Vol. 5 No.32 DoM Gospel Reflection
Fourth Sunday of Easter—April 17, 2016
John 10: 27-30
By Barbara Wells
The following is from Biblical Scholar Bart Eerhman:
The history of John’s community makes the story of the Shepherd one of the most significant in the Gospel of John for a number of reasons. John was writing primarily to Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. “ This group continued to maintain Jewish identity and they continued to attend Synagogue, even as they professed faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. We do not know how long this lasted, but at some point the first Jewish Christians were excluded from the synagogue.”—- They were excluded, Eerhman believes, in a hostile move to diminish faith in and worship of Christ: As he wrote:
“This expulsion from their synagogue had serious implications for the Christian community’s social life and, correspondingly, for the way it began to understand its world and its stories about its messiah, Jesus.” It is the reason, in other words, that the Christians in John’s community needed a shepherd. They needed to hear the voice of their Shepherd and trust in his protection and safety, because they were no longer welcome in their own community.
This Gospel on the Shepherd’s voice is one of protection. The flock hears and knows the shepherd’s voice. The shepherds are considered strong, noble, and will do anything for their sheep. They will protect their sheep from harm, even to the point of death. If a sheep goes astray, the shepherd brings it back. The flock hears and know and follows. The sheep never forgets his shepherd’s voice. If another shepherd calls, he will not answer.
This is exactly what Jesus, our shepherd, has done for us. He came and gathered his people and taught us his voice. He died for us to protect us. We always know his voice. Sometimes we have to struggle to hear his voice especially in times of pain. Do we ever drown out his voice? We may as not hear him at times. Other things like money, social status, death of a friend, addictions in our lives may take over and we may be lost at times. But we never forget the sound of His voice and protection and we are drawn back. Just like the sheep come back to the shepherd, we come back to Jesus when we go astray. We must pause and listen for the voice.
By us following Jesus’ voice, our shepherd, he is giving us eternal life. He came and died for us to give us eternal life. He will not let anyone take us away from him for we were given to him by His Father. So even if someone or something in our life seems to take us away, he is always calling us back. In Psalm 95, it says “He is our God and we are the people of His pasture.” and in Hebrews 3:7 “if today you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” All throughout the Bible, there are references about listening to His voice and pastures and sheep. He is always calling us home.
This year I have had two young people I know that have been taken way too early in life. I was thinking about Father Norbert’s first funeral of the young lady who had passed away and everyone wanted to know why. We don’t know why, but Jesus is calling his sheep home to be with him in the eternal life he has promised to all of us. We might see a reason why later but we must not shut out his voice. One of the funerals that I attended was led by a Baptist minister. What he said was so funny to me at the time, but I think about it a lot. The young girl that died was named Mary. The minister said “Mary had a little lamb and his fleece was white as snow. That lamb, He came to the hospital and took Mary home.” Sort of funny, sort of crazy but back again to Jesus calling us home and keeping us in his fold.
Jesus is our one shepherd. There may be imposters along the way, but we know the true voice. When you hear his voice is it a song? Something inside of you? Someone else’s testimony? Whatever it is, take time to set other things aside, turn it down, put it off and listen to his voice.
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