4thSUNDAY OF EASTER

 

Readings: Acts 2:14, 36-41
1 Peter 2:20-25
John 10:1-10

 

 

"The shepherd of the sheep enters the gate…
and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.”

 

 

I could never forget what a layman had to say after he was requested to slaughter a sheep on one special occasion in the parish. He said: "Never will I again slaughter a sheep. I'd rather prefer a dozen of goats than a single sheep. The goats always struggle and resist. The sheep, never. Once she knows she is going to die, she slowly follows unto the slaughter place without any resistance. Then, she offers her neck and sheds her “tears." Poor layman. He also gathered some tears that never dropped around his eyes as he recounted his story.

 

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. The gospel of John invites us to meditate on Christ, the Good Shepherd.

 

1.  Perhaps the deep sense of intimacy that characterizes the shepherd's relationship with his sheep starts with sheep’s vulnerability and thus her total reliance and dependence on her master. This is the sheep's weakness. But paradoxically, it is from this weakness that she derives her strength. This means two things: First, on the part of the sheep, she must always be at her shepherd’s side. To the sheep, her shepherd is her all in all: her protection before an enemy, her safety before any danger, her guide and rescue when astray. Second, on the part of the shepherd, he also knows the weakness of his sheep and so he could not afford to be carefree. The good shepherd always stays vigilant; he keeps his eyes watchful in every moment.

 

The relationship, therefore, is by nature reciprocal. The sheep’s weakness calls by nature the attention, care and love of a shepherd. And in turn, a good shepherd naturally responds to the needs of his sheep with compassion and love. In this sense, nature seems to bind the sheep and the shepherd so intimately.

 

2. By this natural intimacy that binds the sheep and the shepherd, the evangelist John draws some important marks that characterize the person of Jesus as the good shepherd.

 

a. The good shepherd is first and foremost a leader. "He calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out." - - - In biblical understanding, the name stands for the totality of the person. Calling somebody by name means knowing the person intimately. It is knowing him inside out. In a flock, some sheep are strong and fast, others are weak and slow; some are healthy, others are sickly; some always stick to the group, others wander and go astray. The good shepherd is an effective leader because, knowing each one by heart, he leads them affectionately and according to each one's needs. Thus, to the sheep, the shepherd’s touch is always tender and his voice so sweet. As the shepherd knows his sheep, his sheep know the shepherd. His leadership, therefore, is founded on such mutual knowledge and love, understanding and trust. Being a good shepherd, the sheep are dear to him that he does not want them to starve. So, he leads them to the green pasture where the sheep can fill themselves to their heart’s desire. That is why the good shepherd serves as a gate of the sheepfold.

 

Christ is precisely the good shepherd even as he says: "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food.”  This is, then, reflective of what the psalmist of old would say: “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. In the verdant pasture, he gives me repose” (Ps 23:1-2). In other words, his leadership is a leadership of service. It is in this sense that the Church in the modern world talks about the pastor as a servant-leader.

 

b. The good shepherd is ready to pay the price of shepherding. "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” (Jn 10:11). --- This is the logical consequence of anyone who is faithful to his vocation. Of course, a shepherd does not necessarily need to die in order to be good. But the shepherd's kind of life exposes him to this risk, and thus, he must at least be ready to offer his life for the sake of his sheep. This is the ultimate test that distinguishes a good shepherd from a hired man or a thief or a stranger. A hired man works for pay and so he leaves the sheep when danger comes. A thief does everything and anything out of deceit and mischief, and so he does not enter through the gate but climbs in some other way. A stranger comes unrecognized and so the sheep run away from him.

 

The good shepherd takes shepherding as a vocation and not simply a profession. Shepherding is not only a means of livelihood but also a life itself. Thus, the good shepherd works not for money but for life, not by deceit but by honesty, not by hypocrisy but by transparency. And when situation demands of his very life, the good shepherd gives it up that his sheep may have life, life in all its fullness.

 

c. All this he does because the good shepherd knows and takes shepherding as an entrusted responsibility: “This command I have received from my Father" (Jn 10:18) In other words, shepherding is a divine mandate Once somebody is called to a shepherd's life, to him is entrusted a sacred responsibility over the lives of others. And he is just that accountable.

 

Christ is the Good Shepherd precisely because his as a shepherd is the Father's will. Right from the start, he knows how accountable he is to him who has given him the mandate. That is why right from the start, too, he has always been attending to his Father's business, doing his Father's will. And he does it freely and with joy, although it also means terrible anguish, pain and even death. But it is precisely because of his total obedience that he wins the Father's pleasure: "This is why Father loves me because I lay down my life" (Jn 10:17). No doubt, by this, Christ made himself so worthy as the Good Shepherd.

 

3. As we see, shepherding has its universal applicability because everyone – no matter how small and insignificant may his life, work or role be, either at home or in public – does always have a responsibility over and its corresponding accountability to what he is, has and does. But the image of the good shepherd is more profoundly meant those whose lives are bestowed with a responsibility over a people: to pastors of the church and in parallel manner to heads of state. As the faith of the faithful is influenced to a large extent by their pastors, so too is the fate of the people shaped by our civil leaders. Jesus takes upon himself the image of the good shepherd to set a perfect model of genuine leadership.

 

"The shepherd of the sheep enters the gate…and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.”