The Good Shepherd

Today's Reflections 

      

The Good Shepherd 

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Jn 10:1-10

[Jesus said,] ¹“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. ²But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as [the shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. ⁵But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” ⁶Although Jesus used this figure of speech, [the Pharisees] did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

⁷So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Jesus is the gate that opens to life. Rather than referring to Jesus as “shepherd,” the Gospel uses an imagery that is closely related to shepherding. Jesus identifies himself as the gate or door of the sheep. A sheepfold usually consists of a circular wall of stones attached to the house or located out in an open field. Several small flocks of sheep are brought into the sheepfold at night to protect them from predators, whether thieves or wild animals. Someone watches by the gate until morning when the sheep are taken into pasture.

Fr. Raymond E. Brown, renowned American Bible scholar, gives two interpretations of the gate imagery. The first is: Jesus is the gate whereby the shepherd approaches the sheep. Jesus is the sole legitimate means of access to God’s flock. This guarantees safety and well-being of the sheep because the shepherds who pass by the gate are shepherds who have the heart of Jesus. On the other hand, those who seek entry to the fold apart from Jesus are thieves and robbers. In the original setting, Jesus must have targeted the Pharisees and Sadducees, but these thieves certainly apply to the unhappy line of religious and political leaders from biblical times until our own day.

The second interpretation of the imagery is: Jesus is the gate leading to salvation, a gate not for the shepherd, but for the sheep. The gate is not only for coming in but also for going out, and the sheep which go out through Jesus find pasture. Jesus is offering the pasture of life, that is, fullness of life. This gift of life is opposed to the slaughter that is associated with the thief. Shortly after, Jesus will declare that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.