Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Cycle A)
Readings:
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 23:1-6
1 Peter 2:20b-25
John 10:1-10
All Scripture passages are from the New American Bible unless designated NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: The Good Shepherd
The faithful "shepherd" is a consistent Biblical metaphor
for Israel's religious, military, and civil leaders and kings. It was also a
metaphor for the rulers of ancient pagan Near Eastern kingdoms, the ruler/king
who was a "shepherd" of his people. It was a fitting image because civil and
religious leaders were responsible for guiding and protecting their people as a
shepherd cared for his flock. In the Old Testament, Moses used this metaphor
for leadership to petition God to give Israel an ideal leader to serve as a
"shepherd" to the people (cf. Num 27:17). The same symbolism appears in the
story of David, the shepherd boy who became Israel's great king (cf. 2 Sam 5:2;
7:8). The shepherd imagery also appears in the negative in the books of the
Prophets where God condemns the failed "shepherds," Israel's religious and
civil leaders who "scatter the sheep" of God's flock (cf. Ezek 34:2-10;
Zec 10:2; 11:15-17). And finally, it is applied to God, who is Israel's Divine
Shepherd (cf. Ps 23:1; 80:1; Is 40:11; Ez 34:11-22), and for the Redeemer-Messiah,
whom the prophets promised would one day come to "shepherd" God's covenant
people (cf. Ez 34:23; 37:24-28). Jesus used the same metaphor to describe His
relationship with the "flock" of His people in our Gospel Reading from the
"Good Shepherd Discourse." He is the "good shepherd" willing "to lay down His
life for His sheep" (Jn 10:11).
In the First Reading, St. Peter takes up his role as the "shepherd" of Christ's New Covenant people. He addresses the Jewish crowd outside the Upper Room on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, telling them that repentance of sin followed by baptism in the name of Jesus the Messiah is the only way to eternal salvation.
The Responsorial Psalm is from the 23rd Psalm, probably the best-loved of all the 150 psalms. Attributed to the shepherd-king David, it expresses a personal reflection of the relationship between the psalmist and the nearness of his God. The psalmist frames his psalm around two metaphors: The Lord as the Divine Shepherd and the Lord as the Divine Host of the sacred meal.
In the Second Reading, St. Peter applies the familiar shepherd symbolism to Jesus's guidance to those who suffer. He promises God's grace and salvation for those who endure unjust suffering for having done what is righteous. St. Peter continues the shepherd and sheep metaphors by quoting Isaiah 53:5-6 concerning those who are "gone astray like sheep." Jesus is the "Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11) for Christians who were once lost but have found salvation in Him. The "returning" does not refer to Christians who have fallen away from Jesus. Instead, Peter refers to the fundamental act of conversion in accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Christian journey of faith is one of continual repentance and conversion in "returning" to holiness and living in the image of Christ.
The Gospels apply the same shepherd imagery to Jesus (Mt 9:36; 10:6; 15:24; 26:31; Mk 6:34; 14:27; Jn 10:11-18). The imagery is also used for the leadership of the Christian community (cf 1 Pt 5:3). They are charged to "shepherd" Jesus's flock and "feed" them spiritually through His teachings and the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as Jesus commanded Peter when He said, "Feed my sheep" (Jn 21:15-17). In the Gospel Reading, Jesus used the same shepherd and sheep imagery to identify Himself as the "Good Shepherd" of the "sheepfold" of the Church, the community of God's re-born New Covenant people. The Church is the protective sheepfold that brings the covenant people together and, through the Sacraments, into union with Christ. The gate to the "sheepfold" is Jesus Christ, the only one through whom believers have access to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Church, that administers the Sacraments of God the Son and prepares the faithful for the journey to their home in Heaven and eternal life.
Are you experiencing all the fullness of the graces that Jesus promised? Have you surrendered your life to the Divine Shepherd of your soul? Will you be able to discern the "voice of the stranger" if he calls to you, and will you recognize the teaching of false doctrines from false "shepherds"? Will you turn away from what is false because you only respond to the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who promises you eternal life? Commit to walking in your Divine Shepherd's footsteps. Learn to recognize His voice in the words of Sacred Scripture and through the teachings of Mother Church.
The First Reading Acts 2:14a, 36-41 ~ Jesus is both Lord and Messiah
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice,
and proclaimed to them, "You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 36 Therefore let the whole house
of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this
Jesus whom you crucified." 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the
heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, "What are we to do, my
brothers?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ [Jesus Messiah] for the forgiveness of your sins; and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is made to you
and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will
call." 40 He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, "Save
yourselves [be saved] from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his
message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. [...]
= literal translation IBGE, Vol. IV, page 326; the Greek word Christos/Christ
means Messiah. Verse 41 uses the passive tense, "be saved," and not "save
yourselves"; Johnson, the Acts of the Apostles, page 58).
After the miracle at Pentecost, when the Apostles and other disciples emerged from the Upper Room after the filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13), they joyfully began to profess Jesus's Gospel of salvation. Most of the people in the crowd were Jews from the provinces across the Roman Empire who had traveled to Jerusalem to attend the required pilgrim feast of Weeks (Shavuot), known in Greek as Pentecost (Lev 23:15-22; Dt 16:16; 1 Chr 8:13). Miraculously, they all heard the message of the Gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ preached in their various languages and dialects. Then, St. Peter, Christ's Vicar of His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, addressed the crowd, proclaiming that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah God's holy prophets promised.
36 Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for
certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you
crucified.
Notice that Peter proclaims Jesus is Lord and Messiah. This verse
concludes Peter's argument from Scripture (see Acts 2:14-35 from last Sunday's
First Reading). It is by the proof of His Resurrection that Jesus can be
declared the "Lord" of Psalms 109:1 LXX (110:1 NAB) and the Messiah
referred to in Psalms 15:7-11 LXX (16:7-11 NAB), whom God did not abandon to
Sheol/Hades, the grave!
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles, "What are we to do, my brothers?"
Moved by the force of the arguments offered in St. Peter's
homily, the Jews accepted the proofs that he offered from Scripture concerning
the messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. Then, realizing that they had indeed
crucified their Messiah, the crowd cried out in horror, "What are we to do,
my brothers?" It is the same question the Jewish crowd asked St. John the
Baptist in Luke 3:10.
38 Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one
of you, in the name of Jesus Christ [Messiah] for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is made to
you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God
will call."
"Christ" is the English translation of "christos,"
the Greek word meaning "one smeared with oil," but used by Christians for the
Hebrew mashiach, "anointed/consecrated one," in English, "messiah." In
verse 37, the crowd asked what they must do to secure their eternal salvation. To
be saved from the larger part of their generation means to become a select
group, a remnant people. Peter's quote from the prophet Joel in Acts 2:17-21 left
out the last line of the prophecy that the crowd's plea fulfilled. Joel 3:5, in
the Hebrew text of the NABRE, reads: Then everyone shall be rescued who
calls on the name of the LORD; for on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant,
as the LORD has said, and in Jerusalem survivors whom the LORD shall call (underlining
added for emphasis). But the Septuagint [LXX] translation of Joel 2:32 (in
other translations 3:5) is even more appropriate to the event and reads: Then
everyone shall be rescued who calls on the name of the Lord. For it will be
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem that there will be a remnant [estai
anasozomenos], just as the Lord said, and they will be preached the good news
[gospel = euangelizomenoi], those whom the Lord summons (underlining
added for emphasis; Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, page 61). The
Upper Room, if it was indeed above King David's tomb, is located in the "city
of David" on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
Peter told those who responded positively to his Gospel message to repent and be baptized "in the name of Jesus," which indicates believing everything Jesus taught. Through the Sacrament of Baptism by water and the Spirit, they will be separated from their "corrupt generation" and become part of the "faithful remnant" of Israel, ready to carry the Gospel message of the Messiah to the ends of the earth. Repentance leads to baptism, and baptism in the "name of Jesus" results in the forgiveness of sins (personal and original sin) and the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The command to baptize "in the name of Jesus" does not contradict the Trinitarian baptismal formula Jesus gave the Apostles in Matthew 28:19, but a summation, "in the name of Jesus," implies baptism as He previously instructed. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit generates new life in the believer, who is no longer a child in the family of Adam but becomes a new creature and an adopted son or daughter of God. It is the rebirth "from above" and the salvation that Jesus spoke of in John 3:3-7 and 16-18. The Apostles and disciples, obedient to Jesus's command to baptize, would continue to make use of baptism by water and the Spirit as the sacred ritual of spiritual birth and initiation into Christ's Kingdom of the Church (Acts 2:41; 8:12, 38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:15, 33; 19:5).
39 "For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call."
According to verse 39, the promise of forgiveness and new
life extended to all generations of humanity:
God extends His promise of eternal salvation through God the Son to whoever hears the message of the Gospel and responds in faith.
40 He testified with many other arguments, and was
exhorting them, "Save yourselves [be saved] from this corrupt generation."
The literal translation in the passive "be saved" is a link
to the "shall be saved" of Peter's quote from the book of the prophet Joel in
Acts 2:21. Why did Peter call his generation "corrupt"/"perverse"? The Gospels
of Matthew and Luke and the Pentateuch use the same harsh language to define
Jesus's generation and the generation of the Exodus redemption (see Mt 17:17;
Lk 9:41;
Num 14:27, 35;
Dt 32:5, 20). Jesus judged His generation's failure like
God judged the Israelites of the first generation of the Exodus liberation. No
two generations in the history of humanity witnessed so many great works of God
for His people, yet many still failed to put their faith and trust in God.
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and
about three thousand persons were added that day.
The Exodus generation was the first generation with whom God
formed a corporate covenant (Ex 19:5-6; 24:1-8). All the previous covenants
were with individuals and their families (i.e., Adam, Noah, Abraham, and David; see the chart on Yahweh's Eight Covenants).
Then, at Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with an entire people united as one
body (see Ex 19:5 in the singular). The New Covenant in Christ is the second
corporate covenant in which all who profess Christ as Lord and Savior are
united in the one Body of Christ, the New Covenant Church (Lk 22:20;
1 Cor 12:12-13, 27).
In the rebellion of the people of the Sinai Covenant that resulted in the communal sin of building and worshiping the idol of a Golden Calf, the three thousand Israelites who died in the fighting became lost to the Old Covenant Church (Ex 32:1-8, 15-20, 25-28). However, on Pentecost Sunday, that loss was reversed. In response to St. Peter's sermon, three thousand were added to the New Covenant people of God, restoring what was lost in the first corporate covenant at Sinai to the New Covenant Kingdom of Christ Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm 23:1-6 ~ The Divine Shepherd
The response is: "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing
I shall want," or "Alleluia."
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 In verdant
[green] pastures, he gives me repose; beside restful [still] waters he leads
me; he refreshes my soul.
Response:
3 He guides me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even
though I walk in the dark valley [the valley of the shadow of death], I fear no
evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage
[comfort me].
5 You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response:
6 Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my
life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come [all the days
of my life].
Response:
[...] = translation from the Hebrew, IBHE, Vol. III, pages 1403-4.
The 23rd Psalm is the best-loved of all the 150 Psalms. Attributed to David, it expresses a personal reflection of the relationship between the psalmist and the nearness of his God. The psalm uses two metaphors: The Lord as the Divine Shepherd (verses 1-4) and the Lord as the Divine Host of the sacred meal (verses 5-6). In the ancient Near East and the Bible, the role of a shepherd was a metaphor for the king (2 Sam 5:2; Is 44:28; etc.). It is the same metaphor used to express the role of God, the Divine King, who is the protector and judge of His covenant people (Ps 28:9; Is 40:11; Ezek 34:11-16).
Describing the aspects of shepherding, probably from David's perspective as a shepherd in his youth, the inspired writer provides a picture of his relationship with God as he seeks to live a righteous life (verses 2-3). Under the Divine Shepherd's constant guidance, the psalmist and his people, the sheep of God's flock, are led with tenderness and compassion. Furthermore, the Divine Shepherd considers the fears and weaknesses of His people, leading them not by the fearful raging rivers but by the quiet waters (sheep fear drowning and will only drink from non-flowing or lightly flowing water).
God's tender care gives the psalmist confidence that with God's shepherding, he will reach the pastures of God's heavenly Kingdom (1 Pt 5:4; Rev 7:17). Even amid trials and sufferings, the psalmist feels a sense of security as he trusts in God to lead and protect him because, despite his enemies, God the Divine Host has prepared a table for him when the time comes for him to enter into God's eternal rest. The psalmist is overwhelmed by the abundance of God's mercy and covenant love (verses 5-6).
For Christians, this psalm takes on its fullness of meaning in Jesus's statement, "I am the Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11, 14; Heb 13:20) and in the Eucharistic ("Thanksgiving" in Greek and Todah in Hebrew) banquet at every Catholic altar. The host metaphor of the psalm first found fulfillment at the table of the Last Supper, where Jesus, the host of the sacred meal, offered His disciples the Eucharistic banquet for the first time. He continues to provide the Eucharistic banquet for His faithful on the altar table at every celebration of the Mass. This banquet looks back in time to the Last Supper and forward in time to the heavenly banquet in God's eternal kingdom when the righteous enter His eternal rest (Rev 19:5-9). All Christ's faithful hope to have a seat in the presence of the angels, saints, and the faithful David at the heavenly Wedding Supper of the Lamb and His Bride, the Church (Rev 19:5-9).
The Second Reading 1 Peter 2:20b-25 ~ Christ our Savior
20b If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is
good, this is a grace before God. 21 For to this, you have been called, because
Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in
his footsteps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23
When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not
threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. 24 He
himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we
might live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. 25 For you
had "gone astray like sheep," but you have now returned to the shepherd and
guardian of your souls.
The fundamental principles for Christian life in the world that Peter addressed earlier (1 Pt 2:11-17) now apply to specific roles of Christians within the community. At the beginning of this passage in 1 Peter 2:18, St. Peter addressed all Christians, using the example of obedient household slaves. Christians are servants/slaves in Christ's household of the Church.
In verses 20-25, Peter applied the shepherd metaphor to the guidance Jesus offers to those who suffer. There is no glory for those who suffer from temporal judgments due to sin, but there is the promise of God's grace and salvation for those who endure unjust suffering for having done what is righteous. This form of suffering is "a grace from God" (charis para theo in verse 20). He presents the path of the Christian's life as a calling to follow the pattern set by Christ in His suffering as well as in His glory (also see Rom 12:1). The phrase "follow closely in his footsteps" turns from the idea of imitating Jesus's life pattern to the more dynamic metaphor of following so carefully as to walk in His "footsteps."
In verse 22, Peter quoted the prophet Isaiah in 53:9b from the LXX (Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament): He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. Then in verses 22-25, continuing to be inspired by Isaiah chapter 53, he alluded to the plight of Isaiah's "Suffering Servant, applying the passage to Christ's Passion. In verse 24, he merged phrases and images from Isaiah 53:4, 7 and 11-12 and united the keywords from those verses to the curse for one "hung on a tree" from Deuteronomy 22:22 (see the same allusion by St. Peter in Acts 5:30; 10:39 and by St. Paul in Gal 3:13). "By his wounds, you have been healed" is a direct quote from Isaiah 53:5b LXX except for changing "we" to "you" to fit the quotation into the context of his appeal in 2:24.
In verse 25, Peter then shifted his imagery to the "shepherd and sheep" metaphors from Isaiah 53:5-6, and "gone astray like sheep" in verse 25 is a direct quote from Isaiah 53:6a. Jesus is the "Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11) of Christians who have "now returned" to Him (verse 25). The returning does not refer to Christians who have fallen away from Jesus but instead to the fundamental conversion that Peter spoke of in 1 Peter 1:14-16, 22, and 23. The Christian journey of faith is one of continual repentance and conversion in "returning" to holiness and living in the image of Christ.
The Gospels apply the same shepherd imagery St. Peter used in this passage to Jesus (Mt 9:36; 10:6; 15:24; 26:31; Mk 6:34; 14:27; Jn 10:11-18). Peter used the same metaphor for Jesus in 1 Peter 5:4, where he referred to Jesus as the "chief Shepherd." He also used the shepherd imagery for the leadership of the Christian community (cf 1 Pt 5:3), those who "shepherd" Jesus's "flock" and "feed" them spiritually through His teachings and the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as Jesus commanded Peter when He told him, "Feed my sheep" (Jn 21:15-17).
The Gospel of John 10:1-11 ~ Parables of the Sheep and
the Shepherd
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. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The
gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his
voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." 6 Although Jesus used
this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell
them. 7 So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the
sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not
listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and
will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and
slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more
abundantly."
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.
The sheepfold is the Church, the community of God's reborn
New Covenant people. The New Covenant Church is the safe sheepfold where the Shepherd/Christ
brings the sheep/covenant people together and nourishes them through the
Sacraments into union with Him. The gate is Jesus Christ, the one through whom
believers have access to the community, which is Christ's Kingdom of Heaven on
earth. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "The Church is,
accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It
is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd,
and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly
nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds,
who gave his life for his sheep" (CCC 754).
Entering through Christ is the only way into the New Covenant He came to establish in fulfillment of the prophecies of the prophets Jeremiah (31:31), Ezekiel (Chapters 34-37), and Zechariah (Chapters 9-14). Jesus fulfilled Yahweh's promise when He said, "I myself" will shepherd my sheep in Ezekiel 34:11, 15, and 20. Jesus, son of David (Mt 1:1), is the promised heir of the eternal Davidic covenant in Ezekiel 34:23 when God said: I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them, to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd.
There are no other ways to enter the sheepfold/covenant that promises eternal salvation; the one way is through the gate. There is only one gate, and that gate is Jesus Christ! St. Augustine wrote about his role as a shepherd of Jesus's flock: "I seek to enter in among you, that is, into your heart, to preach Christ: if I were to preach other than that, I should be trying to enter by some other way. Through Christ, I enter in, not to your houses but to your hearts. Through him, I enter, and you have willingly heard me speak of him. Why? Because you are Christ's sheep, and you have been purchased with Christ's blood" (St. Augustine, In Ioannis Evangelium [The Gospel of John] 47, 2-3).
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but
climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
Those who try to enter the Church and claim its promises
through someone other than Jesus Christ or on their own misdirected understanding
are not legitimate members of the covenant. They harm the Church through their
cunning [thieves] by deceiving the people and violence [robbers] when they
separate people from Jesus's Eternal Covenant (Heb 13:20) through false teaching.
Thieves and robbers enter from "elsewhere" (verse 1) with their own agenda instead
of submitting to Christ and adhering to the teachings of His Church. This "elsewhere/another
way" is a significant difference. In three previous discourses, Jesus stressed
the source from which He comes. His origin is from God the Father, which is the
chief difference between Himself and His opponents, thieves and robbers. Thieves
and robbers do not come from a known location; instead, they come from some
unknown, unfamiliar direction and by an origin and authority of their own.
2 But whoever enters through
the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and
the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads
them out.
The flock represents the "chosen people"; those called to be
part of God's holy Covenant (see Ezek 34:6). Jesus is both the "gate" and the
"gatekeeper" (see verses 7 and 9). Only through Him can the shepherds/ministerial
priesthood enter into the "sheepfold" to shepherd the Covenant people. In the
Old Testament, God gave His people prophets like Moses and Daniel, priests and priestly
prophets like Aaron, Samuel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and kings like David and
Solomon to "shepherd" them. Jesus of Nazareth fulfills all these offices of
leadership. He is the Messiah the Old Testament prophets promised was coming as
the supreme priest, prophet, and Davidic King of Israel (CCC 436, 1547).
Jesus identifies Himself as the "shepherd" and the "gate" as well as the "gatekeeper." The covenant community of the faithful (the Church) is both the sheepfold and the flock in this parable. Jesus applies to Himself the image of the gate or door with the understanding that He is the only legitimate way into the "sheepfold" of the Church, and those who shepherd His flock only do so under His, "the gatekeeper's," authority. Citing this passage, the Magisterium teaches: "The Church is a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ (cf. Jn 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of which God foretold that He Himself would be the shepherd (cf. Is 40:11; Ez 34:11ff). The sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds (cf. Jn 10:11, 1 Pet 5:4) who gave his life for His sheep (cf. Jn 10:11-15)" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 6).
4 When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of
them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5 But they
will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not
recognize the voice of strangers."
In Jesus's time, villages had a communal sheepfold where the
various shepherds brought their sheep for protection during the night. In the
morning, each shepherd called his sheep, and they followed him out of the gate
of the sheepfold. In Wendell Keller's book A Shepherd Looks at the 23 Psalms,
Keller speaks of this phenomenon. The sheep that one shepherd has raised would
indeed run from the unfamiliar voice of a stranger. Since Jesus's ministry was only
to the Israelites and Jews of Galilee and Judea at this time, He was leading those
who recognized Him through the writings of the prophets as the Messiah whose
voice they needed to follow out of the Old Covenant and into the New (Jer 31:31).
This action was fulfilling the prophecy of God's holy prophet Micah:
I shall assemble the whole of Jacob, I shall gather the remnant of Israel, I
shall gather them together like sheep in an enclosure. And like a flock within
the fold, they will bleat far away from anyone; their leader will break out
first, then all break out through the gate and escape, with their king
leading the way and with Yahweh at their head (Mic 2:12-13 NJB;
emphasis added).
the sheep hear his voice ...
There are dangers for the sheep if they do not recognize the
shepherd's voice. The flock or individual sheep can be deceived and misled,
just as those within the Church can be deceived and led astray by following the
voice of a false teacher. Since there are "thieves" and "robbers/bandits" who
may be calling to us, we must know the voice of Christ through His teachings in
the New Testament fulfilled in the Old, so we are not misled (see Lk 24:44-45).
To study Sacred Scripture through the teaching authority of the Church (the
Magisterium) and faithfully receive the Sacraments is the best way to become
familiar with our Shepherd's voice. The Apostles' successors, the Bishops, and
Peter's successor, the Pope, help guide the faithful people of the holy, New
Covenant, Catholic (universal) Church. St. Jose Maria Escriva wrote: "Christ
has given his Church sureness in doctrine and a fountain of grace in the
Sacraments. He has arranged things so that there will always be people to guide
and lead us, to remind us constantly of our way. There is an infinite treasure
of knowledge available to us: the word of God kept safe by the Church, the
grace of Christ administered in the Sacraments, and also the witness and example
of those who live by our side and have known how to build with their good lives
on a road of faithfulness to God" (Christ is Passing By, page 34).
6 Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the
Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
The Pharisees did not understand, so Jesus patiently attempted
again in John 10:7-18 to reach them by extending the sheep/shepherd metaphor of
verses 1-5 into another parable.
7 So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am
the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but
the sheep did not listen to them.
He began both His explanation of the parable in verses 1-5
and a second parable with the solemn double "amen." "I AM the gate" is
the third of the seven "I AM" metaphors (without a predicate nominative) in John's
Gospel. Jesus again stated that only those who "go in" through Him have the authority
to guide the flock (the Church). He is also the gate through which "the flock"
of the covenant community must enter to come to salvation. The imagery Jesus
used in this passage recalls Psalm 118:19-20, Open for me the gates of
saving justice (salvation), I shall go in and thank Yahweh. This is the gate of
Yahweh, where the upright go in. I thank you for hearing (answering) me, and
making yourself my Savior.
Jesus's reference to all who came before me in verse 8 was not a reference to the prophets and men of God in the Old Testament. There are two different ways to interpret this passage:
True believers within His flock do not heed the voices of those who oppose Him because they recognize His voice like the sheep who know the sound of their shepherd's voice (Jn 5:45; 8:42, 46-47). One such person was Mary Magdalene, who recognized the voice of her Lord when He called her name on Resurrection Sunday (Jn 20:11-16).
In 10:5, Jesus spoke of the "stranger" or false shepherds, which the true sheep of the shepherd will run away from "because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." In this passage, He returned to the other threat to the flock that He spoke of in verse 1, the thieves and robbers who want to attack the Church and lead the "flock" astray. History has shown that enemies of the flock/Church have attacked the sheepfold in two ways in an attempt to deceive the faithful and to scatter the flock:
9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal
and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more
abundantly."
Explaining the meaning of His parable in verses 1-5, Jesus
now identifies Himself as "the gate" to the sheepfold using the significant words
"I AM" that recalls the Divine Name revealed to Moses in the experience of the
burning bush. Jesus's discourse is a "burning bush" experience for these people,
but only a few will recognize the significance and come to believe.
In verse 9, Jesus speaks about finding "pasture." He uses the word as a metaphor for the abundant graces He provides for His flock. Through Jesus's gift of the Sacraments, graces flow from Him to His Church as He enriches the lives of the faithful on their journey to salvation and the Church's journey through time to the final hour of humanity. In verse 10b, Jesus stated why He has come to us: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
Are you experiencing all the fullness of the graces Christ promised? Have you had a "burning bush" experience recognizing the presence of God and surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of your soul? Will you be able to discern the "voice of the stranger" if he calls to you and recognize the teaching of false doctrine? Make the commitment to walk in your Divine Shepherd's footsteps and learn his voice in the words of Sacred Scripture and through the teachings of Mother Church. Then you will hear in your heart the same assuring words St. John heard in his vision of the heavenly Kingdom when a loud voice from the throne of God proclaimed, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will always be with them as their God" (Rev 21:3).
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Acts 2:36-38 (CCC 1433*);
2:36 (CCC 440, 597*, 695*, 731*, 746);
2:38 (CCC 1226, 1262*, 1287*, 1427*);
2:41 (CCC 363*, 1226*)
1 Peter 2:21 (CCC 618); 2:24 (CCC 612)
John 10:1-10 (CCC 754*); 10:3 (CCC 2158*)
Christ the Shepherd and Gate (CCC 754*, 764*, 2665)
The Pope and bishops as shepherds (CCC 553*, 857*, 861, 896, 1558, 1561, 1568, 1574)
Priests as shepherds (CCC 874, 1120*, 1465, 1536, 1548-1550, 1551*, 1564*, 2179, 2686)
Conversion, faith, and baptism (CCC 14*, 189*, 1064, 1226*, 1236, 1253*, 1254-1255, 1427*, 1428*, 1429*)
Christ an example in bearing wrongs (CCC 618*, 2447*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2020, 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.