The good shepherd
1 Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2 But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate.
3 The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.
5 A stranger they will not follow, rather they will run away from him because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice.”
6 Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep.
8 All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food.
10 The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
12 Not so the hired hand or any other person who is not the shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong. They abandon the sheep as soon as they see the wolf coming; then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep.
13 This is because the hired hand works for pay and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father. Because of this I give my life for my sheep.
16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. These I have to lead as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock since there is one Shepherd.
17 The Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down freely. It is mine to lay down and to take up again: this mission I received from my Father.”
19 Because of these words, the Jews were divided again.
20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “One possessed doesn’t speak in this way. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Jesus claims to be the Son of God
22 The time came for the feast of the Dedication. It was winter
23 and Jesus walked back and forth in the portico of Solomon.
24 The Jews then gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I have already told you but you do not believe.
26 The works I do in my Father’s name proclaim who I am, but you don’t believe because, as I said, you are not my sheep.
27 My sheep hear my voice and I know them; they follow me
28 and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish and no one will ever steal them from me.
29 What the Father has given me is above everything else and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
31 The Jews then picked up stones to throw at him;
32 so Jesus said, “I have openly done many good works among you which the Father gave me to do. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 The Jews answered, “We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for insulting God; you are only a man and you make yourself God.”
34 Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your Law: I said: you are gods?
35 So those who received this word of God were called gods and the Scripture is always true.
36 Then what should be said of the one anointed and sent into the world by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say: ‘I am the Son of God’?
37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me.
38 But if I do them, even if you have no faith in me, believe because of the works I do, and know that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”
39 Again they tried to arrest him, but Jesus escaped from their hands.
40 He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had bap tized, and there he stayed.
41 Many people came to him and said, “John showed no miraculous signs, but he spoke of this man and ev erything he said was true.”
42 And many became believers in that place.
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Comments , Chapter 10
• 10.1 COUNTRY WITHOUT FRONTIERS
Thanks to the parable of Jesus, we can imagine one of those sheepfolds in which the flocks of various shepherds are gathered together for the night under the vigilance of one caretaker. At dawn, each calls his sheep and leads them out.
The Bible foretold the day in which God would come to gather together the dispersed sheep of his people, so that they would live in their land. Jesus is the Shepherd and he has come to accomplish what was announced, but he will not do it in the expected way. The Jews thought that the Shepherd would revive their for mer prosperity: they would again be a privileged nation among other nations.
Jesus says clearly that his people are not to be thought of as identical to the Jewish nation. Those who be lieve, and only they, are his. He will take from among the Jews those who are his; likewise, he will take sheep from other folds as well (v. 16), that is, from among nations other than the Jewish nation. There fore, he will lead them all and will guide this flock – which is not a na tion with land boun daries – to where he knows. The only flock (not the only “fold”, as people say), that is, the only Church, moves freely through history, not confined to any one nation or era of civilization.
The shepherds of the Jewish people thought they could achieve unity by promoting national pride, by maintaining the privileges of the “high er” castes, and by discrimi nat ing against non-Jews. Jesus unites his people solely by attracting them to himself, by letting people experience who he is. All who are attracted to him, recognize his voice and believe his word are his.
People willingly gather around great figures, whether they be leaders or saints. When a people have neither frontiers, arms, language, nor laws to defend themselves against external and internal dissension, the presence of a She pherd or leader is even more essential. Faith in Christ unites us far better than does fidelity to traditions of the past or solidarity with co-religionists. Christ’s people are not a mass; it is nor Humanity with a capital H. They are composed of persons who have begun an adventure with Jesus of mutual trust and love. I know them and they will hear my voice (vv. 14 & 16).
When the Bible speaks of the Shepherd, it usually refers to God himself, the only king of Israel, but sometimes means the King-Messiah sent by God. Jesus spoke of only one shepherd. Though distinct from the Father, he is one with him (v. 30).
In the Bible angels are sometimes called sons of God, and Jesus remarks that the rulers are called gods. Because of this, Jesus did not like to be proclaimed Son of God. He speaks forcefully in saying: the Father is in me and I in the Father: equal to equal (v. 38). At the same time that he stresses his divine power (vv. 15, 18, 29, 38), he also affirms his total de pendence on the Father. In this we recognize God the Son.