Fourth Sunday of Easter: Gospel, John 10:1-10                             

John 10:1-10

The Bible is filled with sheep and shepherds. You simply could not get past that fact if you are reading the Bible with your eyes open. God has a soft spot for both. So much so that He casts Himself in both roles, and also shares them with us. At the beginning of John 10 the issue is “How shall we recognize the real caretaker of the sheep?” Well, He is the one gaining access to the sheep in the proper way under the guise of the gatekeeper. Because of the dullness of His hearers Jesus changes the figure ever so slightly and the second issue put forward is “How can the sheep gain safe access to the true shepherd?” Doors play a part. In the first instance the gatekeeper (the Father) gives access through a safe door and in the second, the true shepherd is also the door.

But in both instances it is a matter of sheep hearing the right voices. John 10 is really about the safety of the sheep to be found in hearing and following the way set out before them by a good Shepherd. Not a thief. Not a hireling. Not one who runs at the first sign of danger leaving the sheep to fend for themselves. But those are clear marks of false teachers. They steal the truth from God’s people. They see their place not as a calling, but a “9 to 5-er" just like any other hack with a job. And when enemies surface, as is always the case when the truth is given out, they don’t stand and fight. Instead they find the quickest exit.

Jesus sums it all up by saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (through destructive, empty words) I came that they (the sheep) may have life and have it abundantly” (v. 10, comments added). Life, divine, indestructible life, comes by hearing true words. Faith comes by hearing, says the dear apostle Paul. Paul was one of the sheep AND a faithful undershepherd. He got it right. He heard the true words of His Shepherd. We would do well to listen up.