Apr 15, 2024 Written by 
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4th Easter Sunday

4th Easter Sunday

(Jn 10:11-18)

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:12 The hireling, however, who is not a shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and runs away, and the wolf seizes them and scatters them;

John 10:13 he is a hireling and does not care for the sheep.

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and my sheep know me,

John 10:15 As the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; These also I must lead; They shall hear my voice, and become one flock, and one shepherd.

John 10:17 For this is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life, and then take it up again.

John 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I offer it of myself, for I have power to offer it and power to take it back again. This command I have received from my Father".

 

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep". The fullness of life that the sheep enjoy is not inherent in them, but is a gift that comes from the very life of the Shepherd, who offers it to them. Implicit in this offering is the sense of sacrifice lived as a mission spent on behalf of the sheep. The figure of the Shepherd is qualified as 'kalos', which literally means 'beautiful'; but when this 'kalos' is aimed at a specific purpose, it also takes on the meaning of 'good'. The attribute that qualifies this Shepherd as 'good' rather than 'beautiful' thus underlines the meaning of his working and spending himself on behalf of the sheep.

This is the greatest truth in history. For the sheep, the Shepherd consumes himself, gives all of himself, spares himself in nothing. This is its truth. This is its beauty. This is his goodness. The whole life of Jesus testifies and certifies this truth.

The text then presents another figure: the 'hireling', who 'is not a shepherd'. Two terms that indicate all those who devote themselves to community life motivated not by a spirit of service, but for reasons unrelated to it or for personal gain. Their mercenary and indifferent nature to the sheep comes to light in the moment of trial, when the wolf comes.

The sheep do not belong to the hireling, they do not belong to him. The moment he sees the wolf coming, the sheep no longer matter to him. He abandons them and flees, leaving the sheep at the mercy of the wolf, who kidnaps and scatters them. This man thinks only of his life. Having saved his life, everything is saved for him, even if all the sheep are lost. He certainly does not risk his life for what he does not consider to be his own. One cannot be a shepherd of God's flock for shameful interest, for vile money. The mercenary, however, only knows how to work in this way: profit is the sole purpose and interest of his life. Gratuity, on the other hand, belongs to God and to all those who want to work holily in his fold. Gratuitousness is the strength of the credibility of the gospel.

The shepherd knows his sheep; the sheep recognise his voice. Shepherd and sheep are united by a common knowledge, which in biblical language is synonymous with an intimate experience that interpenetrates the two in a profound communion of life, which has its benchmark of comparison in that which binds Jesus to the Father. However, here we are not dealing with a simple comparison between two types of relationship in which the former is in some way modelled on the latter, but because of the nature of the relationship that binds the Father to the Son and the profound communion of the Two, it becomes inescapable that the relationship that the Son has with the sheep reproduces, by its very nature, that of the Father-Son. There is therefore no imitation, but extension of the divine relationship to that which Jesus holds with the sheep.

How this extension of divine life can be realised is indicated: "I offer my life for the sheep"; and as an offering, it is sacrificial. But we are confronted with a life that on the one hand is offered sacrificially, yet on the other hand it is taken up (v. 17). This addition qualifies this life as divine life since, although passing through the experience of death, it never ceases to exist. In fact, dying is proper to man, but not to God, who although passing through the experience of death in Jesus, nevertheless returns to life because death cannot extinguish the life of God.

Significant in this context is the adverb 'palin' ('again', v. 17) attributed to the Shepherd's ability to self-generate back to life, thus indicating him as an inexhaustible source of life, continually self-generating, thus configuring him as 'the Lord of life'. The offering of one's life is therefore in function of a full and definitive life that is passed on.

At the time of Jesus, the sheepfold was the children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham. Throughout the Old Testament, only the descendants of Abraham were considered sheep of the Lord, his fold. However, the universal perspective was always present in God's revelation, especially through the prophets. Jesus' first sheep are all drawn from the fold of Israel. Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, the other disciples, the entire first community, the newly conceived and born Church, are all from the fold of the children of Israel. These, however, are not all his sheep. There are the sheep that come from the Nations, the Pagans, the Gentiles. These sheep, too, Jesus must lead. They too must listen to his voice and join those in the fold and become one flock and one shepherd. One is the fold. One is the flock. One is the Shepherd. One is the voice to be heard.  

 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 

(Buyable on Amazon)

                                                                          

 

79 Last modified on Monday, 15 April 2024 16:05
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Argentino Quintavalle

Argentino Quintavalle è studioso biblico ed esperto in Protestantesimo e Giudaismo. Autore del libro “Apocalisse - commento esegetico” (disponibile su Amazon) e specializzato in catechesi per protestanti che desiderano tornare nella Chiesa Cattolica.

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