Acts 2. 42 – 47

Psalm 23

John 10. 1 – 10

Fr Alex

 

Last week I talked about how our beautiful reredos shows the climactic scene of the Emmaus Road story.  At the moment Jesus breaks bread with the disciples, their eyes are opened and they see him in his resurrection glory.

In a way, today’s Gospel is a bit of a sequel for us.  Because in the climax of today’s reading Jesus tells us why he came into the world – and his words are also recorded on our reredos.  He says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

But of course this reading isn’t a sequel at all.  We’ve been focussing for the last few weeks on Jesus’ resurrection appearances.  They have been moments of joy, surprise, and hope.

But today we’ve jumped quite far back, to about the middle of John’s Gospel, well before the events of Holy Week and Easter. 

And today it’s more of a moment of confusion, because we read that those who heard him “did not understand what he was saying to them.”

This happens all the time in the Gospels, doesn’t it.  Jesus speaks in parables, he often uses strange allusions rather than plain speech.

But putting this confusing moment here, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, reveals a very important truth to us.  That all of what Jesus says and does, is fulfilled only through his death and resurrection.  Easter Day is the key to unlocking the truths that Jesus reveals to his followers, and to us.

Think of one of the most famous examples, that John puts right near the beginning of his Gospel.  Jesus cleanses the temple, the focus of faith and worship, and the location of God’s presence on earth.

He says, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  Those who hear it are baffled, saying “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”

Of course it’s only after the resurrection that they understand that Jesus was speaking about the “temple of his body” – and he was teaching them that it’s no longer the temple, but rather Jesus himself who is the new focus of faith and worship.  Jesus is God present on earth, for all to see.

John says that “after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

And in a similar way, the resurrection holds the key to understanding our Gospel passage today.

Today is commonly called ‘Good Shepherd Sunday,’ but in today’s reading Jesus doesn’t actually refer to himself as the ‘Good Shepherd.’  That comes later on.

He says today, “I am the gate.  Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

What could he mean?  Those who hear it are confused, and later we hear that Jesus divides many by what he says.

Well I was greatly helped in this by reading about the practice of shepherding in Jesus’ time.

There are two sorts of sheepfold.  The first is described in the first half of today’s Gospel.  One you’d find in a town or village of the time.  A walled enclosure, with a wooden gate, shared by several flocks; guarded by a gatekeeper. 

They would come to it in the morning, and the sheep would respond to each shepherd’s distinctive call, and follow him to pasture.

The second sort, though, is the remote sheepfold out on the hills, away from the safety of civilisation.  This was simply a rough circle of stones with an opening.  And at night the shepherd would physically lie himself across the entrance, to keep the sheep in, and the wild animals out.

“Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.” 

We see in this reading the depth to which this Good Shepherd cares for his sheep.  He knows each of them; they know his voice; he comes to find them, calls them, and leads them to safety, to the good pasture.  When one of them is lost, he risks all to go and find it.

And in the darkness, when they are at their most vulnerable, he puts his very body between them and the danger.

Of course the true meaning of this is only revealed to us on Good Friday and Easter Day: when Jesus, the Good Shepherd, puts his very body between us and the danger of sin and death, on the cross.

But in doing so, he opens wide the gate to the eternal life that he shares with his Father; that all his sheep may follow him to safety, to the good pasture of life with him forever.

It truly is a wondrous thing, the depth of the love and care that God has for each one of us, in his precious flock.

So may we seek to follow, ever more closely, Christ our Good Shepherd.  May we acknowledge him truly as the gate to eternal life.  And may we rest secure in the peace and the safety that he won for us on Easter Day.  Amen.