John 10:1–10
Jesus
said, “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. The one who enters
by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for
him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads
them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the
sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger,
but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he
was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am
the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the
sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be
saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.
Commentary
In
the tradition of church liturgy, the gospel reading on the fourth Sunday of
Easter is about Jesus being the good shepherd.
And the theme of chapter 10 of the Gospel according to St.
John the Evangelist is good shepherd. There
are several sections about good shepherd in this Gospel and one section is read
on this Sunday of each year of the three year circle. This year we read the first movement.
There
are two images of today’s gospel: shepherds and the gate. Jesus tells us that here are two kinds of
shepherds: one is good and other is
bad. We can easily identify Jesus as the
good shepherd. About the latter, Jesus
describes them as thieves and bandits.
If we have to know the difference between the good and bad shepherds, we
must understand the image of the gate mentioned by Jesus.
In
fact, apart from the image of the good shepherd, Jesus also refers himself as
the gate. The image of gate is a gentle
protection. Jesus keeps us in a safe
place. We all need the kind of security
that Jesus gives to us. However, here in
this image, he is passive and allow us the freedom to decide whether we would
like to be under his protection. He is
gentle and humble that he never force us to follow him or be protected by
him.
When
we understand these images, it would be much easier for us to understand the
several messages about discernment that Jesus would like to forward in today’s
gospel.
First
message is about how to distinguish the good shepherd from the bad. Jesus said, “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. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the
sheep.” As we now know that Jesus is not
only the good shepherd but also the gate, we understand that anyone who in the
authority to teach us he or she must first come through Jesus. Because Jesus is “the way and the truth and
life. No one comes to the Father except
through me” (John 14:6). Thus the benchmark of knowing whether the
authoritative figures is doing us good or harm is to notice whether he or she
is speaking about God or about themselves.
Only
those who come through Jesus, the gate, is the shepherd of the flock because
the gatekeeper allows him or her to get closer to the flock and to bring them
out.
Even
if someone is cunning enough to pass of as a good shepherd, we, the flock, can
still find out their true identity.
First, how does he/she call us?
Jesus tells us that the good shepherd would call his own sheep one by
one. The good shepherd never uses group or peer
pressure to force his flock. He is
always gentle and speaks to us individually because each of us is unique and
different and we will follow him because we recognize his voice.
How
can we recognize the voice of the good shepherd? We will know if we spend some time between
half an hour and an hour with God in our prayer every day. Gradually, we will know how God speaks to
us.
Once,
we leave the sheepfold led by the good shepherd, Jesus tells us that the good
shepherd will go ahead of us. That is
why St Paul
calls Jesus the new Adam. His humbleness
is for us. His Passion is for us. His suffering and dying on the cross is for
us. His resurrection is for us. So that we will be risen after our
death.
In
addition, Jesus used the rich images from the daily life of the then Israelis to
illustrate the depth of his desired relationship with us. He spoke of shepherd and sheep, gatekeeper and
gate, pasture and life, recognition and salvation. How do these words relate to my life in this
place and time?
On
the other hand, Jesus also used the contrasting images: strangers, thieves and
bandits, killing and stealing, running away in fear instead of following, climbing
in rather than walking through the open gate. Can I identify the thieves, those intent on
destroying me rather than caring for me?
And don’t forget to pray to Jesus to enlighten me as I ask myself, am I
one of them who do not give life to others in my position as an authoritative
figure at home, at work, at my parish, in the church, etc.? Amen.