This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder John 10:1-10. The English Standard Version supplies the heading “I am the Good Shepherd” to verses 1-21.
Verse 1 begins with “truly, truly.” In John’s gospel, this functions like the word “therefore.” So, we should regard today’s lection as a continuation of John’s account of the healing of the man born blind, and the investigation of his healing by the Pharisees, who said it was against God’s law to perform the work of healing on the Sabbath, the day of rest.
Jesus had healed the man in a way different from his usual manner. He had mixed his own saliva with soil, made mud, applied it to the man’s eyes, and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did as Jesus told him to. When he’d washed off the mud, he found he could see. Jesus made it certain that the healing would be seen as “work.”
The healing was unmistakable and extraordinary. The man was excited. People gathered around him. Asked him how he got his sight. He told them Jesus was responsible. They brought him to the Pharisees, in a synagogue, the community’s place of worship and instruction. They saw an opportunity to question the Pharisees strict interpretation of the law.
The Pharisees questioned him. They doubted whether he had really been blind. They even questioned his parents. He and his parents insisted he had been born blind and had been healed. They asked him who he thought Jesus was. He said Jesus must be a prophet. He wondered out aloud whether they wished to follow Jesus, become his disciples.
That got them very annoyed. They said they were disciples of Moses. They ominously said they didn’t know who Jesus was; they hinted that Jesus was a sinner. The man mocked them, asked them to account for the incredible thing Jesus had done, a thing no sinner could do. The meeting ended. They threw him out of the synagogue. He left. They tailed him.
Jesus found him. Identified himself to him as the Son of Man. He fell at Jesus feet and worshipped him. Jesus said to him,
“For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
Some Pharisees heard Jesus say those words. They confronted him. They asked him whether he considered them blind. Jesus answered,
“If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see’, your guilt remains.”
And then begins chapter ten, with Jesus uttering the words “truly, truly,” the functional equivalent of “therefore.” Jesus speaks of good shepherds, owners of the sheep; and of bad shepherds, hired men who won’t risk their own lives to save the sheep. He speaks of thieves and robbers. He speaks of a sheep enclosure which must be entered through a gate operated by a guard, who protects the sheep from thieves and robbers. Jesus says he is the gate. He also says he’s the good shepherd. These are two of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements recorded in John’s gospel.
The purpose of the enclosure is to keep the sheep secure during the night. The shepherd takes them out to feed, and to drink, during the day. Within the enclosure are sheep under the care of more than one shepherd. Each sheep recognizes the voice of its shepherd. This is why Jesus says, in verse 3,
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
Whom did Jesus mean by “sheep” and “good shepherds” and “thieves and robbers”?
In the Old Testament, Israel, the people of God, are referred to as sheep, and their leaders are referred to as shepherds. God’s complaint about the shepherds is most clear and concentrated in Ezekiel 34:3-4,
“You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.”
Since chapter 10 is a continuation of the response of the Pharisees to the healing of the man born blind, the sheep must be the man born blind, his parents, and the people; and the bad shepherds, the thieves and robbers, must be the leaders, the Pharisees.
But there’s another usage which we must also consider. The Romans, the colonial oppressors, also referred to themselves as shepherds. In fact, they constantly made false claims that they were good shepherds. Discussing our passage, Bible scholar Warren Carter says,
“The image of a shepherd is commonly used for imperial officials. Suetonius has the emperor Tiberius reject a provincial governor’s requests for increased taxes by saying, “It was the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not skin it” … Jesus claims a close and caring relationship with the sheep/people, so much so that he is willing to lay down his life for them in order that they live … By contrast, Jesus attacks the Jerusalem elite as destructive “thieves and bandits,” who through the temple structures of tithes and offerings steal resources from the people and threaten their well-being … Again his words cause a division.”[1]
In reading every bit of the New Testament, we must remember that Jesus came to announce the coming of the kingdom, the reign of God, the empire of God. All persons who hold power, who receive and control money, who exert authority, will be judged by what they withhold from those who are in need. Every sheep is important to the Good Shepherd. Every neglect of needy persons matters to God, the judge of the earth.
Peace be with you.
[1] Warren Carter, John and Empire: Initial Explorations (New York: T&T Clark, 2008), 166.
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