Breaking Open the Word
April 26 - 4th Sunday of Easter
Introduction
This week’s presentation of Breaking Open The Word centers on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In our first reading, we hear Peter speaking to the Israelites after Jesus had ascended to the Father and The Holy Spirit had descended on the Apostles. Peter is now speaking boldly, powerfully with no fear, taking up his role as the shepherd of Christ’s people. He addresses the assembled crowd with fire and passion and filled with the Holy Spirit, nothing like the Peter who denied Jesus 3 times, and who fled in Jesus’ time of need. Peter is so persuasive that he causes the Jews to realize in horror that they have participated in the crucifixion of the Lord and Messiah, and they ask him what they can do about it. Peter tells them they can be saved if they repent and be baptized, and that day 3000 were added to the flock of Christ.
The psalm reading for today is probably the most known and loved, the 23rd Psalm. Many people turn to this psalm in times of trouble. We’ve heard stories of people who recited it in times of extreme danger or in the face of imminent death, and for some souls it is the last words heard or spoken. But it is just as much a comforting prayer for the living. There are two themes running through the psalm. The first is of God the good shepherd who provides loving care for his sheep. The second part describes God as the generous host who provides a banquet meal for us.
King David wrote this psalm to describe his relationship with God the Father. But as Christians, we can easily interpret this as describing our relationship with Jesus. It is addressed to Our Lord the shepherd after all. In John chapter 10, Jesus defines a good shepherd. The sheep hear his voice and follow him. They will not follow strangers because they do not recognize their voice, only their shepherd’s. In verse 11 Jesus says “I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” There is a Eucharistic element in the psalm too, as we share our banquet at Mass until we share in the great heavenly banquet someday. And the enemies that watch, they are not usually enemies, just people who just don’t get it. They know we say we receive Jesus in the Eucharist but don’t understand or believe in it, and so they go hungry. It also refers to those who don’t understand our faith in God, they just cannot comprehend how our faith provides our souls with the green pastures, the calm waters, the safe shepherd with His rod (a protector) and His staff (to retrieve us when we stray).
In the second reading, Peter in his first letter is explaining how to unite your suffering for the good with Christ’s suffering. Peter draws from the prophet Isaiah from chapter 53 who foretold of a suffering servant that was fulfilled in Christ’s passion, and who referred to this savior as a shepherd of lost sheep.
The gospel story takes place after Jesus had given sight to a man born blind, and we discover who is really blind, the Pharisees, who could not see the truth of Jesus right in front of their eyes. So Jesus then tries to explain the image of the Good Shepherd to them. Twice He says “Amen, Amen I say to you...” which always means “take my words very seriously”, but their minds are closed to His words. As He describes Himself as the Good Shepherd, He is fulfilling many Biblical prophesies that foretold of Him.
Gospel Explained
In today’s Gospel Jesus starts out drawing a mental picture of a sheepfold, a circular stone pen with only one opening, with a gate. That gate is the only proper entrance, and anyone who enters any other way is bad and not to be trusted. He then declares that He is the gate, the only right way in and out. He also mentions a gate-keeper, more on that later. He then identifies Himself as the shepherd of the sheep, and only the person who enters through the gate is the true shepherd of the sheep. He is saying the sheep, the flock, are in His care, and anyone in the future who leads them must come through the gate, who is Jesus. That is the only way.
Another important point to notice is that the sheep know Jesus and He knows them, by name. They know His voice and follow Him, and will not follow any stranger’s voice. This relationship is so intimate, in fact, that in a later verse He will compare it to His own relationship with the Father. Jesus doesn’t see the sheep as belonging to Him, as something He owns, like property. That’s how the thieves and robbers see them, only as things to possess. The good shepherd knows them, by name.
Jesus spoke names. Mary Magdalene only recognized the risen Christ at the tomb after he spoke her name. Lazarus rose from the dead and came out of the tomb when Jesus called out to him by name. Jesus spoke “Zacchaeus, come down from that tree, I must stay at your house”. Three times Jesus said “Peter, son of John, do you love me?” Jesus knows each of us by name as well.
On the other hand, there are some who seem to not be of Jesus’ fold. Notice the verse, “the Pharisees did not realize what He was trying to tell them.” They don’t recognize His voice and obviously don’t follow him. They never seemed to hear Him. They were actually the ones He was referring to who didn’t enter through the gate, the thieves and robbers.
Today's Theme
Today’s Theme: The Good Shepherd
Shepherds played a recurring role in the Old Testament. Abel was the first shepherd. Abraham and Lot were shepherds, as was Isaac and his son Jacob along with his 12 sons. Moses was a shepherd before he led the Israelites out of Egypt, and was their shepherd in the desert leading them to the promised land. The most famous shepherd was David, who probably composed many of the Psalms while he was tending his sheep, and as a king he was a royal shepherd of his people. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah spoke of shepherds. The prophet Amos was a shepherd. Ezekiel warned of how the leaders were bad shepherds and how God Himself would come, through a descendent of David, and care for His people like a good shepherd. Jesus fulfills that prophesy in this passage as that shepherd, who will lead the people for all time.
The assignment of future shepherds is apparent at the end of John’s Gospel, when Jesus clearly entrusts Peter as the shepherd of His sheep. Three times Jesus asks Peter to care for His lambs. The way to enter through Jesus as the gate is confirmed through Peter’s profession of love for Jesus three times, to the point of even later laying down his life. And recall how Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Peter is that gate-keeper. Peter understood his role as shepherd seriously, which can be seen in his letters, in the end of today’s second reading, and especially in chapter 5 of his first letter.
Theme in our Life Today
The Good Shepherd in our Life Today
What is the sheepfold? It is the Church. The only way to enter the Church is through Jesus, the gate, and through His shepherds who follow in His footsteps who do His work. He leads us safely into the sheepfold, where we are safely united in worship and sharing of the body and blood of Christ. Then we are sent out into the world to change it for the better. And Christ is always with us, if we only will listen to His voice speaking to us. And how do we hear Him? Through prayer, reading scripture, through listening to uplifting music or audio CDs, EWTN or Relevant Radio, through reading good books, and through having good friends who know Christ’s voice and help us on our faith journey.
There are other voices in the world as well, voices of the thieves and robbers who would steal us away from the Good Shepherd if we would listen to them. They are in popular media, on the internet, books, TV, movies, music, or bad friendships. But if we keep our ears tuned to the voice of Jesus, we can recognize that these other sounds are not His and are the voice of strangers, and avoid them.
Jesus also told a parable of a shepherd who had a hundred sheep who cares for each of them so much so that if one were to wander away, he would leave even 99 behind and go search for the one that is lost. And when He found it, he would bring it back on His shoulders and even call His friends to rejoice with Him over finding His lost sheep. Those friends are the Saints in heaven. (Luke 15).
Jesus said He came that we would have life, and have it more abundantly. Who doesn’t want abundant life? But do we want it like the thief and the robber, who steal it for themselves alone? How about the prodigal son, who lived life abundantly, for a short time. And how did that work out for him? Those two thieves crucified with Christ, did they enjoy their abundant life up until their last day? And the one who was saved, though he made it to paradise, don’t you think he also got to see just how he had wasted his life as a thief and robber? A better view of the abundant life Jesus speaks of can be found by reading Psalm 23 again.
Prepare for Sunday
To Prepare for this Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word, consider the following:
1. Can you hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, through all the noise of the world?
2. Have you ever wandered away from the fold, only to have Jesus come and find you and return you back on His shoulders?
3. Do you want to know how well the Lord knows you? By name? Read Psalm 139. He thought of you even before you were born. (The poet is ever aware of those thieves and robbers too.)
Let us pray:
Good Shepherd of the flock,
you tend and feed and protect your chosen people
and only ask us to put our trust in your loving care.
As host you feed us at your banquet table
and anoint us with your Holy Spirit.
Make us ever thankful for all your blessings,
O Savior of the world,
living and reigning with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.