don't want to go, but we trust in His love.  How many of us want a leader like that?  How many simply don't?  A leader responds to our love with love, and always has time to listen.  A true shepherd knows and leads each personally, not simply as "collective."  Love is something we learn and grow into -- the true Shepherd shows us the way, and so do the true shepherds who would serve in His name.

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

- Matthew 22:23-33

 In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is the Passion Week.  He's cleansed the temple, and then begun to engage in discussions with the leadership.  On Saturday, we read that the Pharisees began to plot how they might entangle Him in His talk.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.  

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."   This question comes from the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead -- my study bible says that, hence, they try to ridicule this doctrine.   The Sadducees were a party of an elite class of landowners, which virtually disappeared with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  My study bible says that by the words you are mistaken, Jesus is teaching that there will be a resurrection, but not of the sort they think.  It notes that "(1) They are ignorant of the Scriptures, which say nothing about earthly laws of marriage being applicable to the future Kingdom.  The resurrection is not merely life resuming where it left off, but a complete change of life.  (2)  They do not know the power of God, which transforms us from death to life.  The 'dead' even now are living before God."

Let us consider the notion of life as it applies to the Scriptures and especially to Christ, who called Himself "the way, the truth, and the life."  Life in this context is much more than we understand of it, as illustrated by the limited notion of the Sadducees in today's reading.  Jesus' first way of addressing their question is to point out that they are entirely missing out on a great portion of what life is, exactly, that they haven't any idea of life beyond this world, life in a spiritual reality:  the Scriptures speak of this, and it concerns the power of God.  In this level of life that the spiritual concerns itself with, in the resurrection, life is completely different -- with different properties -- than the very earthly life which limits their full understanding of the great expansion of awareness He's calling upon them to see.  In the resurrection, life changes, life is completely different from what they understand of life with a limited perspective.  These wealthy landowners need to understand the Scriptures better, they need to open their minds to the power of God which seems to have eluded them.  In the resurrection, life is changed and it's lived on a different basis:  human beings neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven.  Jesus expands the notion of life to include much more than what we can see, taste, touch, hear, and smell in this world, and invites us all to wonder at a notion of life that goes way beyond anything that we have experienced.  Jesus has also promised that through Him, we shall have life and have it in abundance.  Today's passage asks us to consider what an abundant life is -- or rather, what it is to have life in abundance, or life abundantly.  This is more life.  It is manifold.  It is more than meets our current understanding in earthly terms and invites us in to accept more parts to ourselves -- that there is much, much more to being human than merely what we understand about life without the spiritual dimension.  Finally, that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph teaches us more:  that life beyond this world invites us into dimensions we haven't experienced, where all these live in God, even as the communion of saints lives and is present with us, intersecting our spiritual lives, in which our prayers mingle with the angels in heaven, even with the song reported in Isaiah and the Revelation that we may repeat in our worship services:  "Heaven and earth are full of your glory."   Even as we celebrate, so is there a celebration with us in the places of abundant life Jesus speaks of, where all live in this place of God.  It's important that we expand our understanding of what life is, exactly, because without a sense of what is much greater than we already know, we are missing out on the picture of what is promised to us.  And there is that spiritual dimension that promises to intersect our lives which we also read about in Scripture, for example when Mary declares, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."  The soul and spirit are also places of abundant life, in which are added to us a sense of joy and also one of peace that cannot be explained in terms of an earthly life bound only by our five senses, but rather call upon another perception.  All of these things are examples of what life really is all about in the context of the Scriptures.  So, when Jesus promises that "I am the resurrection and the life," He's teaching us about what life is all about, and that if we think it's limited only to those things we already know then we are fooling ourselves:  we haven't understood the Scriptures, nor do we have any clue about the power of God.  The real question of faith in that context becomes a question about how much abundance can fill your life -- not on mere material terms, but in terms of the magnification of the soul, the rejoicing of your spirit, the prayers that mingle with saints and angels to be magnified and helped even in ways of which you are totally unaware.  Life, on Jesus' terms, is something that cannot be contained, cannot be stopped, and defeats death at every turn.  Consider what this promise of life really means, the next time you feel limited in any way.  There is so much more to your life than what the world will tell you, and so much more to faith than our meager expectations.  Let Him show you the way to that abundance.  There is so much more than we can even begin to touch upon here:  the life of the imagination and creativity, the gifts of the Spirit -- including transformation and every myriad form of holiness that cannot be counted.  Let us consider this promise of life in abundance, the place where the Scriptures and the power of God take us.

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

- Matthew 22:23-40

In the series of readings we encounter this week, Jesus is in Jerusalem. His first act was to cleanse the Temple. After that He was questioned as to His authority to do so, and gave several parables in response. After that, the leadership begins to test Him. In yesterday's reading, some disciples of the Pharisees and some Herodians asked Him thusly: "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" This was to trip Him up: if He answered one way He could be accused of collaboration with the Romans, another and He could be charged with revolutionary activities. But Jesus saw their motives. He said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." The Sadducees are another party of which the Council is composed. They are for the most part an aristocratic and landowning class of people from around Jerusalem. They did not believe in the resurrection or life after death. So, the question is pertinent to them (just as yesterday's question was pertinent for both the strict Pharisees and the party of the Herodians). Here, they ask about the laws of marriage and how they would apply in the resurrection. The picture of marriage here, taken from the society albeit a rather extraordinary case, gives us a sense of the perspective perhaps of these people grounded in aristocratic understanding and the system of inheritance. It is a picture of worldly marriage as it was, with the woman becoming a part of the family into which she married, in the name of the family. By contrast, we can read Jesus' perspective on marriage and especially divorce at the time.

Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." My study bible has a note worth quoting here regarding Jesus' answer: "There will be a resurrection, but not of the sort they think. (1) They are ignorant of the Scriptures, which say nothing about earthly laws of marriage being applicable to the future Kingdom. The resurrection is not merely life resuming where it left off, but a complete change of life. (2) They do not know the power of God, which transforms us from death to life." Therefore it is the transformational reality of the resurrection of which they are entirely unaware; all will change. God's spiritual power -- and the great wedding to which Jesus alludes in His parable of the wedding feast from Thursday's reading -- is the power that transforms all of life, even worldly life, into life abundantly. This picture of a transformed world is one in which we hope (as today's Epistle reading teaches). It is one for which a kind of faith is required that thinks beyond our assumptions and what we know. Once again, as in yesterday's reading, Jesus is calling them -- and all of us -- outside of the box of the picture of life the world gives us, and into the reality of the Kingdom.

"But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. As my study bible puts it, Jesus teaches that "the 'dead' even now are living before God." Jesus gives us a taste of this heavenly Kingdom, and its eternal nature. It is an ever-present reality. We think of the dead as passed, within our understanding of time. But in the life of the Kingdom, all are present to us, and in the communion of saints in which we understand this life. The I AM in this statement is the eternal nature of God -- ever-present, an eternal now. As such, in God's life Abraham, Isaac and Jacob live.

In this vision of heavenly life, all are included in God's life-giving embrace. We don't usually think of "rest" within the parameters of such a "lively" understanding, but this is what God's rest is all about. When we take rest in God, we take rest in life, and life in abundance, not as we normally understand it. Thereby, resting in God takes on all kinds of energies and dimensions we don't usually consider nor encounter. Resting in God infuses all with grace, with a heavenly reality. This is the transformation of the life in which we participate in faith, of which we catch glimpses through grace, and the one which we await in hope in its fullness. God's transforming power is that which adds life to the life we already know. To be in God's embrace is to be enlivened, to be added unto. When we let go of the things of this world, the limitations on our sight of what is possible, we are emptying in order to be filled with this grace, this abundance of life. Ultimately, Jesus' heavenly perspective which He brings to the world, and to the answers to the questions in the Temple, is one of tremendous freedom through grace. He takes us out of the box, out of all limitation. Life in abundance is all about opening up our eyes to what is present even to us now, even the communion of saints in a great circle of life. Through God we all live in relationship. Let us remember that in prayer we open the door to these energies of grace, this understanding of life, of true spiritual freedom. We don't know what awaits us, what we may encounter, but through faith we live in hope of that grace, that transforming power.