4th Sunday of Lent (March 15). I am the good shepherd

Prepare to Listen.  The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  (Psalm 27:1)
 
Prayerfully Read John 10:11-18
11“I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.  14I am the good shepherd.  I know my own, and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.  And I lay down my life for the sheep.  16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.  17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.  I have received this command from my Father.”
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Shepherd is a metaphor for king.  Thus, Jesus claimed to be king.  He also claimed to possess three distinctive marks of a good king/ruler.
 
The first, and perhaps most important mark is laying down his life for the sheep. Five times in a few verses he said he’d lay down his life for his sheep.  Personal profit isn’t his goal.  The good of the sheep.  That’s what makes him good, as in, ‘noble’ or ‘beautiful.’  Good implies a contrast with bad, whereas noble or beautiful emphasizes “the sheer attractiveness of what, as the shepherd, he was doing,” highlighting the “compelling power of his love.”[1]
 
A second mark: Jesus knows his sheep in the same intimate way he knows the father.  The relationship between Jesus and the father is the basis for all that Jesus is and does.  His relationship with his sheep is as real and deep as his relationship with the father.  “The bond of trust and love which ties together the shepherd and the sheep is the same bond that links the father and son.”[2]
 
The third mark is inclusivity.  There are “other sheep” (Gentiles) not yet in this fold (Israel) that must be brought in, making one flock under one shepherd.  Since Gentiles were their enemies, this was shocking to Jews.  But not Jesus.  He includes them.  Still does so today.
 
In your community, who might the ‘other sheep’ be, those we avoid, fear, treat as enemies.  How can you mirror the all-inclusive love of Christ to them so that they are welcomed and known?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Shepherd of all, you laid down your life for all your sheep, revealing your love and power.  Lead us in ways that reflect your gracious rule to the world as we offer our lives in love for you and our neighbors.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Mirror Jesus’ compelling love to your ‘enemies.’
[1] Wright, N. T. John for Everyone Part I.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2023, p. 109.
[2] Ibid.