Theme: I give them eternal life
Readings: Genesis 7:1-5,11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13
Acts 8:36-40 John 10:22-30 Ps 23
Collect:Readings: Genesis 7:1-5,11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13
Acts 8:36-40 John 10:22-30 Ps 23
Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father's sheep:
teach us to hear your voice
and to follow your command,
that all your people may be gathered into one flock,
to the glory of God the Father.
Comment
The Festival of Dedication (Hanukah) was the celebration of the time in
167 BC when Jewish freedom fighters under Judas Maccabaeus liberated Jerusalem and its temple from the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes and restored proper temple worship. Judas’ brother Simon eventually became the effectual ruler of Judea, and was also appointed high priest. His family remained in power until Herod the Great took over. (Herod married into the family.)
During the Festival of Dedication people would naturally think not only of the restoration of proper temple worship but also of liberation from tyrants and the beginning of a new kingdom, and were hoping that God would send his Messiah (‘Christos’ in Greek) to liberate them from Roman rule. Was Jesus the one? He had been claiming to be the ‘Good Shepherd’
– a royal title if ever there was one. Why did he not just come out and say it plainly?
Jesus’ response was that he had already done so. ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ is as plain a claim to Messiah-ship as there could be. He never said, ‘I am the Messiah’, though when the Samaritan woman talked about the Messiah he had told her, ‘I am he.’ He did not say it directly because that would be misinterpreted; he was not another Judas Maccabaeus. But those with ears to hear and eyes to see would know that he was claiming to be sent by God to bring God’s kingdom into the world, and they could see that his miracles (his ‘works’) backed up his claim.
If they did not believe him, it was because they did not want to believe
him: he was not the sort of Messiah they were waiting for. They were not the Good Shepherd’s sheep.
Who are Jesus’ sheep? Sheep in Palestine have learnt to follow the shepherd, who acts as the leader of the flock. They know the shepherd’s voice and his or her commands, and their instinct is to follow their leader. The shepherd doesn’t just visit them on occasions to check on them; he or she stays with the flock, and knows each one individually.
So it is with the Messiah, Jesus. His ‘sheep’ belong to him, as his own possession. We trust him as our leader, our guide and protector, and we listen to his instruction or encouragement, and do what he says. He knows each one of us, and knows us intimately – every weakness, every strength, all that has happened to us, all our hopes and fears and plans. No wonder we follow him!
All illustrations break down at some point. We are not kept safe by Jesus so that we will end up as a succulent joint of roast lamb! Our destiny is totally different! Jesus gives his sheep ‘eternal life’; we can never ‘perish’, never be forced away from our Shepherd. What does this mean?
Jesus presents two alternatives here: eternal life, and ‘perishing’. The word that is translated ‘perish’ is the word that is used for the ‘lost’
sheep, for objects or food that become useless, and for loss of life.
When talking about what happens at the very end, it means an eternal destruction, and that is what Jesus says his sheep are safe from. He gives them, instead, ‘eternal life’ – life without end, life not confined to this age or any other age. Jesus is saying that his sheep can remain so for ever and ever, and can always experience his love, guidance and protection – not just in this life, but always. No-one can snatch us from his hand, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
We may wander off by our own free will; but nothing can force us to do so.
At the heart of this is Jesus’ relationship with his Father. God the Father is over all, the owner of all he has created. He has given us to the Good Shepherd; and what the Father gives, no-one else can take away.
This is not a devaluation – the Father does not give us away because he no longer values us. On the contrary, Jesus and the Father are one: what the Father has, Jesus has, and what Jesus has belongs also to the Father. We are Jesus’ treasured possession, and he will look after us.
If we belong to Jesus we belong to the Father, and we are safe for ever.
Questions
1) Are you Jesus’ sheep? How do you know?
2) Can we help others join Jesus’ flock? If so, how? Why bother to try?