September 11, 2001, the Pentagon was slammed by a hijacked airliner. People were trapped in the flaming building. A police officer ran inside and kept repeating in the darkness, “Follow my voice.” Six people did. They owe their lives to that voice.
This parable has lost impact in our urban society. A city kid in a college Scripture class told his professor, “I don’t get any kicks being called a sheep. They’re stupid and are led around.” A farm boy didn’t buy it: “I’ve seen a herd of sheep running wild. And could they move! If my father hadn’t called to them and corralled them, they would have torn up our whole place.” The city boy stayed quiet. To control sheep the shepherd must be Superman. City slickers need not apply.
I was traveling through the Holy Land. I saw a shepherd with his large flock. I checked him out. Neither of us could speak the other’s language. We didn’t have to really. He was all muscle. The staff he was carrying in his hand would make a serious impression on my head. I felt like the 100 pound weakling that everyone kicks sand on at the beach. If there was going to be trouble, I wanted him on my side. Better, I would be standing right behind him.
God’s image as Shepherd did not originate with Jesus. It preceded Him by centuries. One finds the figure of speech strewn throughout the Old Testament like a common pebble. You will discover it in the Books of Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezechiel, and Jeremiah for openers. And don’t forget the celebrated 23rd Psalm which is our Responsorial Psalm today: “The Lord is my shepherd.” The early Christians enjoyed the shepherd analogy. Matthew
and Luke as well as today’s John applied it often to their Leader. Among the earliest pictures, perhaps the earliest, we find of Christ on catacomb walls is the young Jesus dressed as a shepherd with a sheep over His shoulders. It remains ever popular.
St Augustine used the shepherd analogy for the apostles themselves in the fifth century in The City of God: “The first holy men were shepherds.”
A lot of us feel boxed in by life. We are unwilling characters in a nihilistic Jean-Paul Sartre drama. Our options we tell ourselves are limited. There is no way out. Consequently clinical depression is becoming an increasing phenomenon among us. Along comes Jesus the Shepherd to tell us, “I am the gate.” In another spot, He repeats the point, “I have opened a gate in front of you.” If we are as sharp as we say, we will use the Shepherd as the way to make our break-out into green Elysian fields. We will run through His gate, bang it behind us, and never look back. (Joseph Donders)
Secondly, shepherds know their sheep by name as John tells us today. Marry that thought to the scriptural report that God writes the names of each one in the palm of His hand. Imagine your name on the lips of God Himself in His role as the Shepherd as He calls to you. If I am going to be anybody’s sheep, then let it be Christ’s, a certified 2000 year old winner. I do not wish to be forever a nine digit number that can only be traced by a Big Brother computer. I want a Christ who knows my name, my features, and my requirements better than the back of His hand. The sweetest sound in the world, said the monk, is the sound of your own name. Compare that to the guy who says to you for the fourth time, “Sorry, but I forget your name again.” (Donders)
I buy into the Good Shepherd analogy. I need a strong pull in the right direction. I’ve been dumber than many sheep. There have even been occasions when I wish I had that ring right through my nose. I wish Jesus had been pulling it. I need to hear His strong voice I need a shepherd to lead me. Unhappily I need one who will even kick me in the tail. I don’t need a general barking orders and staying behind the battle line.
Conscience is the e-mail your head gets from the Shepherd, saying to you, “Follow my voice. You have nothing to lose but your sins.” (Billy Graham) So, the Lamb who died to save us is also the Shepherd who lives to lead us. Christianity remains the religion of the incredible, the religion of the astonishing, the religion of the breathtaking. (Unknown)
Incidentally, a friend said to me, “Someone told you about the Good Shepherd. Have you told anyone lately?” I have. I’ve just told you. But have you?