3rd Easter
John 10: 1-21
“Yes, the
truth I say to you: Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but
breaks into the fold elsewhere, he is a thief or robber. Only he who enters by
the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep respond to his voice. He
calls each one by name, according to its nature, and he leads them out into the
open.
When he has brought them out, he walks before them, and the sheep follow
after him, for they trust his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but
rather flee, because they do not know the stranger’s voice.”
Thus did Jesus reveal himself to them in pictures, but they did not
understand what he was saying to them.
Then Jesus went on. “Yes, the truth out of the spirit I say to you. I AM
the door to the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the
sheep did not listen to them.
I AM the door. Anyone who enters through me will find healing and life.
He learns to cross the threshold from here to beyond, and from there to here,
and he will find nourishment for his soul. The thief comes only to steal, and
kill and destroy. But I – I have come that they may have life, and overflowing
abundance.
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. He who works for wages, and who is no true shepherd, whose sheep are not
his own, he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees while the wolf
snatches them and scatters them. For he is only a hireling and he cares nothing
for the sheep.
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I know who belongs to me, and my own recognize
me, just as my Father recognizes me in the depths, and I know the being of the
Father; and I offer my life for the sheep.
Other sheep have been entrusted to me who are not of this fold; I must
also lead them. They too will listen to my voice, and one day there will be one
flock, one Shepherd.
That is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may
take it up anew. No one can take it from me.
But in full freedom I myself offer it up. I have the power to give it
away and also the power to receive it anew. That is the task given to me by my
Father.”
Then there again arose a division among the people because of these
words. Many of them said, “He is possessed by a demon and is out of his mind.
Why do you listen to him?” Yet others said, “These are not the words of one who
is possessed. After all, can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
April 26,
2009
3rd Easter Sunday
John 10: 1 – 21
“Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but
breaks into the fold elsewhere is a thief or robber. Only he who enters by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep.” John 10: 1, 2
The gospels speak in symbolic language, the language of
pictures. This parable is clearly speaking not only about how to care for lambs
and ewes. It is also talking about how to care for the souls of others.
Christ describes first of all a walled communal sheep pen
with a door. There is a doorkeeper. The shepherd approaches. The doorkeeper
opens to him. The sheep who belong to the shepherd recognize his voice and
follow him out to pasture.
On the level of soul, one could imagine that the sheep
within walls are all the aspects of a single human being. There is a doorkeeper
in us that opens and closes to the approach of another. Perhaps the doorkeeper
is our fate or destiny; perhaps it is also that part of us that decides to pay
attention to what is approaching us from without. It is that in us which
discerns whose voice is calling us, and what the quality of that voice is. If
something in us recognizes the voice as something familiar and caring, as
something we belong to, we will emerge from our walls and join.
We would do well to approach other souls in the manner of a
caring shepherd who wants to nourish them, rather than steal or possess.
This is important not only for them, but also for us. For
with Christ, something in history changed dramatically. He Himself has become
the true shepherd of our souls, the one who guides our destiny and leads us to
what we need. He has replaced the institutions of family, tribe, nation and
race. At the same time He Himself, the
true I AM, has become in each human soul the doorway, that which opens and
closes, that which pays attention, that which grants admission, or not.
We would do well to approach others in His spirit; to wait
before the door of another’s soul until Christ, the gatekeeper in them, allows
us admittance. For Christ is now the keeper of human destiny, the guardian over
human decisions. To go around Him, to coerce, manipulate, to pressure, to
ignore the closed gate, is to break and enter, to steal and possess another’s
choice, their destiny.
This is the case whether the soul’s gate is another’s, or
our own. For to some extent, the higher guiding aspect of our destiny also
stands outside the door, waiting for the time to ripen, waiting for us to open
the door, waiting for us to recognize the voice of Christ calling us forth. His
voice is the voice who leads us out into the Father’s open fields. He lays down
His life to protect us from the destructive forces that would tear and scatter
our souls. He it is who brings us to nourishment and bids us live.
