By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorJesus said, "I am the gate for the sheep.... whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture."
The fourth Sunday of Easter is reserved for lessons about the Good Shepherd. It's a long tradition and highlights the beloved image of Jesus holding the lamb over his shoulders and brings to mind the wonderful parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in search of the lost one. This wonderful parable is comforting in illustrating our loving God who goes to any length to find us in all sorts and conditions of being lost, and in finding us, leads us home.
Each of the Gospels has a variation of this theme and on the fourth Sunday of Easter we hear them anew. The Gospels of Mark and Luke have Jesus referring to himself as the Good Shepherd who comes to the sheep pen and calls for them. Not knowing much about sheep myself, I still find it comforting to know that animals usually considered among the duller witted of the four legged species are still able to recognize voices. When they hear the familiar voice of their beloved shepherd, they respond positively. The stories go on to say that if they don't recognize the voice of the person entering the sheepfold, they sense danger and panic. Again, in associating Jesus with the Good shepherd, the reader is reassured that God is protecting us and watching over us as the Good Shepherd watches over and takes care of the sheep. It's to our advantage not to follow the metaphor associating us with the sheep too much further.
However, this particular Gospel lesson from John takes the familiar theme and turns it around. Instead of being directly called the Good Shepherd, Jesus refers to himself as the gate to the sheepfold. It's an interesting turn of the story and the ears of the early church listener would have picked up on it quickly.
To play with this metaphor a bit, anyone coming to get the sheep would have to go through the gate. If they did not it would signal that they had no right to enter and would therefore be bandits or thieves. If Jesus was placing himself in the role of "the gate" then who is the Shepherd who enters? One possibility could be that God the Creator was the Shepherd entering and I suppose one could make a sound argument for that position. However, one would then get into the tricky mechanics of Trinitarian difficulty which would make Jesus both Shepherd and gate at the same time. It's a very distracting solution to an otherwise simple parable.
I think the better solution is that the role of the shepherd is given to the church leadership of the time. John's Gospel was written quite a bit later than the other Gospels and this difference in the flow of the story would have been an important development. It recognizes that time has passed and other leaders arise as the church grew past the Apostolic age. But it also gives warning and guidance to those who would follow the leadership.
Jesus becomes the standard by which leaders are known. In the early church, as in our own day, there were many competing faiths and concerns. The religious seeker and early church member might be confused whom to follow, which voice to listen to. The writer of John's Gospel offers this suggestion, "I am the gate for the sheep, says Jesus." It's another way of saying, Anyone who comes through me is worthy to listen to. It sounds easy, it seems clear, but it's not really. If we are in fact sheep, I think we still need to be careful about shepherds we listen to.
Going from metaphor to everyday life, we need to consider the voice of the shepherd and the role of the gate as we make our decisions and choices.
Sometimes as I walk down the street, I'm given leaflets of religious information. I'm quite eager to take them, much to the delight of the person handing them out. I like to read them and see what other churches are up to. At the outset, I'm impressed by the enthusiasm of the ones handing out the leaflets. They seem so sincere and eager to have me hold the same beliefs they appear to. Truth be told, I'm equally as eager to have them share the beliefs I do, but I'm not so enthusiastic in this desire as to write and hand out leaflets of my own.
But what I read usually saddens me. They present a very different image of God and Jesus than I hold, and the gap between our beliefs often saddens me. I suspect that if I did write and hand out a leaflet to them, we would look at each other convinced we spoke on behalf of the Good Shepherd and look at the other as being the thief or bandit about to lead the poor hapless sheep astray.
It's here that I find comfort again in the parable that places Jesus as the gate. Since it is through him that the sheep will ultimately go. In other places in the Bible, Jesus refers to himself as the Way, the life and the truth. His works are healing and loving. He embraces the outcast, loves his enemies, offers forgiveness to those who threaten or in fact hurt him. He is kind and gentle. He is simple in his living and is very smart in his dealing with people and is not tricked by insincerity. These are wonderful characteristics of a gate. Any shepherd trying to win over the sheep of any stripe need to pass through these very impressive characteristics. Any sheep or person in sheep's clothing can gauge the voice of their shepherd by this gate and follow whom they will.
Many voices compete for our attention and allegiance. In a world of different faiths and creeds calling us to follow in politics, social issues, and economic patterns as well as worship it's difficult to judge. There are many would be shepherds and it's helpful to think of Jesus as the gate. Whoever calls us through love, healing, forgiveness and into full stature in God's eyes seems to me to be the voice of a good shepherd. Those who call in terms of hate, violence, inequality and ignorance seem to me to be the bandits and thieves we should avoid and run from, because they are very dangerous.
Jesus concludes this parable by saying that he came so we might have life and have it abundantly. This is also reassuring. Abundant life is full of the love of God in which there is plenty to go around. Those who would parcel it out, or worse, withhold it, based on their own criteria are misleading the people of God. While there are many would be shepherds, there really is only one Good Shepherd, and that is God. It is God who calls us and through whose love we led. Amen.
© 2008 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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