Acts 2:42–47; Psalm 23; I Peter 2:19–25; John 10:1–10
This a homily by Fr.
Gene Tucker that was given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday,
May 7, 2017.
“THE GOOD SHEPHERD VS. THE BAD SHEPHERDS”
(Homily text: John 10: 1–10)
Each
year, as the Fourth Sunday of Easter rolls around, we are invited to remember
Jesus’ words, when He said, “I am the good shepherd…”[1] This
Sunday is, then, Good Shepherd Sunday, a theme which is supported by the
Collect for the Day and the hymns that are often appointed for this Sunday.
The
Gospel text before us this morning invites us to consider just what are the
differences between Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd, and those other shepherds,
the bad ones, whom Jesus makes reference to when He talks about those who are
hirelings and thieves.
Unfortunately,
during the days of Jesus’ ministry, there was no shortage of bad shepherds.
Most likely, these leaders of God’s people who were acting only in their own
self-interest would have included those who opposed the Lord most
vigorously: The Pharisees, the scribes,
the teachers of the Law, and the priestly caste.
To
make the contrast between Jesus’ care for and leading of God’s people with the
lack of care and lack of true leadership among those bad shepherds, let’s
imagine for a moment what one of the groups, the Pharisees, might have thought
about themselves and their roles as shepherds. I don’t think it’s too far from
the truth to characterize their attitudes as follows:
“I am a shepherd of my people. I myself am a child of Abraham, our Father, and I lead those who are the children of Abraham.
I am appointed to be the guardian of the sacred deposit of truth which is known as the Torah, the Law of Moses.
I am appointed to shepherd my people, and I owe my exalted position to my own observance of the Law, which is flawless in every respect. I have earned my right to lead these children of Abraham.
I am the gatekeeper, called to ensure the purity of these children of Abraham. It is my solemn duty keep out all those who do not observe the requirements of the Mosaic Law. It is my duty to exclude anyone and everyone who fails to live up to my expectations, which match the requirements of the Law, down to the smallest detail.
I am a shepherd of my people. Without me, they would be lost. These children of Abraham need me far more than I need them.”
I have crafted this characterization of the attitudes of the Pharisees deliberately: For one thing, notice how many times I began statements with the personal pronoun "I." For another, notice many times I refer to God's people as "the children of Abraham." For yet another, notice how often I refer to the Law of Moses.
But
nothing is said, in these statements, about God.
Moreover,
the entire focus is on the person of the Pharisee. The center of the universe
for the Pharisee is the Pharisee himself. This view is supported by the
specific comments made by Jesus about this prominent group, and by the general
tone of the four Gospel accounts
By
contrast, as we turn to Jesus’ example, and to His characterization of the
purposes of His ministry, we see an entirely different focus.
For
one thing, the Lord makes it clear that His role is to be a true leader of
God’s people. His work is entirely dependent on the existence of the sheep…in
actuality, the relationship between sheep and shepherd is reciprocal: The
sheep’s existence is directly related to the existence and the presence of the
shepherd.
Then,
we might notice that the validity of Jesus’ ministry is dependent upon His
assumption of that ministry, which is given to Him properly. He characterizes
the proper authority of His ministry by using the image of His entrance into
the sheepfold by entering in by the gate, not by climbing over the walls to
sneak into the sheepfold.
The
next aspect which catches our attention has to do with the ultimate destiny of
the sheep, as they live with the presence of the bad shepherds and the good one:
The fate of the sheep in the presence of the bad shepherd is one of destruction
and death. The reason for this is that the bad shepherd has only his own
interests at heart. The bad shepherd neglects the welfare of the sheep, and at
the first sign of danger, flees in order to protect his own well being. By
contrast, Jesus, the good shepherd, is the one through whom life is possible.
The Lord’s image is one of being to go in and out of the sheepfold, and to find
pasture, which gives life.
The
Pharisees, especially (because they accepted the authority of the Old Testament
prophets)[2] should
have paid attention to the experience and the warning which comes from the
prophet Jeremiah, who lived some six hundred years earlier. In Jeremiah, we
read his warning to the bad shepherds of God’s people: “Woe to the shepherds
who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord. Therefore
thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
concerning the shepherds who care for my people, ‘You have scattered my flock
and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will
attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then, I will gather the
remnant of my flock, out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I
will bring them back to their fold….” (Jeremiah 23: 1–3b)
Jesus,
as the Good Shepherd, sets the standard by which all Christian leadership and
ministry must abide. The characteristics of Christian ministry are exemplified
by the servant-leader model, by Jesus’ own example of service to, care for, and
leadership of those who have been called out of the sheepfold to follow Him.
In
the model which Jesus sets before us, there can be no shepherding of the Lord’s
people by those who are self-centered, whose interests are entirely focused
inward, and whose first instinct at the hint of trouble is to abandon the people
the Lord has called to Himself.
[1] The appointed text for this morning ends at
verse ten. Unfortunately, it does not include Jesus’ statement when He says, “I
am the good shepherd,” which appears in verses 11 and 14.
[2] The priestly caste, the Sadducees rejected
the authority of the prophets, and accepted only the authority of the Torah,
the five books of Moses.
