Here is the gospel reading given us by mother church for next Sunday.
John 10.11-18
Jesus said to the Pharisees: 11‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’
We all know the image of the shepherd in the bible and the favourite psalm of so many, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want". There are also evil shepherds mentioned in the prophet Ezekiel who tended the flock of Israel - or rather tended to themselves. It is against this background that Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd". This is as strong a statement of divinity as any. For the people of Israel, God is their shepherd and now Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd.
What God promised is now embodied in Jesus. But what makes him 'good'? First, the good shepherd is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. He is not like a hired shepherd who runs away when danger comes. He is willing to die. Although, thinking about it, would we really expect even the owner of the sheep to die? A tall order! Yes, of course he would do all he could to fend off the wolf or wolves. Stay and fight them off. But we would all understand if things got to the point where his own life was in danger, if he let the wolves have the sheep. A good man or woman would be willing to lay down their life for their country or family. But sheep? What an odd image!
If we think of the ontological difference between humans and sheep and then multiply that infinitely we get the difference between God and humans. What a beautiful reminder from mother church. That God was willing to die for us. That was not a common image in the ancient world. Ideas if benevolence gods who smile upon humanity were common but not gods who die for them. All the distinctiveness, all the radicality of Christianity is in that claim.
In Ezekiel chapter 34 we read how the prophet chastises the rulers of Israel because they have been evil shepherds, neglecting the people of Israel.
" 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
God is revealing himself as a great gatherer of the lost and the oppressed at the hands of evil shepherds and rulers. This text gives us a most important clue as to the image of the shepherd in the bible. It is much more than a sentimental image. Diabolos in Greek is the one who scatters. Sin always has a scattering quality. That's what God is against. He is a gathering God and the people of Israel will by their magnetic qualities attract all the tribes of the world.
The tribes of Israel had been scattered but they had also become a divided community. In this great passage from Ezekiel God promises that he will himself come and gather Israel and then all the peoples of the world. And so with that text in mind the people of Israel waited for God to act on his promise. Five hundred years went by and then a new prophet appears who claims to be the Good Shepherd. Jesus, as the embodiment of Yahweh, goes out to the marginalized, the rejected, the sick, the poor. He is the embodiment of God the shepherd.
He claims to be the Good Shepherd they have been waiting for who is able to identify the sheep. A good shepherd is the owner of the sheep, not just a hired hand and the sheep recognise his voice when they hear it. This is a fascinating point. What is it which leads people to accept Jesus Christ? Is it background or luck? Or is it that they simply are the sheep who belong to the good shepherd? They cannot help responding to their shepherds searching voice. Wonderful indeed!
The real shepherd was born to his task. He was sent out with his flock as soon as he was old enough to go and he grew up into the calling of being a shepherd. The sheep became his companions and his friends and it became second nature for him to think of them before he thought of himself.
" 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
God is revealing himself as a great gatherer of the lost and the oppressed at the hands of evil shepherds and rulers. This text gives us a most important clue as to the image of the shepherd in the bible. It is much more than a sentimental image. Diabolos in Greek is the one who scatters. Sin always has a scattering quality. That's what God is against. He is a gathering God and the people of Israel will by their magnetic qualities attract all the tribes of the world.
The tribes of Israel had been scattered but they had also become a divided community. In this great passage from Ezekiel God promises that he will himself come and gather Israel and then all the peoples of the world. And so with that text in mind the people of Israel waited for God to act on his promise. Five hundred years went by and then a new prophet appears who claims to be the Good Shepherd. Jesus, as the embodiment of Yahweh, goes out to the marginalized, the rejected, the sick, the poor. He is the embodiment of God the shepherd.
He claims to be the Good Shepherd they have been waiting for who is able to identify the sheep. A good shepherd is the owner of the sheep, not just a hired hand and the sheep recognise his voice when they hear it. This is a fascinating point. What is it which leads people to accept Jesus Christ? Is it background or luck? Or is it that they simply are the sheep who belong to the good shepherd? They cannot help responding to their shepherds searching voice. Wonderful indeed!
The real shepherd was born to his task. He was sent out with his flock as soon as he was old enough to go and he grew up into the calling of being a shepherd. The sheep became his companions and his friends and it became second nature for him to think of them before he thought of himself.
But the false shepherd came into the job, not as a calling but as a way of making money. He was in it solely and completely for the pay he could get out of it and he was merely a hireling. When the wolves attacked , the hireling shepherd forgot everything but the saving of his own life and ran away. The owner of the sheep, the true shepherd, loves the sheep and may even be willing to sacrifice his life for them.
There are two further points to note. Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd. In Greek there a two words for 'good'. there is the word 'agathos' which simply describes the moral quality of a thing; then there is the word 'kalos' which means that a person or a thing is not only good; but in the goodness there is a quality of loveliness and attractiveness which makes it a lovely thing. When Jesus is described as the good shepherd the word used is 'kalos'. In Jesus there is more than efficiency and faithfulness, there is a certain loveliness. William Barclay describes it in terms of people in a village talking of 'the good doctor'. When they speak like that they are not only speaking on the doctor's skill as a physician but also of his kindness, empathy and so on. In the picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd there is a loveliness as well as strength and power.
The second point is this. In the parable the flock is the church of Christ. And the flock suffers from a double danger. It is liable to attack from the outside but there is also danger from inside - from the false shepherd who wishes to exploit the flock for his own benefit. The flock often suffers from the effects of bad leadership. Our leadership should always be based on the leadership and example of Jesus Christ.
Mark
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