Each year on the Fourth Sunday of Easter we read part of Jesus’ “Good Shepherd” discourse, given in the tenth Chapter of St. John’s Gospel. Jesus first calls himself the Gate of the sheep fold, and then, immediately following the passage we have just heard, the Good Shepherd of the sheep. So each year the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the current Calendar is called Good Shepherd Sunday.
The context in St. John’s Gospel is sharply polemical. This rather serene-sounding discourse immediately follows Chapter 9, where Jesus gives sight to a man born blind. That Chapter ends with very harsh words about those, and especially those in a position of religious leadership in Israel, who refuse to believe in him, though culpable moral blindness.
In such circumstances, Jesus calling himself the Good Shepherd would have been like waving a red rag to a bull. In Old Testament language, well understood by his audience, such a title amounts to a claim to be King of Israel, Son of David and therefore Messiah. Even more than that, we can see here a claim to be the Lord God, who is often called the Shepherd of Israel (cf. e.g. Jer 23:3; 31:10; 50:19; Ezk 34:11; Ps 22/23:1; 27/28:9; 76/77:21; 77/78:52; 79/80:1).
“I am the Gate of the sheep fold” (10:7). This claim also offers a stark challenge to all who hear it, because it is exclusive. Jesus does not say he’s an optional but useful help for anyone who wants to be faithful to God’s covenant with Israel. He does not suggest that anyone who wants to live in friendship with God could do worse than follow him. He says he’s the only way to God there is. Worse: he says that anyone trying any other way is a thief and robber.
The Pharisees knew perfectly well that even Moses never made claims like this. They rightly discerned that Jesus is here claiming to be much greater than Moses. So they concluded he must be a terrible blasphemer. Modern secularists like the words of Jesus no better than the Pharisees did, because it’s impossible to reconcile them with any idea that all religions are (more or less) the same, with one (more or less) as good as another. So they too conclude that Jesus must be an enemy.
But for us, who believe that Jesus speaks the truth, these are words of life. Of course there is no other way to God than through him, and through his death and resurrection. These words of his come not from arrogance but from infinite love. They do not narrow down the path of salvation, but precisely open it up, limitlessly, for all who are willing to take it. The gateway that is Jesus is not closed. It’s wide open for anyone at all who wishes to pass through it. Jesus opens for us a way to God that without him would be inconceivable. He leads us, guides us, shepherds us to our true and lasting home, to God. Later in this discourse he will say:
I know my own, and my own know me: just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father (10:14).
So the unimaginably close relationship that Jesus enjoys with his Father will be reflected in our relationship with him, and through him with one another, and with God. It is as he will say later at the Last Supper: May they all be one, just as you are in me and I in you, so may they be in us... May the love with which you have loved me be in them, and may I be in them (17:21,26).
If anyone were to say that Jesus here claims too much for himself, we respond that he proved his words - he proved his goodness and love - by laying down his life for us; pouring it all out on the Cross for our sake; pouring it all out so that we might have life, and have it abundantly (10:10).
In all this discourse Jesus never speaks of a succession. And of course Jesus himself always remains our Shepherd, and he always takes personal care of each of us. But according to the sacramental principle, after the Ascension he mediates to us his saving work, including his ministry of Shepherd, through efficacious signs. So he shepherds us through earthly shepherds - the Apostles and their successors. As he says to Peter three times at the end of this Gospel: if you love me, feed my sheep.
We need these pastors: living human beings who have the authority to speak and act in Christ’s name. We need them to preach his word; to celebrate and administer the Sacraments; to teach in his name; to catechise the young, visit the sick, bring back the lapsed, encourage the devout, give relief to the poor. Without all that activity, Christianity would be reduced to an idea, a notion, rather than what it must be, a living reality.
You see all that very concretely in a Benedictine monastery: it lives under a Rule and an Abbot. Without the living Abbot, no truly Benedictine life is possible, and the Rule remains a dead letter. So in the Church. For Rule we have the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. For Abbot we have the Pope and Bishops in communion with him, and as co-workers of the Bishops, the parish priests also.
Those who hold the office of Pastor are living signs of the Lord’s care for his sheep. We know we are in his sheep fold, and not that of another, because of our union with them. Our chief shepherd on earth just now is Pope Francis, and no one else; and in our Aberdeen diocese today, our Bishop is Hugh, of our Order, and no one else. We know there are lots of Christians who don’t recognise these pastors. We rejoice that they share our faith in Jesus, but we grieve that they are not in communion with us: that the communion of the Church is diminished or wounded by their absence.
We are all very aware that Pastors can be unworthy. One who betrays such trust placed in him causes terrible harm. On the other hand, a truly holy Pastor has immense power for good. We believe that each is given a special grace to enable him to fulfil the office he has been given, however superhuman the task seems to be.
So today we pray for our pastors, aware of how much they need our prayers. We pray for them amid their many difficulties and trials; we pray for them amid their temptations; we pray that they truly draw all their life and inspiration from Christ the one true Shepherd; we pray that they become holy, and find joy and spiritual consolation in the performance of their ministry. We also pray for many young men to come forward to offer themselves for this vocation: lest the Church in our land wither away and die, for lack of effective leadership, and of authentic spiritual nourishment.