Text: John 10:1-10 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Jesus the Good Shepherd
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. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
I don’t think there’s anything more comforting than the words, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Some of the earliest Christian art shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and there’s one modern painting of Jesus that depicts him carrying a lamb on his shoulders. We like to remember Jesus as our Good Shepherd in times of loss and sorrow – there’s a funeral prayer that asks God to accept the deceased person as “a sheep of your own flock.” It’s maybe the most popular Christian theme there is.
But you’ve probably noticed that the statement “I am the Good Shepherd” isn’t in this lesson, even though the heading says “Jesus the Good Shepherd.” That statement by Jesus is in the verse directly after this one, verse 11. Why it wasn’t included in the lectionary is a mystery to me, too. So we’ll just pretend that it was.
Before we go any farther, we need to note that this text is just part of a much larger section that begins all the way back in verse 1 of chapter 9, and goes all the way to verse 21 of chapter 10. In this passage, Jesus is still responding to the Pharisees who have been giving him grief over the healing of the man born blind.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between a man blind from birth and shepherds and sheep, but when Jesus talks about people who don’t get into the sheepfold by the gate as being thieves and bandits, he’s talking about the difference between “the real deal” and those who pose as “the real deal” but aren’t; he’s, of course, the former and the Pharisees are the latter: “After all the questions about Jesus’ identity in John 9, Jesus tries to explain both the division that surrounds him (9:16 and 10:19) and the consummate difference between what he brings to his own and what is brought by others. There is genuine consternation among the people around Jesus. Who is he? How can we trust him? Is he really from God or simply some new charlatan in town? Jesus answers these questions both pragmatically and poetically. He does things that God alone or one blessed by God can do. He describes the blessing he brings from God in poetic terms. This description is what 10:1-10 offer.”[1]
Yet, even after that dramatic healing of the blind man, even after the witness to this miracle by the formerly blind man himself, even after Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd, those there that day, particularly the Pharisees, still can’t come to grips with it all. So Jesus repeats what he said before, but in a somewhat different way, and this time he flat out says that he is the door to the sheepfold. To get in, you need to go through him.
And even then, not everybody was convinced, which, of course, bore out the truth of what Jesus was saying: His own sheep have no problem hearing his voice and following him. Those who do have a problem are not his sheep.
It would be easy at this point to turn even the much-loved image of the good shepherd, the one who is the gate to the sheepfold, into a “fire-and-brimstone” theme of “either you’re in or you ain’t – and if you ain’t, you’re on your way to that hot place. It’s time to make a choice, you sheep, and it had better be the right one!” I’m sure it’s been done.
But this isn’t really a matter of Jesus throwing down the gauntlet and making a sharp distinction between his sheep – those who are in the fold – and all others, who are not in the fold. He’s actually inviting those who harbor some skepticism into the fold. “Do you want to be one of those other sheep who are led by robbers and thieves who run away and leave them helpless when the wolf shows up? Or would you rather be one of my sheep, who know that I will always be with them even to the end of the age? I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Then he clinches it with verse 11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John Kelman tells a story in his book The Holy Land that really helps to put us into the context of today’s passage and understand Jesus’ words, “I am the gate for the sheep.” He writes:
“A shepherd near Hebron, when asked why the sheep pen there had no gate, answered quite simply, ‘I am the gate.’ He meant that at night when the sheep gathered within the circular stone wall of the enclosure, he lay down in its open entrance to sleep, so that no sheep might stray from its shelter without wakening him, and no ravenous beast might enter but across his body.”[2]
The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He protects his sheep. He loves his sheep. He will do anything for his sheep. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has laid down his life for us, his sheep, and for those very same reasons.
The sheep in John Kelman’s book had a strong stone enclosure for their sheepfold. We sing about our God being a mighty fortress. God is our protector who upholds us with his victorious right hand; and God in the Person of Jesus Christ, offers us and invites us into abundant life.
Abundant life – what is that, exactly? Saying “abundant life” is not the same as saying “a life of abundance”; abundant life means a life that is richer, and fuller, and more purposeful than simply a life of questing after this or that new thing. It’s also more than just placing your hopes in “the sweet by and by” but rather a full and purposeful life in the here and now. Jesus died in that cross to demonstrate and prove God’s bottomless love for us, to assure us of forgiveness of sin, and to free us to live in this moment, right now, in joyful service to each other.
Determining what “abundant life” looks like for each of us will vary. But we know we’re close to abundant life when we feel deep within that what we do matters. We feel a kind of glow which is much more than just satisfaction – it’s a sense that we are fulfilling our purpose in the world. I don’t think there’s any greater joy than that.
We are here to walk alongside each other to help each other work out what “abundant life” might look like – for you, for me, for them, whoever they are, for everybody. Coming to church on Sunday is an opportunity to think with each other, in light of our shared faith, what constitutes abundant life here and now for the people with whom we are in relationship.
Jesus wants us to have abundant life, and we’re here to figure out what that looks like and help each other enjoy and share that.
And on a day like this, it could not be more appropriate to talk about sheep and the Good Shepherd, as we both congratulate our young people on their achievements and send them on the way into their next adventures.
Our hope for all of you is that you, too, will find that abundant life that enriches you and fulfills you and give your lives purpose and meaning.
And the Good Shepherd will always be with you, as with all of us, to protect, to guide, and to love!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1] Henrich, Sarah, “Commentary on John 10:1-10,” Working Preacher, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=931, May 15, 2011
[2] Kelman, John, The Holy Land, quoted in Link, Mark, S.J., Jesus: A Contemporary Walk with Jesus, Allen, TX, Resources for Christian Living, 1997