Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Cycle B) 
Based on the (Gospel) Jn 10:11-18,
(Second Reading) 1 Jn 3:1-2, and (First Reading) Ac 4:8-12
From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the
Desert”
THE
GOOD SHEPHERD
“I am the good shepherd:f the
good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.” Jn 10:11
This discourse of Jesus Christ
about the “Good Shepherd” comes after the incident of the cure of the man born
blind (Jn 9:1-41). It is directed to the Pharisees who were present in the
crowd that Jesus rebuked for sending away the man born blind after Jesus
restored his sight.
The discourse on the “Good
Shepherd starts from v. 1 that talks about entering the sheepfold through the
gate. Jesus says that those who do not enter through the gate of the sheepfold
are robbers, bandits, thieves and strangers (referring to the Pharisees and to
other Jews who were Jesus Christ’ enemies) who cause harm to the sheep by stealing
and scattering them away.
Apparently, because the Jewish
elders and the Pharisees drove away the man who was born blind that Jesus cured
and who was made his disciple later on, Jesus Christ referred to them in this
discourse as not shepherds but thieves and bandits and strangers to the sheep
who enter the sheepfold ‘in some other way’ in order to destroy, kill and
scatter away the sheep.
On the contrary, Jesus Christ the
Good Shepherd of the flock whom the gatekeeper lets in and enters the sheepfold
through the gate. The sheep hears and recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd
which he calls by name one by one. They go out of the sheepfold with the Good
Shepherd leading the way ahead and all of his sheep follow because “they know
his voice” (v. 3-4). They never follow a
stranger but run away from him because the sheep do not recognize a stranger’s
voice (v. 5).
Because his audience failed to
understand the parable of the Good Shepherd versus the stranger shepherd, Jesus
Christ had to repeat his parable by applying the parable directly to himself: “I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All the others who have come before me are thieves and brigands, and the sheep took no notice of them. I am the
gate. Anyone who enters through me are safe: he will go out and enter freely
and find pasture surely. I have come so
that the sheep may have life and have it to the full” (v. 7-10).
From this point, the gospel
narrative for this 4th Sunday of Easter follow. In whole, the gospel
narrative says:
“I am
the good shepherd:f the good
shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he
is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and
runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and
scatters the sheep; this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern
for the sheep.
I am
the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know meg Just as the
Father know me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And
there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to
lead as well.h They too will listen to my voice, and there will only
be one flock,i and one shepherd.
The
Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No
one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will,j and as it
is in my power to lay it down, so it is in my power to take it up again; and
this is the command I have been given by my Father.”(Jn 10:11-18)
The First Reading is about Apostle
Peter’s address to the Jewish elders who had crucified Jesus Christ, the Good
Shepherd. It says:
“Then Peter, filled
with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about the act
of kindness to a cripple, and asking us how he was healed, then I am glad to
tell you all. And would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of Israel,
that it
was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man is
able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. This is the
stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the cornerstone.
For all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we
can be saved.’ e” (Ac 4:8-12).
The Second Reading is about
Apostle John’s address that says:
“Think of the love that the Father has
lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we
are.a Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it
does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but
what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that
when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really
is” (1 Jn 3:1-2)
Here, Jesus Christ, the Good
Shepherd, had been refused to be acknowledged by the world says Apostle John.
The article from Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia, concerning the Good Shepherd says:
“The Good Shepherd (Greek: ποιμήν ο
καλός, poimḗn o kalós) is a pericope
found in John 10:1-21 in which Jesus is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays
down his life for the sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23. The Good
Shepherd is revisited throughout the four Gospels in references to Jesus not
letting himself lose any of his sheep. The surrounding context of the
allegorical story of the Good Shepherd (John 9:35-41 and John 10:22-30) shows
that the people around Jesus realized that he was asserting that he was God.”
Long time ago, I heard someone
share to us a story about a characteristic of a lost sheep, especially when it
happened that it climbed a very stiff and dangerous cliff. A good shepherd will not immediately attempt
to rescue that sheep in that kind of situation because there is danger that the
sheep will fall over the cliff as it tries to escape and resist its rescuer.
Instead, a good shepherd will wait for the time until the sheep is already
exhausted and is quite calm in its place before he rescues it in that cliff. Do
not contradict, or try to oppose, a lost sheep that happened to perch on a high
cliff or in a dangerous situation, but calmly wait until he quieted down. When
he is already relaxed, then that is the time to force a rescue on him.
Regarding the indictment against
bad shepherds, both the political and the spiritual leaders, in Israel, here
are the words of the prophets:
Ezk. 34:1 - 8 - The shepherds of Israela
The word of Yahweh was then addressed to
me as follows, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy
and say to them, “Shepherds,b the Lord Yahweh says this. Trouble for
the shepherd of Israel who feed themselves! Shepherds ought to feed their
flock…” (v. 1) Yet, you have fed on milk,c you have dressed
yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed
the flock. You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick
ones, or bandage the wounded ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look
for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and violently. For
lack of a shepherd they have scattered, to become the prey of any wild animal;
they have scattered far. My flock is straying this way and that, on mountains
and on high hills;d my flock has been scattered all over the
country; no one bothers about them and no one looks for them. Well then,
shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh. As I live, I swear it - it is the Lord
Yahweh who speaks - since my flock has been looted and for lack of a shepherd
is now the prey of any wild animal, since my shepherds have stopped bothering
about my flock, since my shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock… (vv.
3-8). (Footnotes a, b, c, and d of
Ezk.34:1-8 are: a - The image
of the king-shepherd is deeply rooted in Eastern literary tradition. Jeremiah
used it of the kings of Israel to rebuke their slackness in office, Jr 2:8;
10:21; 23:1-3, and to proclaim that God will give his people new shepherds who
would pasture them with integrity, Jr 3:15; 23:4, and from these shepherds
would come a branch, Jr 23:5-6, i.e., the Messiah. Ezekiel takes up the theme
from Jeremiah 23:1-6, later to be resumed in Zc 11:4-17. For their wickedness
he rebukes the shepherds, the kings and lay leaders of the people, vv. 1-10.
Yahweh will take from them the flock they have ill-treated and himself become
the shepherd of his people, (cf. Gn 48:15; 49:24; Is 40:11; Ps 80:1; 95:7 and
Ps 23); this is effect the proclamation of theocracy, vv. 11-16; and in point
of fact the monarchy was not restored after the return from exile. But the time
was to come when Yahweh would give his people a shepherd of his own choice, vv.
23-24, a ‘prince’ (cf. 45:7-8; 46:8-10; 16-18), another David. The term in
which the prince’s reign is described,
vv. 25-31, and the name ‘David’ by which he is called (see 2 S 7:1+; Is 11:1+;
Jr. 23:5 ), suggest a messianic age in which God himself, by means of his
Messiah, rules his people in justice and peace. In this text of Ezekiel, we discern
the outline of the parable of the Lost Sheep, Mt 18:12-14; Lk 15:4-7, but more
especially of the allegory of the Good Shepherd, Jn 10:11-18, which by virtue
of its original context here is seen to be a claim to messiahship on the part
of Jesus. The Good Shepherd is later to become one of the earliest themes of
Christian iconography. b- “Shepherds’ Syr; ‘To the shepherds” Hebr. c
- ‘milk’ Greek; ‘fat’ Hebr.; d - Probably alluding to worship on the
‘high places’.)
Ezk. 34:23 - I mean to raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and
to put him in charge of them and he will pasture them; he will pasture them and
be their shepherd.
Ezk 37:22, 24 - I shall make them into
one nation in my own land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be
the king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate
kingdoms. My servant David will
reign over them, one shepherd for all; they will follow my observances, respect
my laws and practice them.
Jr 23:1, 3 - Doom for the shepherds who allow the flock of
my pasture to be destroyed and scattered - it is Yahweh who speaks! This,
therefore, is what Yahweh the God of Israel, says about the shepherds in charge
of my people: You have let my flock be scattered and go wandering and have not
taken care of them (v. 1). But the
remnant of my flock I myself will gather from all the countries where I have
dispersed them and will bring them back to their pastures; they shall be
fruitful and increase in numbers (v. 3).
Zc 11:17 - Trouble is coming to the
worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his
right eye! May his arm wither entirely, may his eyes be totally blinded!
Since
human shepherds are hard to find and quite a failure, Yahweh God himself is - the
Good Shepherd a - “Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing. In
meadows of green grass he lets me lie. To the waters of repose he leads me;
there he revives my soul. He guides me by paths of virtue for the sake of his
name. Though I pass through a gloomy valley, I fear no harm; beside meb
your rod and your staff are there, to hearten me. You prepare a table before me, under the eyes
of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil,c my cup brims over. Ah,
how good ness and kindness pursue me, everyday of my life; my home,d
the house of Yahweh, as long as I live” (Psalm 23). (Footnote a nd c of Ps 23 - a – THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The care
of God for the righteous, illustrated by two images: the shepherd, vv. 1-4, and
the host of the messianic banquet, vv.5-6. The psalm is traditionally applied
to the sacramental life, particularly to baptism and the Eucharist; c
– Gesture of hospitality in the East, Am.
6:6; Ps 92:10; 133:2; Qo. 9:8; Lk 7:46.)
And
Jesus Christ is also the great Shepherd of the flock according to these words
which are as follows:
Heb 13:20 - I pray that the
God of peace, who brought out Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great
Shepherd of the flock by the blood that sealed and eternal covenant.
Jn 10:26-27 - But you do not believe, because
you are no sheep of mine. The Sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I
know them and they follow me.
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