The Good Shepherd
A Homily for the 2nd Sunday After Easter
The Rev. Michael K. Templin, Assisting Priest
Today is affectionately called Good Shepherd Sunday or the Second Sunday after Easter Day. The Sunday is named as such because of the traditional Eucharistic Propers since the time of Gregory the Great. In the 1st Epistle of St. Peter chap. 2 we read that we “were as sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” In the Holy Gospel according to John 10 we read that Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.” The Collect of the Day refers to Jesus as a “sacrifice for our sins” hearkening back to the Passover Lamb.
Thus our readings today are pregnant with the imagery of the Shepherd. So, what is so important about this theme of shepherdhood? For one you have probably noticed a shift in the reading from Easter Day and Easter 1 - those readings were more about providing a scriptural basis for the resurrection of Jesus, but in our readings today there has been a shift to that of a pastoral emphasis of Jesus. John Henry Blunt observes this same Idea in his commentary, “In the Epistle and Gospel Jesus is set forth as the Chief Pastor, the High Priest of the New Dispensation; and His own words, “I am the Good Shepherd,” are taken up by His chief Apostle [Peter] when he calls Him “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” We must remember that the Latin for Shepherd is the word “Pastor.” [Annotated Book of Common Prayer]
In the Old Testament times and even up until recent years the majority of the world was agrarian and for those who did not work the land they at least had some connection to it through a neighbor, relative, or geographical proximity. In the last 60 years that has radically changed here in the western world. We have lost that connection. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, had dominion over the animals and crops in Eden. Their son Abel was our first shepherd in the bible as we read in Genesis 4:2. We know that the Patriarch’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were “keepers of sheep and other grazing animals” according to the Book of Genesis. In Gen. 48:24 Jacob on his deathbed said of his life, that God had been his “shepherd all of his life to this day.” King David, the one through whom the promised King and kingdom of Israel would come forever, was both a shepherd and then a king - he was the author of that famous 23rd Psalm “The Lord is my shepherd”.
In the many places in the Old Testament prophets, when the leadership of Israel was in sin, God refers to them as “bad shepherds.” In Ezekiel we read, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally”. Thus, this idea of shepherd is in the beginning of the bible all the way to the end, when the nations shall gather around the “Throne of the Lamb” in the Book of Revelation.
Thus, Good Shepherd Sunday should be no surprise given the multitude of Shepherd imagery in the Old Testament. God had promised a shepherd to come and gather his people, and he sent his son Jesus to do it. A couple weeks ago on Good Friday we saw the passover lamb come to Jerusalem to be slain, and now we see him victorious over death and hell, and he begins his “Pastorate” as resurrected Shepherd to lead the people that had been scattered like sheep, preyed upon by wolves, and infiltrated with goats. It would take a divine shepherd to undo all the wrong that had happened...therefore, God sends forth his Son, the Son of David the shepherd, to shepherd his people, to drive out the wolves, and to rule with the shepherd's staff.
We read in our Gospel Lesson today that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, meaning, that many of the so-called shepherds before were “bad”, unworthy, and unfaithful. We know that he is good by his mighty works done for us during holy week, his noble and sinless life, his healings, and compassion, and his teaching of orthodox doctrine and theology. Thus, St. Peter says that he, Jesus, is the ‘Bishop of our Souls’ indicating that other ministers must follow in this pastoral relationship with their people.
In the New Testament, like in the Old, ministers are called to follow in the pastoral and shepherding role of Jesus. I find it to be of no coincidence that Jesus calls his disciples to be Apostles and therefore, Missionary Pastors, last week in our Gospel lesson, and this week we are given the picture of what the perfect shepherd/pastor looks like - Jesus Christ who laid down his life for the sheep. Likewise, according to St. Luke we read in the parable of the Lost sheep: “What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." [Luke xv. 4, 5.] Jesus makes himself lowly to go out and carry the lost lamb upon his shoulders. This is the model he gives to the disciples, to the clergy they will ordain, and then to all the people as they go out to evangelise the world with the Gospel of the Good Shepherd. There are many other examples/correlations of shepherding in the New Testament as well:
1. John 21:16 - Jesus told Peter: "Feed My sheep"
2. Acts 20:17 - the Apostle Paul summons the elders of the church in Ephesus to give a last discourse to them; in Acts 20:28, he tells them that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, and they are to feed the church of God.
3. 1 Corinthians 9:7 - Paul says, of himself and the apostles: "who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"
4. Ephesians 4:11 - Paul wrote "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"
5. 1st Peter 5:1-2 - Peter tells the elders among his readers that they are to, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof" [Blunt, Annotated Book of Common Prayer]
Thus, Jesus has an expectation, or perhaps better, the commandment, that his ministers are to be shepherding their people. What does that look like? Preaching the Gospel, leading the Divine Services and administering the Holy Sacraments, facilitating evangelization opportunities in the parish, correcting sin and offering absolution, counseling the broken-hearted and stubborn sheep, spending time with them and teaching the Word of God. Remember to pray for your ministers that God would help equip them better in these shepherding ministries.
Moreover, there is an implication for the laity as well: are you in the sheepfold? St. Gregory the Great commented on this Gospel concerning that question, “My dear brethren, now that you have heard of the test I must undergo, consider how these words of the Lord imply a test of your own. Ask yourselves if you are his sheep, if you know him, if you recognize the light of truth. What I mean is that you recognize it not simply by faith but by love, I mean, you recognize it not just by belief but by action. For John the apostle, whose words we have been discussing, also said: 'He who says he knows God but disobeys his commandments is a liar.” Therefore beloved, we are called to make sure we are living in union with the shepherd: do our hearts follow him, do our mouths speak of his name, do our hands and feet accomplish his works, do we “recognize the shepherd's voice”?
If there are any doubts - rekindle your walk with him, ask that he would deliver from the mouth of the wolf, that he would lead you to the green pastures, and that he would shepherd your soul and body. Every morning at Mattins we rehearse the same phrase from Psalm 95: “For he is the Lord our God, and we our the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” The Psalmist then gives a warning “Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” I ask therefore, today, that we would look to Jesus as the prime Example of our “Shepherd King”, we would examine our hearts, minds and works, to see if we are acting like his sheep, and if not, that we would not harden our hearts, but that we would let him throw us upon his loving shoulders and carry back to the safety of his sheepfold. Amen+
