Year A

John 10:1-10

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Listen Enter Follow

There’s an old Texas story that goes like this: A new school marm in a prairie schoolhouse asked a little boy, “If there were twelve sheep in a field and one jumped over the fence, how many would be left?” The pupil said, “None.” The teacher said, “You don’t know arithmetic, do you?” The little boy said, “No ma’am, but I know sheep.” And so did Jesus! The imagery of the shepherd is deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the Jewish people as it is in the Christian tradition. Jesus, as a good Jewish boy would have learned the Hebrew Scriptures and scattered throughout them is this image of the shepherd and the sheep, often used as an example of God’s love for God’s people. This picture of God as a shepherd who cares for the flock comes even more clearly into focus in Jesus Christ.

One of the beloved images of Jesus is that of the attentive shepherd who cares and protects his flock. Today, in the middle of the Easter season, our readings leap from resurrection appearances to the tenth chapter of John where John takes metaphors for God, like shepherd or gate, using “I am” statements and ascribes them to Jesus to tell us what we can know about this risen Christ. Over and over Jesus used “I am” images, that take us all the way back to the “I am” spoken when God sends Moses back to Egypt to free the Israelite slaves and Moses asks God, “Who should I say sent me”? And God said to Moses, “My name is I am.”

Jesus uses these statements to express his identity: I am the light of the world. I am the true vine. I am the Bread of Life. I am the way, the truth, and the life.  And today Jesus tells us, I am the shepherd and the gateway to safety in God.” Each image conveys a part of who Jesus is – who God is – and no one image is enough. We need all of them to get the full picture of Jesus. In the parable today, Jesus as a good shepherd fulfills the hopes of Israel and he makes this clear in the verses just after our reading today, when he says, “I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The sheep are his followers that belong to him; hear his voice and who enter through him, the gate to be saved.

Shepherds and sheep would have been common sights in his rural setting as it is in many places in our world today. His listeners would have understood how sheep would be gathered into a sheepfold for safety overnight. The gate would be closed with the shepherd stationed at the entrance. A thief might possibly try to climb over the fence, but the sheep would only mill about and try to get away from the stranger. Only the shepherd could open and close the gate, and when he called his sheep, they would respond to his familiar voice and follow him.

These ten verses from the gospel of John form a beautiful rich parable of God as the shepherd who cares for the sheep night and day, who keeps them safe like the gate of the sheepfold, and protects them from anyone, who might try to harm them or steal them away. We get a tender portrait for us, as we are the sheep who belong to him, who gather together, who listen for his voice and are safely led out of the fold with him. This is a rather comforting thought that the creator of the universe, the almighty God, knows us by name and cares about us. 

However, as comforting as this picture is, in the context of the gospel of John, this parable functions as Jesus’ commentary in response to the Pharisees’ lack of understanding concerning his healing of a man who had been blind from birth, a story we hear in the previous chapter. Instead of a standalone story today, it’s a continuation of the Pharisees’ dispute with Jesus. Jesus speaking to the man who is now able to see, says, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who hear Jesus say this, protest, for his words seemed to be aimed at them.

In the course of their investigation to determine how this blind man miraculously received his sight, the Pharisees are bent on discrediting Jesus. So he answers their concerns with the parable today. He was not some unknown stranger. Just as the good shepherd would look after the welfare of his sheep, Jesus had looked after the welfare of the man who had been born blind. Jesus gave him the gift of sight both physically and spiritually and his eyes were opened as he came to know Jesus as healer, prophet, and finally as Lord. Jesus was the shepherd of Psalm 23, providing for the needs of his sheep leading them to green pastures, still waters, and right pathways.

This kind of love that the good shepherd practiced is called agape, self-giving love and it is the kind of love he teaches us to devote ourselves to. We read about this way of love in the Acts reading today where we hear how the first followers of Christ were fully converted to a new way of being: “the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers.” Awe came upon everyone as a result of this new “way” and the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. The Holy Spirit is in the driver’s seat here, leading and enlivening the young church.

Through the help of God’s Spirit working in them and now us, we sheep know him. We listen for his voice and we strive with endurance to follow. In the arms of the shepherd, who knows our name and leads us through this age, our soul is being guarded.  With our souls guarded by the good shepherd, we have the freedom to act in the world with justice, mercy and love. We can experience adversity. We can lay down our lives for others because we have been shaped by the shepherd and our story is nothing less than our participation in the story of Jesus. And isn’t this what Easter is all about – a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep? In using this illustration, Jesus points out the true nature of the cross. A shepherd dies for the sheep. The God of creation dies to save the wayward ones, and a Savior offers up himself for the world.

That’s what he means when he talks of being the gate through which the sheepfold passes. A true shepherd comes that we might have life and through his leading we are saved. Through his death on the cross, we are saved and made children of God. For it is not enough that we remain sheep. Jesus calls us his children and asks us to be shepherds of the sheepfold in his place. He wants us to share God’s love with one another and to offer up our lives for the well-being of others. The Lord is our shepherd, and to all of us sheep, he invites us to enter by the gate to find abundant life. Do we hear and recognize his voice? The good shepherd is calling. As a people who belong to you, make us eager to listen for your voice and eager to follow.