I Am The Good Shepherd
THE 2ND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
These past two Easter Sundays have revealed such marvellous truths about the risen Lord. He is the first overcomer of death. He went to the place of the dead and snatched the keys away from Hades. His body was raised from the grave and did not see corruption. He is the resurrection and the life, and in Him is real and everlasting peace. And today, he comes into our midst and declares himself to be the Good Shepherd.
Now, to better understand what Christ is saying about himself, we need to know what is meant by good and also why Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd, which we will discuss first. From the most ancient times, kings and leaders of peoples were known as shepherds. Oriental kings of antiquity would designate themselves as the shepherds of their peoples, signifying their responsibility to protect and care for them.
The shepherd motif emerges from the very first pages of Holy Scripture. Moses writes in the fourth chapter of Genesis that "Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bares his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground" (Gen 4:1-2).
Abel was a shepherd given the task of feeding and protecting his flock from all sorts of dangers. If one strayed from the herd, he would go and retrieve the lost. The Scriptures record that Able gladly brought a firstling (a young sheep) to the altar of God, and this was an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice which—we should note— led to his death: unjustly murdered at the envious and wrathful hand of his older brother Caine. And yet, Able—the very first Shepherd— made an acceptable sacrifice unto God.
From the Old Testament, we know that Moses and David, before being called to become the leaders and pastors of the People of God, were, in fact, shepherds with flocks. Shepherd became the designation given to the Judges, Kings, and religious leaders of God's people. But technically speaking, they were "under shepherds" in service to the Lord, who was himself the true and faithful Shepherd of his people.
Now, what does it mean that something is good? We deem lots of things to be good. Sleep is good. A glass of fine wine is very good. But these are good in a non-moral sense; they are useful, like salt (Mt. 5:13), or of a certain high quality, such as gold (Gen 2:12). The good ground produces lots of fruit (Lk 8:8). Its goodness is tied to its usefulness, and so on. And there is something desirable in all of these. A real potentiality for some good to come to us from them. So for something to be good, it must be desirable. We desire the good ground, not the bad.
St. Aquinas, in his Summa, says, "the essence of goodness consists in this, that it is in some way desirable." So, good things are of such a quality and nature that we desire to obtain them. Good things are also pleasing, either aesthetically or morally, and in some instances are both. This is why tob, the Hebrew word for good, is understood as something pleasant, joyful, or agreeable. So goodness gratifies the senses and gives aesthetic or moral satisfaction. One could say that something is good in that it acts in a morally desirable and satisfying way. The New Testament, the Greek word kalos, is often employed to define this aspect of goodness (as opposed to a non-moral good like wine or sleep). Now, this word literally means beautiful, and from this, the idea of moral beauty. Something good in this sense is noble, honorable, admirable, or worthy.
Unfortunately, not all of Israel's shepherds exemplified the good. In fact, from the thirty-fourth chapter of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord himself brings a strong indictment against the wicked shepherds. Listen to this, "Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness, you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts... with none to search or seek for them" (Ezk 34:2-6).
They were wicked and corrupt, through and through; they were evil. Instead of feeding God's flock, they fed themselves, slaughtering the sheep and clothing themselves in their wool. They didn't tend to the sick or bind up the broken. Instead of gathering the flock, they scattered it! And, perhaps, worst of all, they did absolutely nothing to regather them; they did not seek that which was lost. And here's what they did do: "with force and cruelty," they ruled over God's people. The result? The sheep were "scattered because there [was] no shepherd: and none did search or seek after them" (Ezk 34:4-6).
But God, the Good Shepherd, promised through the prophet Ezekiel, to tend to his sheep, "Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day."
God spoke a promise to Israel to send a shepherd to them, saying, "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." David was a type, a precursor to the day when God himself would gather His scattered flock in the person of Messiah. When he would search for the lost and seek them out (v.11), deliver them from peril (v.12). When the Divine Shepherd would fulfil the promise made to Isaiah to "feed His flock like a shepherd" and comfort his people.
This is the context in which we hear Christ say in today's Gospel: "I am the Good Shepherd!" And in proclaiming this, he is saying, "Israel, your God has come to you. The strong hand of the Shepherd is come to "gather the lambs in His arms and carry them close to His heart. To gently lead the nursing ewes" (Isa 40:11). Jesus is the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23, who has come to lead his sheep to greener pastures and to refresh the soul. He has come to protect the flock from every enemy, even in the valley of the shadow of death.
Jesus is the total antithesis of the bad shepherds who acted as hirelings and thieves. He is good, first, because "he lays down his life for the sheep." Now, by this, Jesus is saying he "willingly puts himself in harm's way for his sheep." In other words, Jesus is more than happy to risk everything for those he gathers. This idea of the Shepherd's willingness to die for the sheep is unique to St. John's Gospel, there really isn't anything like it in the Old Testament either, except perhaps, when the young Shepherd David risks his life against bear and lion for the sheep (1 Sam 17:34-35).
If we keep this figure in mind, when Jesus says, "I lay down my life for the sheep," He isn't directly speaking to his sacrificial death or giving his life as a ransom for the captive. He's speaking of the Shepherd's heroic risking of life in combat with the wolf. "I am the good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is willing to die that the flock may be saved." The hireling, seeing the wolf coming, leaveth the sheep, and fleeth... The hireling fleeth," says our Lord, "because he careth not for the sheep." He doesn't care because he doesn't know them.
Jesus knows his sheep, not merely an awareness of them, but an intimate knowledge and understanding. His relational knowledge of his sheep is likened to his "knowing the Father." As a parent knows a child or the depth of knowing experienced between husband and wife. And because the Good Shepherd knows his sheep, they, in turn, know him. Meaning, they have come to know his goodness, his kindness, and the bounty of benefits showered upon all who are in fellowship with him. So, what distinguishes the Good Shepherd from the bad? He knows his sheep, and he willingly lays down his life for them.
You see, Jesus is both the model shepherd and the sacrificial lamb. "He is," as today's Collect so excellently puts it, "both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of a godly life." Friends Jesus Christ is the paschal lamb who takes away the sins of the world. St. Peter tells us He "bare our sins in His own body on the tree." You see, the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. He willingly stands in the face of the great bear and lion who desire to destroy us- namely death, which is the consequence of our rebellion and sin.
He is the Shepherd who takes deaths blow if you will, so that through his being struck and our being scattered, he may gather us to himself. The Good Shepherd risks it all, willingly, gladly, joyfully. He "bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." He gathers us because he cares for us. He gathers us to himself as promised in Ezekiel, and we are cured by his wounds, healed by his stripes, comforted in his arms.
The Good Shepherd rose from the grave for our justification. We, too, have died with him and risen again through baptism. His life has become our life, a life redeemed and reoriented towards the purposes of God: a life of love and service to one another even to the point of suffering. "For even hereunto were ye called," says St. Peter, "because Christ also suffered for us, leaving an example, that ye should follow his steps."
The Good Shepherd is to be our example of a godly life. Jesus loved and served his sheep in every possible way, perfectly, to the uttermost! He was patient with the insufferable, kind to the wicked, generous to self-seekers, merciful to sinners: he suffered each and every undesirable, dishonourable, and ugly thing that fallen humanity and this disordered world have to offer. He overcame evil by doing good.
Remember the words of our Lord, who said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Mt 5:44-46)
Friends, love without partiality, and set no limitations upon it. Like our beloved Shepherd, we are to love one another to the fullest possible extent, no matter the cost, no matter the risk. For, "greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). The love of God towards us in Christ went all the way to the grave; it died for love. Divine love loves beyond the limits of life itself, completely gives itself away, because it is good; it is good because it is God.
"For ye were sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." Beloved, you who were lost have been found. You who were once scattered in your hearts and in your life have been gathered. He has healed the sick soul and bound up the brokenhearted. And today, our Great Shepherd feeds us with His Word and Sacrament.
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd of our souls, has set a table before us, a Eucharistic feast which is our cure, both for the body and the soul. His body was gladly broken. His blood poured to overflowing. In this, we remember the Shepherd, who risked it all, who laid down his life for his sheep. So, come beloved, "taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Ps 34:8). "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Amen+
