Dear Faith Family,
"This figure of speech [allegory] Jesus used with them,
but they did not understand what he was saying to them."
(John 10:6)
If you have ever wanted for clarity after reading Jesus's words, you're not alone! Whether read or heard, Jesus's words often require time and reflection, what the psalmist calls meditation, to unravel in our minds and unravel our hearts.
Sometimes, Jesus helps start the unraveling by pulling back the layers as he does with the Parable of the Sower in Matthew's gospel (13:1-30). Other times, as in the case of Jesus' "wayside saying" or allegory in John's gospel (10:1-9), rather than unraveling the mystery, Jesus' elaboration invites us to get more entangled in its imagery and its context.
When we think of Jesus's imagery in John 10, the image of "the Good Shepherd" (10:11) first comes to mind. Open your Bible, and you'll probably find this image as the section title for the entire chapter. Jesus being the Good Shepherd is of great significance for our life of faith, so it is no wonder it is featured so promately. Still, the image Jesus uses leading up to the famed description also significantly influences how we live our lives of faith in Him with others.
As we discussed on Sunday, the image of a "sheepfold" with a singular "door" or gate into which sheep of multiple flocks are led for set periods to receive care, comfort, and protection and led out again into their daily life in the pasture by recognizable shepherds (10:1-5), is an image of Church. So, when Jesus expands on his depiction in verses 7-9, he invites us to see His role in bringing us together and our responsibility to one another, whether sheep or sheepy shepherds.
So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the door of the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I AM the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
(John 10:7-9)
Jesus is our way into life together ("the sheepfold") and into life itself (the "pasture"). As we all know, we need trusted others to accompany us and lead us into rest and work as we follow the Good Shepherd. In some ways, that is the very definition of the Church: those gathered together through Jesus, walking together as they follow Jesus into everyday life.
In this life together, we need trusted others, both approved shepherds to whom "the gatekeeper opens" (10:3) and other sheep who have been around long enough to distinguish the motives and voices of those calling us to follow. As Jesus tells us, it is inside the sheepfold where we'll encounter those who want something from the sheep, not something for them ("thieves and robbers"). Likewise, along the way of living, we'll run into "strangers," ones whose intentions we don't immediately recognize. Because this is the reality of our life as the Church, God's gathered flock, the implication is that we should be discerning sheep. In fact, Jesus presumes that we can and will be,
"A stranger they will not follow...the sheep did not listen to them [thieves and robbers]."
(John 10:5,8)
Perhaps unlike any time in history, we sheep of Jesus' flock are bombarded by a cacophony of voices vying for us to follow them. Are we discerning? Do we recognize how they come into our lives and our life together? Is it through Jesus, his words, his ways, his Spirit? Do we know them and what they want for us, or if they only want something from us? Can we see where they are going because they have walked with us and are walking the Way before us?
Jesus presumes that together, we'll be able to recognize who leads us through Him and who doesn't. So, what voices are you following and encouraging your fellow sheep to follow or flee from?
"...blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear."
(Matthew 13:16)
Love you, faith family! God bless.