Easter 4
Preparation
Please begin by reading John 10:1-10 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided the text for you at the end of this reflection.
Reflection--Of Sheep, Shepherds, Gates, and Bandits
Jesus is a model for many things, including how to teach. When he taught, he was very much aware of his audience and took their daily lives and experiences into consideration. He used illustrations from their world so that it would be easy for them to “connect the dots.” Sheep and shepherds and sheepfolds where commonplace in first century Israel. Jesus knew that when he mentioned these things, his listeners could easily picture the experience of shepherding and all that went with it. But that is a lot more difficult for those of us who live in a 21st century urban environment. So, what is all this business with sheep, shepherds, sheepfolds, gates, and bandits?
Being a shepherd was a demanding job. It involved being out in the open watching over the sheep in all kinds of weather, moving them from place to place to make sure that they always had green grass to eat, making sure they did not wander off, taking care of them when they were ill or injured, and protecting them day and night from predators and thieves. Because he or she spent so much time with them, a good shepherd would come to know each individual animal, often having names for each one. The sheep would also come to know and rely on the shepherd and follow the shepherd and the shepherd’s voice. If several flocks were mixed together in a pasture or a sheepfold, the shepherd needed only to call when it came time to move on. The sheep would recognize their own shepherd’s voice and separate themselves out from the others and follow the shepherd.
Sheepfolds were places where the sheep were taken for protection at night. They could be caves or constructed outside in such a way that there was a walled-off area for the sheep with a very narrow entrance. Often the shepherd would sleep lying in this narrow entrance. His or her body literally became the gate to the sheepfold. In this way, the shepherd could best guard against the sheep wandering off or being taken by thieves. If there was a disturbance, they were in the place where it was most likely that the disturbance would awaken them. The best shepherds put their lives on the line for the wellbeing of the sheep. Those who tried to get into the sheepfold by avoiding the shepherd and the narrow opening were up to no good.
Scholars continuously debate and quarrel about this story and all of its possible nuances, meanings, and historical implications. But I do not believe that it needs to be all that complex for you and I as we live out our own daily lives.
At its heart, this famous passage from John’s gospel is intensely relational. It is all about who Jesus is, who we are as Christians, and what that means for our lives in relationship with Jesus. First century hearers knew that when Jesus used this language he was describing a relationship of faithfulness and tender care on the part of the shepherd and of trust and reliance on the part of the sheep. He was illustrating the kind of relationship that should exist between Christ and Christians.
While the imagery may be ancient and rural, the basic message is just as vital for you and I as it was for Jesus’ hearers 2,000 years ago. Many voices call to us every day and pull us in many directions. Often those voices are attractive, but they do not really have our good in mind. Rather they are the voices of thieves and bandits who will ultimately lead us to harm.
There is still only one voice in which we may place our complete trust, the voice of the One who was willing to give his life for us. Our task is to build an intimate relationship with Jesus so that we may come to know his voice and follow it to the exclusion of others. It is only this voice that leads us to live out our full potential. It is the voice of our Good Shepherd — the One who will care for us, provide us with abundant life, and never lead us astray.
revclay
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John 10:1-10
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [NRSV]
