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Don’t think that Jesus is only saying sweet consoling words when he proclaims himself the good shepherd on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B.
He is, certainly, doing that. But he is also saying something uniquely challenging.
What he said about the Good Shepherd almost got him killed.
The Gospel we hear on Good Shepherd Sunday is the climax of a three-chapter-long confrontation in the Gospel of John between Jesus and Jewish leaders.
It starts with Jesus teaching in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles and in the course of the showdown, he compares himself to “living waters” and calls himself “the light of the world.” He twice references his own divinity saying, “Before Abraham was, I am,” and “I and the Father are one.”
He doesn’t just teach astonishing things, he doesastonishing things: He takes the confrontation about the woman caught in adultery and turns it against the Jewish leaders, and he heals a man born blind in a way that infuriates the authorities.
It all comes to a head as Chapter 10 begins, and Jesus explains to the Jewish leaders who he is, in the words of today’s Gospel: “I am the Good Shepherd.”
When Jesus says he’s the good shepherd, we picture the smiling shepherd that leaves the 99 behind and brings the one back on his shoulders, rejoicing. That’s not what the Jewish leaders pictured. They pictured God himself coming to shepherd his people, the way it was described by the prophet Ezekiel — one of the three great prophets, along with Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Jesus wasn’t calling himself a friendly farmhand — he was saying he is God himself arriving at the end of days to gather the nations to himself.
Continued below.
He is, certainly, doing that. But he is also saying something uniquely challenging.
What he said about the Good Shepherd almost got him killed.
The Gospel we hear on Good Shepherd Sunday is the climax of a three-chapter-long confrontation in the Gospel of John between Jesus and Jewish leaders.
It starts with Jesus teaching in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles and in the course of the showdown, he compares himself to “living waters” and calls himself “the light of the world.” He twice references his own divinity saying, “Before Abraham was, I am,” and “I and the Father are one.”
He doesn’t just teach astonishing things, he doesastonishing things: He takes the confrontation about the woman caught in adultery and turns it against the Jewish leaders, and he heals a man born blind in a way that infuriates the authorities.
It all comes to a head as Chapter 10 begins, and Jesus explains to the Jewish leaders who he is, in the words of today’s Gospel: “I am the Good Shepherd.”
When Jesus says he’s the good shepherd, we picture the smiling shepherd that leaves the 99 behind and brings the one back on his shoulders, rejoicing. That’s not what the Jewish leaders pictured. They pictured God himself coming to shepherd his people, the way it was described by the prophet Ezekiel — one of the three great prophets, along with Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Jesus wasn’t calling himself a friendly farmhand — he was saying he is God himself arriving at the end of days to gather the nations to himself.
Continued below.
This Sunday, What Jesus Said About the Good Shepherd Almost Got Him Killed
Peter faced the opposition of his day like Jesus did. And in the new Declaration, Francis is facing it like Peter.
media.benedictine.edu
