Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (Cycle B)
Readings:
Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26-29
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), 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; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that our 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: Eternal Salvation Only Comes Through
Christ Jesus
In the First Reading, St. Peter proclaims that salvation is
only for those who call upon the name of Jesus. His name is the only name
under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 4:12). Peter tells the Jewish religious leaders that they are "the builders" of
the Old Covenant Church who rejected Jesus the Messiah. Jesus Christ is the "cornerstone"
of the New Covenant Church, as Peter quotes from today's Psalm Reading (Acts 4:11; Ps 118:22). He is also the "stone" the Prophet Daniel prophesied,
divinely hewn from the "mountain" of the Old Covenant religious center of the Jerusalem
Temple on Mt. Moriah. Jesus is the "stone" destined to break in pieces all
these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever (Dan 2:44).
The Responsorial Psalm Reading is from Psalm 118. The covenant people recognized it as a messianic psalm that promised the coming of Yahweh's anointed. On Palm Sunday, the Jewish crowd called out 118:26 and applied it as a prophetic announcement of the coming of Jesus the Messiah (Mt 21:9). Jesus also quoted 118:26 after He denounced the failed religious leaders of the covenant people (Mt 23:1-33), condemned His sinful generation to divine judgment (Mt 23:34-36), and uttered a lament over the future destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (Mt 23:37-38). Then, in Matthew 23:39, Jesus quoted from 118:26, saying: "I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Catholics repeat these words just before the revelation of Christ in the Eucharist, both as a profession of our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and our belief that He will return in glory to claim His Bride, the Church.
In the Second Reading, St. John wrote that God the Father has bestowed His love on us through Jesus Christ. In God the Son, God the Father gives us a share in His divine life, so we are no longer only children in the family of Adam but become children in the family of God. Unlike the Old Covenant "created" sons and daughters of God, through the Sacrament of Christian Baptism, we have been "born from above" and "begotten" by God (1 Pt 1:3; 1 Jn 3:5, 7; 5:1, 18), not created like other creatures. As His spiritually reborn sons and daughters, He infuses us with His divine life (2 Pt 1:4). Becoming a son/daughter of God is essential to a Christian's life. It is a supernatural dignity resulting from an indefinable intimacy with God as Divine Father.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus announces He is the Good Shepherd the prophet Ezekiel promised His covenant people (Ezek 34:10-13). He is the prince of the House of David who has come to shepherd His people and free them from bondage to sin and death (Ezek 34:23-31). Those who belong to Him will come to Him when they hear His voice, and He will gather them into one flock, which is the promised New Covenant Church (Jer 31:31; Jn 10:4, 11, 14). The Catechism 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).
The First Reading Acts 4:8-12 ~ St. Peter's Testimony to
the Jewish Sanhedrin
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them,
"Leaders of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a
good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, 10 then all of
you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus
Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his
name, this man stands before you healed. 11 He is 'the stone rejected by you,
the builders, which has become the cornerstone.' 12 There is no salvation
through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the
human race by which we are to be saved."
The Jewish Temple guards arrested the Apostles Peter and John and brought them before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, for questioning. The Jewish High Priest, Joseph Caiaphas, presided over the court. Other members included chief priests (mostly Sadducees) and leading Pharisees (Acts 4:5-7). The Sanhedrin was the same high court that condemned Jesus to death (Mt 26:57-66; Mk 14:53-64; Lk 22:66-71).
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them, "Leaders of the people and elders ... The event in our reading is St. Peter's third kerygmatic address (the Greek word kerygma means "proclamation," derived from the word keryks, meaning "herald"). Perhaps he remembered what Jesus told him would happen to the Apostles and disciples before Christ's return in glory. Jesus warned him, saying, Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute (Lk 21:12-15). Peter was not afraid. He was prepared for their questions because he remembered Jesus's promise that the Holy Spirit would give him the words he needed to defend himself and Jesus's Gospel of salvation (Jn 14:26; 15:26-27). As verse 8 tells us, Peter was "filled with the Holy Spirit."
9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done
to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, 10 then all of you and all
the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this
man stands before you healed.
Peter began by speaking about the crippled man he healed
(Acts 3:1-10). He spoke not about physical healing but concerning man's spiritual
healing and salvation through the name of the resurrected Jesus the Messiah. In
this passage, St. Luke returned to the theme of salvation for those "calling on
the name of the Lord" (see Acts 2:21 and 2:47). Notice that Peter's answer to
the religious leaders is a proclamation to "all Israel" in verse 10.
11 He is 'the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.' 12 There is no salvation through anyone
else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which
we are to be saved."
Then Peter quoted loosely from Psalm 118:22, adapting the passage
to the current situation. Psalm 118 is the last part of the Hallel (praise God)
Psalms. The Jewish faithful sang Psalm 118 and the other Hallel psalms during
the eight days of Passover/Unleavened Bread. It was considered a Messianic
psalm that spoke of the coming of God's "Anointed One" (Messiah) from the
lineage of the great King David. The crowd sang Psalm 118:26 during Jesus's
triumphal procession into the city of Jerusalem on Palm/Passion Sunday
(Mt 21:9; Mk 11:9; Jn 12:13), and Jesus quoted it as a sign of His future "coming"
(Mt 23:39; Lk 19:38).
In verse 11, Peter identified the religious leaders as the "builders" in the prophetic Messianic psalm (Ps 118:22a). And he identified Jesus as the "stone" they rejected and crucified who has become the "cornerstone" of the promised New Covenant (Ps 118:22b; Jer 31:31; Lk 22:20). This passage was the second time St. Luke quoted from Psalm 118:22. The first time was at the end of Jesus's Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Lk 20:17) when the religious leaders recognized that Jesus was addressing the quote specifically to them (Lk 20:19). In Peter's reference, he has added the words "by you" before "builders" to make his point. The NAB translation doesn't fully reflect the meaning in the Greek text where the word "rejected" (apodokimao) has been replaced by "scorned"/"treated as worthless" (exoutheneo): the stone scorned by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone (Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, page 77; IBGE, vol. IV, page 330). Peter's point was that the religious leaders didn't just reject God's Son but treated Him with contempt. Saints Paul and Peter applied this passage to Jesus (see Eph 2:20 and 1 Pt 2:6-7). For a reference to the "cornerstone" from a book of the prophets, see Isaiah 28:16, which Peter will apply to Jesus in 1 Peter 2:4-8.
The literal Greek translation of "cornerstone" is kephale gonias, meaning "head of the corner." Some Biblical scholars suggest this means the keystone of an arch that joins the two sides. Whether it is the keystone of an arch or the foundation stone of a building, the meaning is clear: the Old Covenant religious leaders rejected and treated with contempt the capstone essential for the restoration of the people of God and the only means for humanity's eternal salvation (verse 12).
Jesus is the "stone" prophesied by the 6th-century BC Prophet Daniel, divinely hewn from the "mountain" of the Old Covenant Kingdom of the Church, whose religious center was the Jerusalem Temple on Mt. Moriah. He is the "stone" destined to break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever. That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold (Dan 2:44-45). Peter courageously stated there is no other way. Jesus Christ was the only path to eternal salvation, telling the Sanhedrin members, "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 14:12). Our faith does not rest in a building like the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus is the living foundation stone of the New Covenant Kingdom of His Church (Mk 1:14-15). Those baptized into the New Covenant also become part of Christ as "living stones" built into the structure of the New and Eternal Covenant in Christ Jesus (CCC 756). Also, see CCC 432, 452, 1507 for Jesus as the only means of humanity's salvation.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29 ~
Jesus is the Cornerstone of the New Covenant
The response is: "The stone rejected by the builders
has become the cornerstone" or "Alleluia."
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy
endures forever. [...]. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust
in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
Response:
21 I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior. 22 The stone which the builders rejected has become
the cornerstone. 23 By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our
eyes.
Response:
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD; we
bless you from the house of the LORD. [...]. 28 I will give thanks to you, for
you have answered me and have been my savior. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for
he is good; for his kindness endures forever.
Response:
Psalms 113-118 are the Great Hallel (hallel = "praise God") Psalms that recall the Exodus liberation. For this reason, it was also called the "Egyptian Psalms." The faithful sang the Hallel Psalms during the pilgrim feasts of Unleavened Bread, Weeks/Pentecost, and Tabernacles/Booths/Shelters (Ex 23:14-17; 34:18-23; Dt 16:16; 2 Chr 8:13). The last Hallel Psalm is Psalm 118. It was a hymn of thanksgiving that traditionally accompanied a victory procession of the king and the people into the Temple precincts. After the invocation (verse 1), the psalmist, speaking for the community, describes how the covenant people confidently seek God's help because it is better to trust Him than to trust in rulers or other imperfect human beings. In verse 21, the psalmist, speaking for the people, gives thanks to God in advance for answering the people's petitions and being their savior.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone. 23 By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.
Verses 22-23 are among the most often quoted psalm verses in
the New Testament. Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 when He was teaching in the
Temple on Monday of His last week in Jerusalem (Mt 21:17-18, 42). He applied
the verses to Himself in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mt 21:42-44 and
Lk 20:17-18). The claim that enraged the Pharisees, scribes, and chief
priests who sought to arrest Jesus but were afraid of the crowds of people who
believed Jesus was a prophet (Mt 21:45-46; Lk 20:19).
After Jesus's Resurrection, at Peter's trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, he identified Jesus as the "cornerstone" of the New Covenant and the religious authorities as the "builders" who rejected Him. Peter applied Psalm 118:22 to Christ (see our First Reading in Acts 4:11), and he quoted Psalm 118:22 again, identifying Jesus as "the cornerstone," in 1 Peter 2:7. St. Paul also wrote of Jesus as the "cornerstone" in Romans 9:33, referring to a related prophecy in Isaiah 28:16b. Paul made the same reference again in Ephesians 2:20. He wrote that the household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone [cornerstone]. Finally, Christ fulfilled Psalm 118:23 in His works that are "wonderful in our eyes" (verse 23) as He has made it possible for us to receive the gift of eternal salvation.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD; we
bless you from the house of the LORD. [...]. 28 I will give thanks to you, for
you have answered me and have been my savior. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for
he is good; for his kindness endures forever.
The Old Covenant faithful recognized Psalm 118 especially
verses 22-28, as a Messianic psalm that promised the coming of Yahweh's
anointed. On Palm Sunday, the Jewish crowd quoted verse 26 and applied it as a
prophetic announcement of the coming of Jesus the Messiah (Mt 21:9). Jesus also
quoted verse 26 after He denounced the failed religious leaders of the covenant
people (Mt 23:1-33), condemned His sinful generation to divine judgment (Mt 23:34-36), and uttered a lament over the future destruction of Jerusalem and
the Temple (Mt 23:37-38). Then, in Matthew 23:39, quoting Psalm 118:26a, Jesus
said: "I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Jesus used this verse to announce that
Israel would not see Him again until He came in glory for the Final Judgment (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess 4:16). However, it also has special significance for Catholics
because we say these words just before the revelation of Christ in the
Eucharist. In repeating these words, the congregation gives "thanks" in both a
profession of our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and our
belief that He will return in glory to claim His Bride, the Church. It is when
we "give thanks" to God in receiving the Eucharist that we acknowledge Christ
as our Lord and Savior whose "kindness endures forever" (verses 28-29). In
Latin, eucharistia is the virtue of thanks/thanksgiving from the Greek eucharistia,
gratitude; from eu = "good" + charizesthai = "to show favor."
The Second Reading 1 John 3:1-2 ~ Children of God
1 See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may
be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not
know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what
we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope
based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
In Chapter 3 of his letter to the universal Church, St. John contemplates the wonderful gift of divine sonship (filiation) that makes baptized Christians children of God. When John mentions "the world," he refers to those who do not belong to Christ but belong to a world that is opposed to God's plan for saving humanity through the sacrifice of Christ. The world did not "know" or understand Him, so we must accept that the world cannot "know" or understand us. We are in the world, but we are not part of the world (Jn 15:18-19).
The children of Israel were collectively sons and daughters of God through their covenant relationship ratified at Mt. Sinai (Ex Chapter 24). However, Christians are sons and daughters in a unique way that was unavailable under the old covenants that could not give the gift of eternal life or the Holy Spirit's indwelling. Under the Sinai Covenant, the Israelites remained children in the family of Adam. They were banned from entrance into Heaven because of the "original sin" they inherited from their original parents (CCC 390, 397, 416-17, 536, 1026). Still, the Israelites were the "firstborn" sons and daughters in rank among the children of the nations in the family of Adam because of their covenant union with God (Ex 4:22). The Israelites were the means God chose to preserve the "promised seed" of Genesis 3:15. When He cursed the serpent, He said, I will put enmity between your offspring [seed] and hers [her seed] (literal Hebrew translation, IBHE, Vol. I, page 7). Through the preservation of the line of Adam and Eve's "promised seed, " God would bring about humanity's redemption through an Israelite mother and her son. But unlike the Old Covenant "created" sons and daughters of God, in the Sacrament of Baptism, Christians are reborn, born "again" or born "from above" by water and the Spirit (Jn 3:3-5). We have been "begotten" (1 Pt 1:3; 1 Jn 5:1, 18), not created like other creatures, by God as His sons and daughters infused with His divine life (2 Pt 1:4). Being a divine son/daughter of God is an essential aspect of a Christian's life and a supernatural dignity resulting from an indefinable intimacy with God as Divine Father.
St. Paul speaks of this divine sonship in terms of adoption: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, "Father!" The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:14-17). The Catechism assures us: "He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ. It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good. In union with his Savior, the disciple attains the perfection of charity, which is holiness. Having matured in grace, the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of Heaven" (CCC 1709).
2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be
has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope based on him
makes himself pure, as he is pure.
Christians cannot fully experience our gift of divine
filiation until it reaches its final expression when we become united with the
Most Holy Trinity in eternal life. It is then that we will see Him "as he is,"
"face to face" (verse 2; 1 Cor 13:12). As St. John wrote in his Gospel from
Jesus's final prayer to the Father during His Last Supper Discourse: Now
this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one
whom you sent, Jesus Christ (Jn 17:3). In the meantime, it is our Christian
duty as sons and daughters of God to keep ourselves "pure" and free of sin as
"He is pure" in preparation for that final transition into the life of the Most
Holy Trinity.
The Gospel of John 10:11-18 ~ Jesus is the Good Shepherd
11 Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep. 12 A hired man, who is not a shepherd and
whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs
away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. 13 This is because he works for
pay and has no concern for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know
mine and mine know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father,
and I will lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not
belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and
there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it
from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to
take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."
Jesus identified Himself as the "good shepherd" using the words "I AM" (without a predicate nominative) in verses 11 and 14. Jesus identifies Himself with the significant and symbolic words "I AM," a reference to Yahweh's revelation of Himself to Moses three times as "I AM" in Exodus 3:13-14. In John's Gospel, Jesus used "I AM" twenty-six times. He used "I AM" in seven different metaphors with a predicate nominative and four "I AM" statements without a predicate nominative:
| "I AM" with a predicate nominative | "I AM" without a predicate nominative | ||
| 1. 6:35 | "I AM the bread of life" | 1. 8:24 | "...if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins. |
| 2. 8:12 | "I AM the light of the world" | 2. 8:28 | When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I AM (he)* |
| 3. 10:7 | "I AM the gate for the sheep" | 3. 8:58 | Amen, amen, I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I AM. |
| 4. 10:11, 14 | "I AM the good shepherd" | 4. 13:19 | I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I AM (he)* |
| 5. 11:25 | "I AM the resurrection and the life" | ||
| 6. 14:6 | "I AM the way and the truth and the life" | ||
| 7. 15:1 | "I AM the true vine" | ||
|
* the pronoun "He" is not in the Greek text in
these verses. Michal Hunt Copyright © 2003 |
|||
The people listening to Jesus would have recalled the 6th-century BC prophet Ezekiel's prophecies from the Book of Ezekiel chapter 34, especially verses 9-12, where God promised to punish the "false shepherds" of Israel and to come Himself to shepherd the sheep of His flock, and verses 23-24 where He promised to appoint one shepherd over His people who is a Davidic prince:
Note that LORD or GOD written in capital letters represents the Divine Name, YHWH, I AM, (with vowels rendered "Yahweh") in the Hebrew translation of the Old Testament.
The future event Jesus referred to in verse 11 is His Passion and death. St. John Chrysostom wrote: "he is speaking of his passion, making it clear this would take place for the world's salvation and that he would go to it freely and willingly" (Homilies on St. John, 59.3). Pope St. Gregory the Great commented on this passage, writing: "He did what he said he would do; he gave his life for his sheep, and he gave his body and blood in the Sacrament to nourish with his flesh the sheep he had redeemed" (In Evangelia homiliae, 14).
Jesus's declaration in verse 11 is the first of five times that St. John will repeat Christ's willingness to lay down His life for His sheep in this passage:
| 1. 10:11 | I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. |
| 2. 10:15b | ...and I lay down my life for the sheep. |
| 3. 10:17 | This is why the Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. |
| 4. 10:18a | No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. |
| 5. 10:18b | I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again... |
In the context of the shepherd caring for the sheep analogy, Jesus's statement was shocking for the crowd listening to Him. A good shepherd's duty was to defend and protect the flock, but he was not expected to die for the sheep.
Although it may seem contradictory that Jesus calls Himself both the "Good Shepherd" in verses 11-18 and the "Gate" in verses 7 and 9, this sheepfold imagery was very familiar to His audience. It is still common in many parts of the world, as in 1st–century AD Judea, to bring several flocks of sheep together at night into one enclosed sheepfold where only a few shepherds could watch over and protect them from predators. It was also not unusual for stone-enclosed sheepfolds not to have a gate so the shepherd would sleep in the ungated entrance to the sheepfold to protect the sheep. The shepherd, in effect, used his own body as the protective "gate" to the sheepfold. In the morning, when the other shepherds returned, they would call the sheep of their flock. Each animal knew the sound of its shepherd's voice, and they would come to him to lead them out of the pen. Jesus's body will become the "gate" into the sheepfold. His body on the cross from which water and blood flowed was the water and blood of the Church in Baptism and the Eucharist that opened the way into Heaven.
In verse 12, Jesus contrasted the shepherd who owned his flock of sheep with a man only hired to guard the sheep. The "hired man" only works for his wage. He has no emotional attachment to the sheep, and in times of inconvenience, danger, or risk, the hired man will leave or not live up to the task at hand. The "hired man" is the priest who does not "shepherd" God's flock unselfishly. He avoids unpopular issues and does not teach on controversial topics but leaves the "flock" of his congregation unprotected to fall into sin. The "wolf" who endangers the "sheep" symbolizes the world in opposition to the Word of God. Unlike the hired man, the good shepherd is the one who seeks Christ's glory. He is the priest who does not fear to reprove sinners. St. Peter addressed this difference in his first letter to the Universal Church: So I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Pt 5:1-4).
St. Jose Maria Escriva wrote: "The holiness of Christ's Spouse has always been shown, as it can be seen today, by the abundance of good shepherds. But our Christian faith, which teaches us to be simple, does not bid us be simple-minded. There are hirelings who keep silent, and there are hirelings who speak with words which are not those of Christ. That is why, if the Lord allows us to be left in the dark even in little things, if we feel that our faith is not firm, we should go to the good shepherd. He enters by the door as of right. He gives his life for others and wants to be in word and behavior a soul in love. He may be a sinner too, but he trusts always in Christ's forgiveness and mercy" (Christ is Passing By, 34).
Jesus said, 14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine
and mine know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I
will lay down my life for the sheep."
For a second time, Jesus identifies Himself with the "good
shepherd" prophesied by Ezekiel in Chapter 34:10-31, and for the second time,
He promises to sacrifice Himself for His sheep.
I know mine, and mine know me ...
This statement is the essence of a relationship with Christ,
expressing knowledge in the sense of a personal covenant relationship. There
are seven God-initiated covenants in the Old Testament, and the eighth is the New
and Eternal Covenant in Christ Jesus (see the chart "Yahweh's Eight Covenants").
In the Biblical sense, "knowledge" is not simply the conclusion of an intellectual process but is the fruit of an experience, a personal encounter. Knowledge of God is an intimate association through the covenant relationship. In Hosea 2:21-22, the prophet speaks of the day Yahweh will redeem Israel as His Bride. She will call Yahweh "my husband" and no longer call Him "my baal" (my lord), which is the address of a concubine or a slave to her master. The prophet wrote: I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful love and tenderness. Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh (Hos 2:18-20/16-18, NJB). We cannot separate knowledge of Yahweh from our hesed, which, in Hebrew, is our faithful covenant love. This knowledge is not merely an intellectual acknowledgment. God "makes himself known" to humans when He enters into a covenant relationship with them and shows His love [hesed ] for them by His blessings.
In this intimate relationship, God's covenant people "know" Him when:
Jesus took this definition of divine love further when He called us not just to love in the context of the covenant but to give ourselves sacrificially and unselfishly as He gave Himself for us. In His self-sacrificial love, He redefined the Greek word agape when He told us to love as He loves us (Jn 15:12). In Greek, agape meant spiritual love, but in the Christian context, it came to mean self-sacrificial love (Jn 15:11-14; also see Rom 12:1-2).
In verse 16, Jesus said,
"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead,
and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd."
There can only be one covenant in Christ and one Church
because there can only be one Bride (see Many Religions—One Covenant,
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/ Pope Benedict XVI; Heb 8:13). Jesus transformed the
old Israel Bride of Yahweh into the new Israel Bride of Christ when she was
born from His side at the cross in the water and blood flowing from His Body. Just
as Eve, Adam's bride, came to life from the side of her bridegroom Adam
(Gen 2:21-23), the Church was born from the Body of Christ. Adam was unwilling to
die for his bride when confronted by Satan in the form of a serpent (Rev 12:9),
but Christ offered Himself as the sinless sacrifice for His Bride, the Church.
Jesus fulfills the promise of Hosea 2:18-20 and the promise of a new and
eternal covenant in Jeremiah 31:31; 32:40, and 50:5. There is one flock and one
Shepherd who is Jesus Christ, the supreme Shepherd of the one universal Church
(Heb 13:20). The spiritual authority of those who shepherd the flock as
Christ's representatives (Peter and the other Apostles and their successors) is
an authority that comes directly from Christ who gives them a share in His
saving mission (see Jn 20:22-23; 21:15-17 and
CCC 553 and 754).
But who are the "other sheep" who will become part of this New Covenant flock? The "other sheep" are the Gentiles who hear the voice of the Divine Shepherd and respond to His call. The Holy Spirit will also gather them into Jesus's flock alongside the restored sheep of the new Israel (Acts 10:44-48). Christ will gather all who listen to His voice through the apostolic preaching of the Church and believe in the one flock that He leads to eternal life. The prophet Zechariah foretold this event in his prophecy of the sheep who broke out of the sheepfold and were led back by their king (Zec 13:7-9; 14:9). Jesus is both the Shepherd and the King of the everlasting Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:16, 23:5; Sir 45:25; 27:11/13/ 2 Chron 13:5; Ps 89:2-5; Lk 1:32-33).
17 "This is why the Father
loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No
one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down,
and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."
This statement is proof of Jesus's divinity. Only God
could have such absolute power over life and death. Jesus fulfilled this
prophecy on the cross with His sacrifice, followed by His Resurrection after
three days (as the ancients counted). It was as Jesus foretold (Mt 20:17-19;
Mk 10:32-34; Lk 18:31-33).
This is the command I have received from my Father.
CCC 607: "The desire to embrace his Father's plan of
redeeming love inspired Jesus's whole life, for his redemptive passion was the very
reason for his Incarnation..." In John 10:17-18, Jesus says: "The
Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on
my own. I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again. This command
I have received from my Father." The sacrifice of Jesus for the redemption
of the world expressed His unity of will and His loving communion with God the
Father. At the end of the parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18:14, Jesus
states that the Father's love excludes no one, saying, "In just the same way,
it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
In this statement, Jesus affirms that He came to give his life as a
ransom for many (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45). His sacrifice is not limited but intended
for all humanity. The Catholic Church affirms that He died for all humankind
without exception: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single
human being for whom Christ did not suffer" (CCC 605).
Our faith does not rest in a building like the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus is the living foundation stone of the New Covenant Church. Those who come to Jesus in faith and submit to the Sacrament of Baptism become a part of Christ as "living stones" of His Church built into the fabric of the New and eternal Covenant in Christ Jesus (1 Pt 2:4; Lk 22:20; CCC 756). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is calling you into the sheepfold of His Church. Do you recognize His voice as He speaks to you in the Liturgy of the Word? Do you acknowledge that you follow Him as you make your procession up to the altar to receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist? Then rejoice, for the "stone" that the "builders" rejected is our resurrected Lord and our King who leads the sheep of His flock on the path to salvation!
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Acts 4:10 (CCC 597*);
4:11 (CCC 756*);
4:12 (CCC 432, 452, 1507*)
Psalm 118:22 (CCC 587*, 756*); 118:24 (CCC 2173); 118:26 (CCC 559)
1 John 3:1 (CCC1692); 3:2 (CCC 163, 1023, 1161*, 1720*, 2519*, 2772)
John 10:11-15 (CCC 754*); 10:11 (CCC 553, 754*); 10:16 (CCC 60*); 10:17-18 (CCC 614*, 649); 10:17 (CCC 606); 10:18 (CCC 609)
Jesus Christ is the Shepherd and the 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, 1548-1551*,
1564*, 2179, 2686)
Christ is the cornerstone (CCC 756*)
We are God's children now (CCC 1, 104*, 239*, 1692*, 1709, 2009, 2736*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2015; revised 2024 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.