The fourth Sunday of Easter season is traditionally “Shepherd” Sunday. Each year the gospel reading is from John, chapter 10, where Jesus reveals himself as the “good” or “model” shepherd.
In this year’s reading (John 10:22-30) Jesus speaks as the shepherd who securely holds us (as believers) and will not let any “wolf” snatch us away. This is a powerful promise of life even in the midst of the perils and dangers of our mortal experience.
We also see that this passage is addressed to unbelievers, as represented by “the Jews” in the story. We must be very careful with passages such as this, so that we do not add to anti-Semitism or to the mischaracterization of Judaism that one often sees in Christian preaching. The conflict between Jesus’ proclamation and “Jews” as depicted in the gospel of John is doubtless colored by struggles late in the 1st century, when synagogues were in some places undergoing divisions because some participants saw Jesus as the Christ, and some didn’t.
In the story Jesus will not directly answer the question if he is the Christ (Messiah), but he does direct us to look at his “works.” Jesus says that his works done “in the Father’s name” bear witness to a messianic life . . . works of healing, abundant love and service, and even raising up from the tomb. When we hear the claim of that voice (the voice of the Shepherd), we belong to the sheep who find our life in him.
Questions:

How are you affected by Jesus’ promise that no one will snatch us away from his hand (and God’s hand)?
Is it helpful to learn that struggles within Jewish communities are reflected in the gospel stories? Does this knowledge encourage us to show respect and love to all the children of Abraham?
Are Jesus’ works of forgiveness, love, and healing the hallmark of what it means to believe that Jesus is the Christ? Is the sign of Jesus’ death and resurrection truly the source of our faith, hope, and love?

Steve Berke, Pastor

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Worship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.