Asking for the gift of gratitude, love, ideals, and humility…
The fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally called ‘Good Shepherd Sunday,’ so it is not surprising that the word ‘shepherd’ appears several times in biblical texts (in all cycles). So, let’s start by trying to understand who the Shepherd actually is, what his role is, and why he is important. After all, how many people in our society today are familiar with the hard work involved in being a shepherd? Our image is perhaps too idealized: a pipe, a blue sky, rolling grass, birds singing overhead, and sheep bells jingling.
In ancient times, particularly in the Near East, being a shepherd was a serious profession. It was a poor person’s profession; the sheep did not belong to them, yet they were responsible for them. They had to locate pastures, which was not easy in a dry, arid environment. Moreover, they had to move from winter to summer pastures twice a year, sometimes traveling hundreds of kilometers. They also often had to fight other shepherds for access to pastures and springs. During the day, the shepherd guarded the flock so that none of the sheep ran away and at night to prevent theft or attacks by wild animals. They were always awake and alert, providing the sheep with safety, protection, pastures and water, just as the psalmist sings in today’s Psalm 23. They also had to provide direction and constantly count the flock, calling to them — the sheep remember the voice of their shepherd well. The sheep depend on the shepherd for everything; they must trust him, and he must deserve their trust. If we transfer this image of the shepherd to Jesus, then only He can truly say: ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and my sheep know my voice’. No one has ever cared more about us, the sheep of his flock, than he has. Being a sheep of Christ is not a degradation but a privilege: belonging to Christ. To have the Son of God as my shepherd, who knows me personally and knows my needs, my joys, my worries and even my sins, yet still loves me, and calls me by name! Knowing someone’s name is always an expression of a personal relationship, especially in the mentality of biblical people. He knows my name and knows me above all. As a good shepherd, he feels responsible for me, he loves me and he cares for me!
As I mentioned at the beginning, today is known as ‘Good Shepherd Sunday.’ Whenever we read the Gospel of John, Christ says of himself: ‘I am the good shepherd!’
In Biblical Hebrew, the verb ‘to be’ does not have the same tense as in English. This is reserved exclusively for God, who alone speaks about himself: ‘I am who I am!’ (Written in Hebrew script, which has no vowels, as YHVH.) This word, Yahweh or Jehovah (with vowels added depending on whether those from the names ADONAI or ELOHIM are used), is applied by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to himself. This use of God’s name outraged the Sanhedrin, priests and Pharisees, who considered it blasphemous. From their perspective, it was blasphemy that deserved the death penalty.
Although we did not explicitly hear the aforementioned ‘I am the good shepherd,’ we initially heard rather unflattering things: ‘I am the door.’ However, these are not ordinary doors. Here, it is the entrance to the sheepfold, and only the shepherd is permitted to enter through it. If someone else enters the sheepfold—this place of safety—they do not enter as a shepherd but as a thief. The Pharisees and high priests treated the prophets, as well as Christians, as usurpers who broke into the souls of God’s people. Because they imposed only one interpretation of God’s law and one view of God, Christ calls them “thieves and robbers.” Jesus is the only just and good shepherd because he gives his followers freedom: ‘I am the door.’ Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will be able to come in and go out, and find pasture’ (an expression of freedom). ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ‘ The Son of God is the giver of life!)
