Texts of the Readings
May 6/7,
2006
Fourth
Sunday of Easter (B)
Rev. Timothy P. Schehr
Acts 4:8-12
X
1 John 3:1-2
X
John 10:11-18
On this Sunday in the Easter season we give
praise to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. What is it that makes him good as a
shepherd? It has nothing to do with the quality of his flock or the size of
his ranch. It has everything to do with his readiness to sacrifice his life
for his sheep. This is quite the reverse of what we might expect. Ordinarily
in biblical times it is the sheep that are sacrificed. But this is no
ordinary shepherd.
The picture of a shepherd leading
the flock is quite prominent in the bible. We see it for the first time as
we read about Abels terrible fate at the hand of his brother Cain. The
image surfaces again with Abraham and Sarah. Who can forget the image of
Moses as shepherd? He is shepherding his flock when he encounters God on the
mountain. And then he receives the mission to shepherd the people of Israel
out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. David is a shepherd when he first
comes into view to be anointed as king by the great Samuel.
For all their good qualities these
biblical shepherds are no match for Jesus. On the final Passover recorded in
Johns gospel Jesus, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed for the salvation of
all. Already at the midpoint in the Fourth Gospel Jesus anticipates
everything he will do at that Passover.
We learn some other very significant
lessons from this passage in Johns gospel. We learn that Jesus is wholly
committed to the welfare of his flock. When danger approaches, other
shepherds, less concerned for the sheep, run away to save their lives. We
will see this plainly in the case of the Lords own apostles who are ready
to abandon all association with Jesus as soon as danger surfaces on the
night of the Lords arrest.
We learn that there are other sheep
beyond the fold Jesus is caring for when he speaks these words. Jesus comes
first to the flock of Israel, but his saving work extends to all the nations
of the earth. Just before Jesus announces the arrival of the hour, when he
will lay down his life for the sheep, Greeks come forward expressing a
desire to see Jesus. So as the Lords hour begins there are people present
who belong to those other flocks.
We learn that Jesus is fulfilling a
command from his heavenly Father. This seems to take us all the way back to
the beginning of the gospel where we learned that Jesus is the Word of God
that came into the world to lead to eternal life all those who believe in
him. Jesus fulfills his Fathers saving plan. He is the one who lays down
his life; he is the one who takes it up again.
In spite of their failure during the
hour of the Lords passion and death, Peter and others were later
transformed into good shepherds too. In the first reading we witness Peter
boldly proclaiming the gospel before many of the same leaders and elders who
opposed Jesus during his earthly life. No longer fearing for his life, Peter
confronts them all with the truth of the gospel. They rejected Jesus, but he
is now the cornerstone of life.
In the second reading John likewise
boldly proclaims his faith in Jesus. The world dismisses Gods children. But
what does it matter? John values being a child of God over anything the
world could possibly offer in place of such an honor.
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