«I am the Gate of the sheep»

(Jn 10:1-10)

In the pastures, during the night the sheep were penned in stone pens on a slope and the shepherds (in turn) stood in defence of the flock by huddling in the position of the doorway at the bottom, armed with sticks, as if it were a door, impassable to thieves and predators.

The custom of life enabled the flock - even of different owners - to recognise the typical call and voice of the corresponding shepherd. He not infrequently designated each one with an individual nickname (unrepeatable according to character).

In Jerusalem, the great Gates of the city were opened in the morning and closed at sunset. They were fundamental points of urban social life, obligatory passages to enter and exit the walls.

After decades of deportation, the end of the Babylonian empire and the edict of Cyrus, the Sheep Gate was the first to be restored and the only one consecrated, because through it flowed the herds to be sacrificed to the Temple.

Because of the social paralysis and alienation of the wretched, the motto 'restoring communion with God' - the criterion for the rebuilding of the Temple and the Holy City - meant for Jesus to take a different point of view.

He takes a stand and explicitly denounces the degradation of the true flock sacrificed to the interest and logic of the official religious institution, which is not interested in people's happiness but only in defending privileges.

The spiritual leaders of the ancient pious life were willing to do anything to secure their usual economic status, as well as visibility, prestige, protection of property and various securities.

Jn 5:2 indicates a pool with five porticoes along which the sick were laid "by the Sheep Gate". Wretches who due to supposed impurity did not have access to the Temple but were laid there awaiting a miracle.

According to the Lord, it is the institution that has to serve the sick and needy, instead of oppressing them through harassment and humbug, sweetened with impressive scripts.

He is the Shepherd who walks ahead (v.4); he does not hide behind the scenes: he risks himself. He does not come to take, but to give in abundance. For God seeks his people in penury.

His is a Calling by Name (v.3): he respects personal identity, he does not impose abstract or unbearable rhythms, he does not force timing; he assesses each person's condition.

For the authentic Shepherd, there are no anonymous crowds - to be milked, sheared, and directed down to the last detail. It is He who puts His face and pays.

So he does not enclose within the ancient sacred fences (v.1 Greek text) where mass obsessions lurk. Fences equipped with guardians and gendarmes, where one is homologated - and the sensitive soul no longer breathes, seized by opportunists, thieves and bandits (v.8).

From his Door we can go out (vv.3-9). On the contrary, it is He who forces us to overcome them (v.3 Greek text).

Does it seem unbelievable? It is the more of Faith: animated by the Spirit, believing that nothing escapes God's grasp.

In synergy with the inner Friend, every authentic Guide leads to a different richness, more substantial pastures, unexpected amazements.

The true Shepherd compels us to make an Exodus, pushing us (forcefully) out of the narrow sheepfolds - bounded and installed; interventionist or overflowing with sophistication, businessmen and faux-devotees - that we must now pass over.

For a new Birth, an ever new Encounter, a more significant experience of abundant and indestructible Life (v.10): that unheard of God totally other and totally near.

The leaders had an attitude of rejection of Jesus and the people. Strangers and greedy, they did not call people by name.

Instead, the authority of Christ is in service and for the life of the sick - in concern for the welfare of the people.

In the Lord's view, the authority of official leaders was not legitimate: because it was made up of climbing and ruthlessness, based on an interpretation of codes that did not liberate people but made them subservient - pigeonholed and incapable of reinventing themselves.

Their pursuit of advantage conflicted with the interests of the dispossessed, kept far away and in the fence. Jesus, on the other hand, makes himself a Gate, that is, a legitimate shepherd, who cares for the flock and knows it intimately.

He feels it to be His, and He comes not to serve and profit from it, but to make them happy - having a loving knowledge of each one. He is not a shepherd-king, but a life-giving shepherd.

The authoritativeness of the guide is corroborated both by the direct knowledge of the "gatekeeper-keeper" (v.3) and by that of the people, who recognise his Word, and follow him - driven by that call as by a tremor within.

Throughout the complex redaction of the Fourth Gospel, many believers had by then abandoned obedience to the law (as expounded by the rabbis): the old masters were no longer followed as before.

E.g. The man born blind does not accept the opinion of the albeit popular religious leaders (Jn 9) who accused the Master of being a sinner (v.24). Thus he embarks on a progressive journey of awareness and emancipation.

Christ emphasises the authority he has over the people, presenting himself with the non-transitory formula "I Am" [filled with eminent and profound resonances].

And bringing this expression up to date, he clarifies it with the metaphor of the Door - not so much to close it, but first of all to open it wide and let it pass.

In this way and unlike the old guides, the little flock follows him not out of fear or calculation, as they would an inflexible master, but spontaneously.

By taking into account the presence of obstacles (without which one does not grow) on the journey, even a frantic one, we will experience the invisible Friend as the Master of clarity, decision, constancy, flexibility, introspection.

Recognised in the unknown face within each one of us, we will be made closely aware, motivated and free - so that we are rendered to life.