John 10:22-30
At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
Praise God we’re not still in suspense like the Jews in today’s Gospel about who Jesus is. You may remember at the Christmas Eve Vigil, only five months ago, we processed into church and we stopped – right back there; then we proclaimed the beginning of John’s Gospel. That took the suspense out of everything for us. Listen again to John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
We know Jesus is the Word; we know Jesus is the Messiah.
But in today’s Gospel from John, ten chapters later, the Jews are in suspense, and the evangelist John isn’t being particularly helpful. John has Jesus launching into the Good Shepherd story, and now the Jews are ready to stone or arrest Jesus.
It’s Good Shepherd Sunday, and Jesus is speaking to the Jews in a voice only his sheep can understand and the Jews just don’t, no, they can’t get it. Today’s Gospel is 22 verses into the tenth chapter of John, and Jesus has been provoking the Jews since verse one. They’re not only in suspense, they think “He has a demon and is out of his mind.”
Actually, today’s Good Shepherd gospel is the conclusion of John’s portrayal of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. You may remember that the church uses the Revised Common Lectionary for its’ appointed scripture readings each week, using a three year cycle, to present the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in three successive years, sprinkling in some material from John’s gospel each year. So this year, we get the end of the Good Shepherd narrative from John. Last year on Good Shepherd Sunday, we got middle of the story, the year before, the beginning. Those are pretty long intermissions in the in the story, so let me highlight Acts 1 and 2.
- There’s only one Good Shepherd – the rest are “thieves and bandits.”
- There’s only one way into the sheepfold – through the Good Shepherd, the Gate.
- There is abundant life in the sheepfold.
- The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, and the Father loves him because he lays down his life for his sheep.
- There are lost sheep to be brought into the flock – there will be one flock, one Shepherd.
In Act 3 of today’s gospel, Jesus finally and plainly answers the skeptical Jews: You don’t believe I’m the Messiah because you aren’t my sheep – yet. Then Jesus tells them the great promise of life in the sheepfold: the sheep are not only in the hands of the Good Shepherd, they are in the hands of the Father; they will have “eternal life;” and no one can “snatch” the sheep out of the hands of the Good Shepherd and the Father…because “the Father and I are one.” Game over.
I think we need an earthy Good Shepherd story in the midst of John’s soaring gospel – and John provides just that; but, perhaps just as important, we need Good Shepherd experiences in our life to anchor the story. If you think about it, I think you’ll find you have, or have had, some Good Shepherd’s in your life…I hope you have. Here’s one of my best Good Shepherd experiences.
George is Kathie and my youngest son – and George has a Good Shepherd. Ken Leonard is a high school Hall of Fame football coach back in Illinois, and Kathie and I became convinced the only way we would ever get George – who was a really good football player, and a really bad student – through high school, was to get him in Coach Leonard’s program – a football program that included activity in groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Coach not only got George through High School, he helped George get his first job after he earned his Associates Degree – a degree the counselor we had taken George to during High School said George could never complete. The Coach, and Kathie and I, believed differently. I gave a makeshift framed picture of the Good Shepherd to Coach Leonard after George’s High School graduation 15 years ago. More recently, I replaced that picture with a Good Shepherd Icon that Bill Platt wrote – the image of Jesus carrying the lost sheep over His shoulder. The Good Shepherd in today’s Gospel lives on in Good Shepherd’s like Ken Leonard – and women and men like you, doing God’s work in your flock.
So you do know…there is no suspense in the sheepfold. In John’s Christmas Gospel we hear that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” We believe Jesus is the Messiah. In today’s Gospel, we hear our Shepherd’s voice and know that we are safe, for all eternity. In last week’s Gospel, we heard Jesus tell Peter, “Feed my sheep.” In a few minutes, we will be fed by the Good Shepherd – in our Eucharistic meal. That’s when we really become “one Shepherd, one flock.”
But if you want see even more Good Shepherd’s work this morning…as you leave church…step just into our Memorial Garden. It’s a beautifully serene place to contemplate life in the sheepfold. As you let the work of our Good Shepherd Gardner, Janice Elsheimer, sink in, look to the right and you’ll see the tomato plant I saw her watering the other day. She didn’t plant it, we don’t really know how it got there – well I guess we really do – it just appeared one day…but now, Janice is tending it…just like a Good Shepherd would…food for your soul, food for your body. Praise God…
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