The Fourth Sunday of Easter
“I am the Good Shepherd.”
“The Lord is my shepherd.”
How do you see Jesus? What is the image of Christ you carry in your mind?
One of my favourite images of Christ is Aslan, the Lion of C S Lewis’ Narnia. Magnificent and glorious, he is a compelling biblical image of Christ – taken from the Book of Revelation.
I love the conversation in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe – between the Beavers and the Four children – where they hear about Aslan for the first time.
“Is he — quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe” said Lucy.
“Safe? …who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he is good. He’s the King.”
In Narnia, Aslan is not a tame lion – he is wild. I love that, because I think through the ages we have tamed the Good Shepherd, Christ, the Risen Lord. We have made him safe. But the early church understood the Good Shepherd better than we do today.
Kenneth Bailey in his book The Good Shepherd says that archaeology, ancient Christian literature, art, even embroidery and statuary are surprising. In Roman catacombs, where the first Christian churches were sequestered, are symbols, words, drawings, and colourful frescos. Their subject? Christ the Good Shepherd, often with a lost sheep on his shoulders – and symbols of the Fish, Dove, and Anchor. Rarely, the cross. That was a surprise. The image of the Good Shepherd was deeply held by the ancient church.
Why was the Good Shepherd so central to early Christians? Some suggest it represented the Saviour as reassuring, caring, comforting, laying down his life for the sheep. Though the Good Shepherd is all of these, he is far more than a caring Shepherd.
Jesus’ revelation “I am the Good Shepherd” is placed centrally among all the “I am” sayings of John’s Gospel. It is also placed at the centre of the John’s gospel itself. Commentators acknowledge John’s gospel as a work of “great literary artistry – full of dramatic irony and poetic beauty.” So the placement of this declaration is no accident. It is, in fact, the heart of John’s Gospel and the very core of Christ’s identity and ministry.
I love John’s gospel – it is cosmic and other-worldly. To me it is the most mysterious and compelling of the four gospels. The other gospels focus on Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. But the majestic opening words of John’s Prologue – “In the Beginning was the Word” – point us to a cosmic story. This is a drama played out between heaven and earth, between Christ as God, and humans shocked by who He is. John contains the most startling pronouncements of Christ: seven shocking “I AM”s. I am the Bread of Life; I am the Light of the World; I am the Door; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the Resurrection and the Life; I am the Way the Truth and the Life; and I am the Vine. They cannot be ignored. As C. S. Lewis said, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”
You can imagine how shocking these words were at the time. They were no easier to accept then than they are now. For the Jews, hearing Jesus describe himself as the Good Shepherd was scandalous – they knew their Old Testament. They knew what he meant.
The Old Testament had shepherds watching over sheep in the field. But the word Shepherd also was a metaphor used in three specific ways. For Rulers and Kings. For the coming Messiah. For God himself.
Listening Jews heard these echoes.
They knew the prophecies of the expected Messiah carried the Shepherd metaphor. As the Prophet Micah put it, one would come from Bethlehem, a Shepherd, “to rule in Israel… who would feed his flock.”
They knew their Bible’s Shepherd Metaphor referred to Kings or Rulers. Walter Brueggemann tells us that in the Old Testament “the term shepherd is political.” Another possible reading for today is from the book of Ezekiel. God’s anger blazes: “Ah, you Shepherds of Israel… Should not shepherds feed the sheep? …You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.” God then proclaims that He would be Israel’s Shepherd instead. Ezekiel’s words sum up Jesus’ ministry. He was living the life of the Good Shepherd. And the Jews were seeing it for themselves.
Finally, they knew the Shepherd metaphor pointed to God himself. YHWH, the LORD, was their Shepherd. As Psalm 23 says, they were the sheep of His pasture, and He tends his flock like a Shepherd.
I encourage you – read John Chapters 9 and 10, where Jesus’ revelation that he was the Good Shepherd is the climax of the drama of the healing of a man born blind. Chapter 9 tells of the healing and the furious exchanges between the Pharisees, Jews and the healed man. It asks: is Jesus a prophet? Is he from God? Is he the Messiah?
The healed man points out, “If he were not from God, he could do nothing.” When Jesus announces he is the Good Shepherd, some Jews are appalled – incandescent with rage. He has a demon, they say! When they challenge Jesus, they are horrified by his culminating statement: “The Father and I are one.” They pick up stones to stone him: “You are making yourself God!”
Jesus was declaring himself God – the Good Shepherd. In effect, he was pointing to himself as Messiah; Ruler and King; God. He and the Father are one. This is the central declaration of John’s gospel. Through his life as a Shepherd of the people and his startling words, Jesus reveals himself as the Good Shepherd.
The Good shepherd is The Word made Flesh. He lives among us. We have seen his glory as of the Father’s son. He is God in the World. All this is contained in his proclamation that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. No wonder this was the central image of the early church!
But how do we respond to Christ, the Good Shepherd – God, King and Messiah.
The Psalmist writes: “The Lord is my Shepherd” These words are much loved. They echo our deep needs. We need restoration for our souls, need to lie down in green pastures, need to be led beside still waters. The world recognises the Valley of the Shadow of Death – the dark valley – as it stumbles through the darkness of the past year. The need to live without fear and anxiety is deep within us. But we know that God, the Good Shepherd, walks with us through the darkness of our world. The Shepherd has walked with me – a palpable presence, a blazing light in times of darkness.
“I am the Good Shepherd” is not just a soothing idea of Jesus who cares for us. It encapsulates the core of who He is. God, in Christ, forging a relationship with humans. As Jesus describes it, we recognise his voice and follow him.
Walter Brueggemann reminds us that the “Shepherd” meant “King, Sovereign, Lord, Authority, the One who directs, the One to whom I am answerable.” In declaring “the Lord is my Shepherd” we declare our allegiance to Christ – and his Kingdom. We assent to live under his governance. To follow him. To obey.
Jesus is not “safe” or tame – He is God! The One was and is from the beginning of time. So I want to leave you with a blazing picture of Christ – Aslan from C S Lewis – which reminds us that the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life, is the resurrected, powerful, compelling One:
“They turned and saw the Lion himself, so bright, and real and strong, that everything else began at once to look pale and shadowy compared to him.”
This LORD is our Shepherd.