4th Sunday of Easter ~ Gospel of John Chapter 10
Every year, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church’s liturgy presents us with the figure of Jesus, the “Good Shepherd.” The Gospel reading is taken from the tenth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. In three different segments, corresponding to the three-year cycle of Gospel readings, those passages are John 10:1-10 (Yr A), Jn 10:11-18 (Yr B); and Jn 10:27-30 (Yr C).
Chapter 10 of that Fourth Gospel begins with what is translated into English as a figure of speech (Gk. παροιμίαν) or allegory (10:1-6). According to an H. W. Watkins, “the word rendered ‘parable’ (in verse 6) is the wider word (Gk: παροιμία, paroimia) which includes every kind of figurative and proverbial teaching, every kind of speech … which departs from the usual course (Greek: οἶμος, oimos).” Given the allegorical nature and the broad scope of the chapter’s six introductory verses, it should be no surprise that Jesus’ hearers did not understand what He was telling them. As a result of their inability to grasp what He said, Jesus adds three layers of explanation beginning with verses 7-10, followed by a further explanation in the next eight verses and, then, the third and final explanation in verses 25-30.
The image of God as shepherd is central to both biblical testaments: In Ezekiel (Ez 34) the image serves as a rebuke against leaders who did not care for the flock, the same pastoral description implies comfort and protection in the well-known Psalm 23, and, finally, the image is a rich symbol of Jesus’ role as the Good Shepherd who “lays down his life for his sheep.” Remember that shepherds were the first witnesses to the birth of Jesus, a striking pastoral reminder that the glad tidings of salvation was first given to those poorest of the poor, shepherds being the least of essential workers, malodorous vagabonds tending flocks under the stars in the grassy highlands, or those who were shunned and mistrusted in the villages. Most of the time, shepherds were seldom even spiritually clean enough to worship with their fellow Israelites. Thus, Jesus began His life of downward mobility in the company of those better off and ended His life as a nuisance to power, crucified between thieves after the final Passover lesson He gave to His disciples exemplified by His washing of their feet.
Many biblical scholars consider Saint John’s Gospel to be structured in terms of a sustained meditation on its opening chapter or what is called the Johannine prologue and its identification of Jesus as the Word made flesh. One element in this biblical meditation is the evangelist’s employment of a whole series of figures, some poetic and richly symbolic, along with others drawn from mundane, everyday life. Nowhere is this made more explicit than in the ‘I am’ sayings, in which Jesus states unequivocally who He is: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, as well a the living bread come down from heaven; the Resurrection and the life, along with His being the vine and the vinedresser, and so forth.
Yet, throughout the tenth chapter from which this weekend’s Gospel passage is taken (Jn 10:11-18), John uses a set of unpretentious images associated with shepherding. In the beginning of the passage (Jn 10:11), He identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd – in fact He literally says, “I am the Beautiful (Gk. καλός = beauty as an outward sign of inward good) Shepherd”. Good (kalos) means beautiful, magnificent, winsome, attractive, lovely and excellent on all levels, vs. another Greek word for good (agathos), which means moral goodness (pleasant, agreeable, upright and honorable). In the earlier part of Chapter 10, Jesus also says that He is the door or gate (Gk. Θύρα) of the sheepfold, the entrance to the walled courtyard in which the sheep were kept overnight or during intemperate weather, for their safety.
When the Good Shepherd dies, therefore, it is only because He wills it so. That is His sole purpose in coming down from heaven. His whole heart is not in living this life, but in dying. The differences, therefore are obvious. The earthly shepherd cannot lay down his life; the Good Shepherd cannot be deprived of it. The earthly shepherd does not want to die; The Good Shepherd does not want to live. The former dies to live; the latter lives to die.
In part, excerpted from Alban McCoy. The Tablet. “Jesus the good shepherd and why he will never let us go.” 1 May 2023.
Nature and dignity 