John 10:22-30
Fourth Sunday of Easter April 17, 2016
It is the fourth Sunday of Easter, and so, as it is every year, today is “Good Shepherd Sunday.” It’s named that because that imagery is in our readings. Jesus, in our reading from John, tells us that we are his sheep, and so implicitly, he is our shepherd. We even say “The Lord is my shepherd.” So, today is “Good Shepherd Sunday”—again. The same as it was on the Fourth Sunday of Easter last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. Every year, we are reminded that we are like sheep. Sheep are known for being smelly and not very bright, and they need to be fleeced at least once a year.[1] I bet the wedding Pastor Ballentine is attending was scheduled for this weekend specifically so that he didn’t have to preach on these texts, again. I don’t have a personal relationship with any sheep. The only sheep I know are the ones in the field of Colonial Williamsburg and the ones who want you to buy that mattress. Personally, I don’t know any shepherds either. Do you? There must be more to this sheep/shepherd analogy.
Jesus, our good shepherd, is in Jerusalem during the time of the Festival of Dedication, which is another way of saying this encounter took place during Hanukkah. “Hanukkah” translates as “renewal.” It’s Israel’s celebration of the re-consecration during the second century BCE of the Jerusalem Temple which had been destroyed. It’s a perfect time for Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, who himself is the New Temple, to talk with the people about their consecration and their renewal.
It is winter, and Jesus seeks protection in the massive temple walls from the winter cold.[2] Jewish people stop him in his tracks and surround him. “Are you the Messiah? Yes or no? Tell us plainly!” Jesus doesn’t give a direct answer. Jesus almost never gives a direct answer! “Jesus always gives just enough of himself to make faith possible, and yet he also always hides just enough of himself to make faith necessary.”[3] “Are you the Messiah?” is a loaded question! Politically speaking, this is a dangerous affirmation for Jesus to make. Religiously, how would this be understood?
In answering their question, Jesus uses the shepherd and the sheep analogy. Shepherds watch out to make certain that no wolves devour them, that they are fed, and that they don’t wander away. In other words, shepherds provide security for their sheep. How does this translate into today’s relationships? Who do we look to for security? Who do you trust to watch out for you? Would that be your stockbroker or your banker? Maybe that person is your physician. Perhaps your life partner, family or friends, or maybe even your dog make you feel safe. Maybe you find security in things, such as your home or your bank account. Insurance companies’ advertisements aim toward making us feel secure. Just say, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there,” and immediately your agent pops us next to you. Or another insurance company holds you and your house in their giant hands.
Here’s the thing—their hands are not wounded. Their hands do not bear the scars that Jesus’ do. The wounds that are on the resurrected Christ’s hands show that our shepherd has fought wolves for us and won.
While we need family, friends, financial savings and medical insurance, their security and their protection is limited. Even with good people and good institutions, we struggle to be secure. Two weeks ago, April 4, was the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Thirty-eight years later we still witness racial discrimination. This past Saturday was the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, and we are still working to help those with mental illness and also to protect the public. I remember that morning nine years ago when my daughter called, telling me of the campus lock-down, the fear and confusion. Her lab partner and 2 of her classmates were killed. Upon graduation, she began working with the families, and plans the remembrances. April 16 is a difficult day.
It’s been a stressful and long week for me, but in the words of Paul Reier’s FaceBook page, no one had had to bail me out of jail. I know from being among you that it has for you, too. Some of our high school students are worrying about college, and college students are wondering if there will be jobs for them when they graduate. People I visit in the hospital are worried not only about recovering, but also about declining physical health. There are those grieving the recent death of someone they love, and those who still can’t adjust to life without their loved one. There are people among us who worry about paying rent, and doctors, and car expenses.
We worry about our security. We worry about our job safety, and our physical and personal safety. We have good people in our lives, but with whom do you feel 100% safe and secure? Safe with your dreams, your grief, your celebrations, your hopes, your fears, your needs and your life? With whom can you trust your expectations from and for life?
This would be a savior! Jesus tells those who are with him at the temple, and us, who the Messiah really is, the Son who, being one with the Father, is the Giver of Eternal Life.[4] Our savior is not our banker, our physical trainer, or even our partner. Our Messiah is the one who holds in his wounded hands our grief, our loneliness, our fears, our spirit, and our lives. Our savior is the one who is the one who knows every fiber of our being, who knows our hearts and souls. Jesus, our good shepherd, knows the truth of who we are–sheep, smelly and not too bright–and yet still loves us. When our lives seem crazy, lonely, scary or difficult, Jesus, the one who is both the Shepherd and the Lamb, holds onto us even tighter.
“No one will snatch [you] out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”[5] This is God’s promise to us. Our lives do not depend upon our hold on Jesus, but rather on Jesus’ hold of us. We are Easter people, joined forever to Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. Through both life and death, he holds on to us with wounded hands, and will never let us go.
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] After this sermon was preached, someone reminded me that our Federal taxes are due.
[2] Bruner, Frederick Dale. The Gospel of John: A Commentary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing, 2012. 634-635. Print.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] John 10:28b-30.