Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:1-10 – NRSV).
Introductory notes
General
The Gospel text used in today’s liturgy stops before the final words of 10:10: “I am the good shepherd”. The text for today is only part of an extended reflection on the image of Jesus as the shepherd – see 10:1-18.
“But what of the messianic question? Jesus transcends all suggested messianic expectations—the hidden Messiah (7:26–27), the miracle-working Messiah (7:31), the Messiah who gives living water (7:37–41a), and the Davidic Messiah (7:41b–42). He repeatedly affirms his relationship with God, his Father, and the mystery of his origins and destiny. The report of the celebration closes with Jesus finally accepting a traditional Jewish messianic expectation: he is the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14). The roots of this messianic figure lie solidly within Jewish tradition, but Jesus transcends and explodes the possibilities of the image. His shepherding flows from his knowledge and love of the Father, reciprocated by the knowledge and love the Father has for him. Accepting the charge the Father has given him, Jesus will lay down his life for his sheep, but he will take it up again” (Francis J Moloney, SDB, The Gospel of John, The Liturgical Press, 1998, 306-307).
“Ezekiel 34; 36; Jeremiah 23; Psalm 23 constitute the OT background to this chapter. These passages could probably be read as an aid to understanding its message. In these OT contexts the conflict is not only between the shepherds and the sheep, but also between sheep and sheep, and between the shepherd and the Shepherd, God” (Teresa Okure, “John” in The International Bible Commentary, Collegeville, MINN: The Liturgical Press, 1998, 1479).
“The thematic break between ch. 9 and ch. 10 is not as radical as first appears (e.g. Simonis). The healed man has been roughly treated by the religious authorities, and thrown out of the synagogue. What John next writes, then, is that many thieves and robbers destroy the sheep, while the good shepherd leads his own out from the sheep pen and into his own flock. And if the bare juxtaposition of 10:1–18 with the end of ch. 9 is not enough to establish the connection, John reports the continuing uncertainty of ‘the Jews’ over the healing of the blind man (10:19–21) in order to tie the two passages together. At the same time, vv. 1–18 offer more than comment on the fate of the blind man. … The details would be familiar to John’s readers. The sheep are in a fold, a sheep pen. This might be part of a family courtyard; in view of v. 3, it is better to think of a larger, independent enclosure, where several families kept their sheep, hiring an undershepherd (the ‘watchman’ of v. 2) to guard the gate. Those who were authorized to enter would of course do so through the gate. He whose interest is stealing or wounding the sheep would avoid the gate; he climbs in by some other way. The words a thief and a robber are virtually synonymous in English; kleptēs and lēstēs suggest, respectively, thief (like Judas, 12:6) and insurrectionist (18:40)—though it is not clear that John means any great difference. His point is that these unauthorized people enter and brutalize the sheep. By contrast, the shepherd knows his sheep, is recognized by the watchman and by the sheep alike, and leads them out for their own good” (D A Carson, The Gospel according to John, W.B. Eerdmans, 1991, 379 & 381).
Specific
sheepfold. Jesus’ listeners would all be familiar with the sheepfold. Raymond Brown writes: “There were several types. At times, the sheepfold was a square marked off on a hillside by stone walls; here it seems to be a yard in front of a house, surrounded by a stone wall which was probably topped with briars”. (Raymond E Brown, The Gospel according to John (I–XII): Introduction, translation, and notes (Vol. 29), Yale University Press, 2008, 385.). The references to knowing the sheep by name, following the shepherd and recognizing his voice, would all be familiar to the listeners too. The metaphor is in fact used frequently in the Scriptures:
- In Genesis 49:24, God is referred to as a shepherd – see also Psalms 23, 95:7 and 100:3; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Micah 7:14; Zechariah 10:3 and 11:7.
- In Ezekiel 34:2, 9 and 13f, the leaders are compared to shepherds have failed to tend their sheep. See also Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Zechariah 10:2.
figure of speech: Raymond Brown translates the Greek word here as “drew this picture” (Ibid). He writes: “Literally ‘spoke this parable.’ The Greek word is paroimia which often means ‘proverb,’ e.g., 2 Pet 2:22. In LXX paroimia (like the parabolē, which the Synoptics use) is used to translate māšāl, a broad Hebrew term that covers almost all types of figurative speech. Paroimia and parabolē are used synonymously in Sir 47:17; in general they do not differ greatly in meaning, although there may be more emphasis on the enigmatic in paroimia. The use of paroimia tends to increase in the later Greek versions of the OT. … Although 16:25 indicates that in Johannine thought Jesus’ parables were not easily understood, the present passage leaves no doubt that Jesus spoke this way to make himself understood.”
I am the gate for the sheep: Raymond Brown notes that there are variations in the original manuscript, some using “the shepherd” and some “the gate.” Brown writes: “Actually, however, ‘gate’ is the more unexpected and difficult reading; ‘shepherd’ may well have been introduced by copyists in an attempt to make the explanation of the parable a consistent picture. That Jesus could not at the same time be both gate and shepherd (11, 14) would cause trouble” (Brown, op cit, 386). Brown’s interpretation is supported by the practice of shepherds sleeping across the entrance to the sheepfold at night.
Reflection
The word ‘conversation’ is much in vogue. As a result, it has fallen victim to what C S Lewis noted many years ago, that nothing will deprive a word of its power more effectively than popularity. Our English word ‘conversation’ is best understood by going to its Latin roots. It comes from two Latin verbs: conversari, meaning to ‘dwell’, ‘keep company with’ or ‘abide’, and convertere, meaning to ‘change’, ‘convert’, ‘alter’, ‘refresh’ or ‘turn’. Genuine conversation is much more than mere talk or discussion or debate. It is a transforming encounter with the other.
Two essential processes happen in genuine conversation. The first of these – implicit in the Latin verb, conversari – is a being present to the other. We ‘dwell’ or ‘abide’ with the other. Conversation is therefore a profound level of communication. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications observes: “Communication is more than the expression of ideas and the indication of emotion. At its most profound level it is the giving of self in love” (Pastoral Instruction, Communio et Progressio (1971), #11).
The second of these processes – implicit in the Latin verb, convertere – is a being present to myself. I face myself and submit to the truth of my life. I open myself to discovery and change in and through this encounter: “Talking happens a lot. …. Conversation is rarer, by far. …. No one takes leave of a real conversation the same as when one entered into it. Our conversations create us. Conversation and risk and conversion belong together. Conversation is dangerous, therefore, to anyone unwilling to embrace or at least to accept transformation”. (Michael A Cowan and Bernard J lee SM, Conversation, Risk and Conversion: The Inner and Public Life of Small Christian Communities, Orbis Books, 1997, 1.)
Jesus is presenting himself as a conversation partner. He offers a relationship where we can “hear his voice”, where he “calls each of us by name”, he “leads us out” of our tiny worlds, he “goes ahead of us” and we “follow” because we “know his voice”. Words like abiding, dwelling, refreshing and transforming, begin to describe our relationship with Jesus. We begin to experience discipleship as conversation. (Pope Paul VI, in his first encyclical – Ecclesiam suam (August 1964) offers an extended reflection on colloquium salutis (“the conversation of salvation”).)
Those who are transformed become those who transform. The presence of Jesus, alive for us an active partner in conversation, becomes the presence of Jesus alive for our world. Our contemporaries may not find our articulation of moral values compelling but they might just find our presence – being transformed by Jesus – at least puzzling if not attractive. This will be especially so if we engage them in genuine conversation.
Metaphors of love
In today’s Gospel – John 10:1-10 – we have some metaphors: the sheep, the gate, the sheepfold, the pastures and the good shepherd. These metaphors are used frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures. The tender care God has for the people of Israel is expressed through these metaphors: “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak” (Ezekiel 34:15-16) and “He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep” (Isaiah 40:11). It is not surprising that people grieving for a loved one who has died, will choose Psalm 23 in the funeral liturgy: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” By way of contrast, there are many uses in the Hebrew Scriptures of the same metaphors to condemn bad leadership. For example: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:1).
This tradition is assumed in today’s Gospel. Also assumed is the context set by the Prologue of John’s Gospel. Recall the last words of that Prologue: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (1:18). Those metaphors the prophets used of God are here used of Jesus. By implication, the religious authorities are those “shepherds” who fail to care for the “sheep.”
Later, in his First Letter, John is explicit about the meaning and implication of those metaphors: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (4:7-9).
The metaphors of the sheep, the gate, the sheepfold, the pastures and the good shepherd are metaphors of God’s loving presence. Two Australian theologians put it nicely: “In the account of the Good Shepherd, we note the distinctive Johannine emphasis on the initiative of God’s love. Only within such a horizon will the commandments to love God and the neighbor make sense. To receive the outgoing love flowing from the Father through Jesus into the world, believers experience the imperative to enter into its movement of self-giving and even of self-dispossession. (Anthony J. Kelly, CSsR, and Francis J. Moloney, SDB. Experiencing God in the Gospel of John . Paulist Press. Kindle Edition. Location 3539.)
The gift that is ours if we want it, is nothing less than a participating in the Father’s love for the Son and the Son’s love for the Father!