The Fourth Sunday of Easter - 29 April 2012
Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23
I John
3:16-24
St. John
10:11-18
Background: Ancient Shepherds
This Sunday is often referred to as “Good
Shepherd Sunday” owing to the themes of the psalm and Gospel reading. Shepherding is an ancient profession that
acquired some religious associations especially among Jews and Christians. The profession began some 6,000 years ago,
especially in Asia Minor, where the animals were kept for their milk, meat, and
wool. Shepherding is a mobile
enterprise, with the flock moving from pasture to pasture; and it is notable
that the patriarchs of the Hebrew Scriptures were largely keepers of goats and
sheep, with the younger sons (cf. David) keep watch over the flocks. The flocks were kept in the mountainous areas
of the land, as opposed to the lowlands where grain was grown. The antipathy between these two groups is
evident in the story of Cain and Able, where Able has the upper hand – beloved
of God because he was a shepherd, see Genesis 4. Shepherds were hired to be such, which puts a
focus on the Gospel for today. Sometimes
it was the sons of the family who did the shepherding, but usually it was
someone who was hired, who milked the sheep, who made cheese, and who was
responsible for their care and feeding.
Living alone, they were often separated from society – a point in Luke’s
Infancy Narrative where these “outcasts” become the first to hear the Good
News.
Acts 4:5-12
The day after they had arrested Peter and John for teaching about Jesus
and the resurrection, the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of
the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their
midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do
this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers
of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed
done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it
be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is
standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is
`the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.'
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
It is unfortunate that the verses that
introduce this event have been lopped off by the framers of the
lectionary. In the preceding verses we
see the central belief, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the reaction
of two parties. The Sadducees were the
traditionalists and did not believe in such a resurrection, while the Pharisees
did believe in such a resurrection. The
early Christians stand in the middle.
While this is the response to healing story, the focus is on Jesus, who
has been raised. This is attested to in
a sermon that Peter preaches in which he announces the Good News in the
apostolic teaching, “whom God raised from the dead”. Peter takes the quotation from Psalm 118 to
make his point. At the conclusion he
drives a wedge between those for whom this good news had been intended, and the
news itself, which will no go to the “nations”, the gentiles.
Breaking
open Acts:
- How
or why might a cornerstone be rejected?
- Why
does Peter make the comparison between this stone and Jesus?
- What
kind of claim in Peter making about “the name?”
Psalm 23 Dominus regit me
The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no
evil; *
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
*
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The notion that a ruler or a god could be
described as a shepherd was not uncommon in the ancient near east. In this psalm, however, the author goes
deeply into the metaphor to describe what such an association really
means. All of the notions of comfort,
food, and security are closely aligned with the vocabulary and reality of sheep
tending. The degrees of tenderness and
care multiply, often beyond the means of a shepherd. “He revives my soul, “ literally means that
breath or life is blown back into the individual, saving them from death. Soon we, the reader, begin to identify with
the shepherd’s care as we are led in spite of “death’s shadow”. The anointment with oil has sacramental or
healing overtones for us, but the Hebrew is really speaking about something
that is indicative of a happy life – well-oiled hair, good food, and wine. Although the final verse has heavenly
associations, the house of the Lord,
forever, the Hebrew is more reflective of the here and now. Alter translates the last verset as “And I
shall dwell in the house of the Lord for many long days.”
Breaking
open Psalm 23
- What
memories does this psalm conjure up for you?
- What
do you think that it meant to the people of ancient Israel?
- What
does it mean for you as a Christian?
1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought
to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who
has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses
help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and
action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure
our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than
our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because
we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his
Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who
obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know
that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
John continues
his arguments about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and begins this
pericope with a high standard; “he laid down his life for us.” What follows then is a logical construct from
this first proposition, namely, we ought to lay down our lives for others. John then recasts the summation of the law
(love the Lord your God with all your heart, etc.”), in these two propositions
– believe in the name, and love one another.
These are the commandments that form a home for our presence with God,
and God’s presence with us. The final
verse mentions the Spirit, to which he alludes in 2:20 and 27, and 3:9, but
these are oblique. This reference is the
first clear reference in the epistle.
Breaking
open I John
- What
does it mean for you that someone should lay down a life for another?
- Can
you think of some outstanding examples?
- Could
you do it?
John 10:11-18
Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the
shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep
and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand
runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I
know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that
do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my
voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my
Father."
This section is composed of stories or
sayings that comment on “sight” and “blindness” and is a preceded by a healing
story in which a blind man is given his sight, and the opportunity to make a
witness to the one who has healed him, thus contrasting the sight of the former
blind man with the blindness of the Pharisees.
Here Jesus talks about himself in two guises, that of the Shepherd
(today’s reading) and that of the Gate (see verse 7). Here he will contrast himself with those who
were called to be shepherds of Israel, and who have failed.
As in the epistle reading, the supreme
benchmark of laying down one’s life is held up as the model. The shepherd gives his life for the sheep in
contrast to “the hired hand” (read Pharisees).
There is commentary also on the relationship of sheep and shepherd, and
by inference, of people and God, and Jesus and the Father. It is a relationship that is bound up in the
word “to know”. There is an intimacy between the Father and the Son, and an
equal intimacy between sheep and shepherd.
They hear the voice and know it (remember, the contrast between sight
and blindness earlier). There are also
the “other sheep”, people outside the sheepfold of Israel, a reference to the
Gentiles. Finally there is the
selflessness of this relationship. Were
a shepherd to die for his sheep, it would be a voluntary act of defense and
protection for them. The independence of
these acts is punctuated in the comment, “and I have the power to take it up
again.”
Breaking open the Gospel:
- How
much zeal do you have when a pet is missing or is lost?
- How
well do you know your pet? Does it
know you?
- What
do you think Jesus’ point is here?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good
shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy
Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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