Easter 4, Year A
The Rev. Nigel Taber-Hamilton, Rector
Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10: 1-10
Few people here today will, I suspect, be unfamiliar with the image of Jesus as a shepherd. This bucolic imagery is so ingrained in Christian tradition that the literal description for sheep-herding - that it's "pastoral" work - has transitioned into the very language of the Church itself. Some denominations refer to the clerical leader of a congregation as a "pastor" - from the same root" - and the use of the word pastoral in connection with such things as counseling and care is widespread.
Jesus as Good Shepherd is in stained glass windows, it's the name of Episcopal congregations (though not in this diocese) - it's often the primary (or even the exclusive way) in which Jesus is interpreted.
So - do we have it right? Do we have it right here, in this passage? Is it really about pastoralia?
I'm not going to tell you - yet! To get to the bottom of this we need to understand the context in which the Gospel of John presents us with the picture of shepherd, sheep, and gate-keepers.
The details of everyday life that I'm going to talk about would be no news to 1st Century peasants, but not to us.
Let's start with what I said last week: John's gospel is intent on showing Jesus replacing the Temple's controlled and expensive access to God through its priestly sacrifice system with unfettered and free access to God though Jesus. So you always have to bear in mind the different model John's Gospel presents, and the fact of contrast.
If you stop to consider what I've just said, then it's fairly likely that those referred to as "thieves" are going to be involved in the Temple system!!
And, of course, the Shepherd is Jesus. So far it's fairly straightforward. But, what short of Shepherd?
Don't say "a pastoral one"!! And saying "The Good Shepherd" doesn't quite get at what's really going on here. The best word, I think, is "honorable". Jesus is the honorable shepherd - and the Gospel writers are careful to spell out the characteristics of an honorable shepherd. They identify three:
- Jesus enters by the door instead of sneaking in some other way - he is honest, forthright, direct.
- The gatekeeper recognizes Jesus as the genuine shepherd of this flock and permits him to enter; and,
- The "honorable shepherd leads the sheep in and out.
The first - honest and forthright - is clear. But the second and third - that Jesus is recognized by the gatekeeper, and that Jesus the honorable shepherd leads the sheep in and out - both need more explanation.
The best way to explain the second characteristic of the honorable shepherd is to tell you a story. When Rachel and I were in Israel, our guide, Iyad Qumri - who'll be our guide this time, incidentally - kept taking us to stores to buy things and introducing the owner as one of his cousins. This became such a joke - even with Iyad - that he eventually introduced us to a shop owner by saying that "he is really my cousin"! Behind the joke is the reality that even today Middle Eastern families share a common first century family characteristic: they're big. There are lots of cousins.
And in the first century, they shared in common enterprises, such as sheep farming. While each nuclear family had its own flock they often pasturing their flocks together with their relatives in a common pen. So one family member - one kinsman - who knew all the shepherds was the designated gatekeeper.
And the third characteristic, that the shepherd leads the flock in and out, echoes the fact that, unlike elsewhere in the world, most Middle Eastern shepherds have always walked before the sheep rather than driven them from behind, and have always called them with a peculiar cry. It is this cry rather than simply voice recognition that guides the sheep. Sheep in general are not very powerful, hence unable to defend themselves effectively. Moreover, they are not very good at recognizing localities, which explains why they can so easily go astray. When lost, the sheep panics. It falls to the ground and bleats loudly in hopes that it will attract the shepherd.
I think you can begin to see some of the meaning here - certainly its about more than a pastoral image – it’s about where to turn for the pastures of God, where to turn to find the pastures of life. John's Gospel is saying that to find the pasture of the Honorable Shepherd is to find true life in God. To go out to that pasture we have to pass through Jesus the Gate (remember what I said about Jesus replacing the Temple system?!). The thief can offer only theft, destruction, and death. Such a shepherd contrasts starkly with Jesus the gate and the noble shepherd.
To enter into resurrection life is to enter through Jesus the gate, to enter into the rich green uplands of God's good hope for us.
However (!) there's more! There's another layer here. Listen to this quote from the book of Numbers (27: 16-17): "numbers 27: 16-17. In this passage, Moses is urged to...
"..... appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd."
In Mark's gospel, Mark reports (6:34) that
"As [Jesus] went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
The two passages tell us that the role of leadership in the Hebrew scriptures is described by the example of the role of a shepherd, and, that, as Mark says, the people were actually like sheep without a shepherd - they didn't have those shepherds.
In other words, Jesus talk of sheep, sheep folds, and shepherds, is directed at those who should be "leading Israel like shepherds" but were not - it's a direct attack on the Jerusalem priests - the leadership of Israel - who should have been providing leadership but weren't.
All of a sudden this gospel passage takes on a very contemporary ring. What about leadership in the Christian community - what about leadership in the national community? As one Jesuit commentator has asked: "Are contemporary leaders noble guides or more like thieves, bandits, and strangers?"
It is not for me to answer that question for you. But this passage does issue an invitation to consider issues of leadership in our contemporary world...always remembering that those questions should be asked and answered within the context of the leadership modeled by Jesus the Honorable Shepherd, Jesus the Gate, and God the provider of the pasture that gives eternal life. Amen.
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