Of Shepherds and Sheep

Catacomb wall painting - The Good Shepherd

John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

John's version of Jesus as the "Good Shepherd" shows the theological development of his community in the decades since the writing of the synoptic gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. It is clear that the separation between church and synagogue is becoming a reality, and Christianity is becoming a separate religion. John's use of "the Jews" to describe those who oppose Jesus reflects the us/them mentality that is beginning to develop. For his use of this term, John's Gospel is sometimes considered anti-Semitic.

If we look at the context of today's gospel, we see John is really referring to the religious authorities and not the Jewish people as a whole. This doesn't excuse the tone of John's depiction, which has been used as an excuse for the horrors of ant-Semitic behavior by Christians through the centuries. I think the quote from Anthony de Melo under the banner of this blog would apply here. A translation of John's gospel (and indeed the entire bible) by Priests for Equality replaces "the Jews" with the term "Temple Authorities". It's a start.

Just like today, the religious authorities have their own agenda and strongly oppose anyone who disagrees. Threaten their turf as did the populist message of Jesus, and they go on the offensive. We can see this clearly in their seemingly never ending blaming of "the gays" for what they see as the fall of the church's influence over modern culture. Today's religious authorities can't seem to get their minds out of people's bedrooms and onto the real problems of injustice, inequitable distribution of the world's resources and oh yeah that global warming thing among many other real concerns. Their medieval worldview continues to make them and the church more and more irrelevant.

In a post denominational world, we can belong to and be inspired by the message of the Good Shepherd no matter the pronouncements and actions of the religious authorities. We do not need their permission to believe in and be transformed by the life giving message of Jesus the Good Shepherd. We can choose to follow the One who's voice we recognize and perhaps the religious authorities will follow us out of our bedrooms and engage in the struggle for a more just and equitable world. We can but dream!