Fourth Sunday of Easter

Jan 14 2025

Following the Shepherd

At the end of the day, shepherds would bring their sheep to a common sheep fold, leading them through a gate that was guarded during the night. Shepherds would give names to their sheep and call to them when daylight came, leading them back out to pasture. Because the sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice there was no mix-up with sheep that belonged to others.

The idea that shepherds had a name for each of their sheep brings home the difference between a good shepherd and a stranger. The good shepherd was concerned not only for the flock but for each sheep in it. He knew them and they knew him. “They will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers” (John 10:5).

There are two words in Greek for “good”—agathos and kalos. Agathos refers to moral goodness, as in being a “good person.” Kalos refers to being “good at” something. Certainly Jesus is the Good Shepherd in both senses, but the word used here is kalos, emphasizing his being “good at” shepherding.

Jesus knows his sheep by name, leads them to safety when darkness falls, and returns them to pasture. He was willing to lay down his life for them. Most comforting of all, he came then and comes now so we might have life and have it more abundantly. This image challenges all who have been called to be shepherds in today’s church, to be good shepherds and to be good at shepherding.

Consider/Discuss

What does the image of Jesus as the good shepherd say to you in your life?
What does the promise of “abundant life” mean for you?
Have you come to know the difference between the voice of the good shepherd and the voice of “a stranger”?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, our shepherd, not only cares and searches us out, but he “bore our sins in his body upon the cross so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). We praise the Father for giving us Jesus as “the shepherd and guardian of our souls” and we pray for all who have taken up ministering to God’s people.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

When Peter declares that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ, the people are cut to the heart with remorse. They realize that they put to death the Holy One, God’s anointed. The openness with which they receive Peter’s words of testimony and accusation shows that all of the Jewish people were not hard–hearted, as some have suggested. Peter then exhorts them to repent and be baptized. The promise of which Peter speaks is probably a reference to the promise of the Spirit that was initially made to the ancestors of the people in Peter’s audience. The promise of the Spirit is now made to them.

The author of First Peter claims that when we suffer precisely for having done what is good, we have the example of Christ to follow. Afflicted though innocent, he did not resort to vengeance. The description of the innocent suffering of Christ recalls a passage from one of the Suffering Servant Songs of the prophet Isaiah (53:4–7). This passage also contains the image of the shepherd. It is employed here to indicate that Jesus is the shepherd and his disciples are the sheep. Although at times they wander away from him, they will be safe and will prosper only if they follow his lead.

In the Gospel, Jesus uses figures of speech to make his points. Characterizing himself as a shepherd, he contrasts himself with those who try to steal into the sheepfold. He seeks to guide, guard, and nurture the sheep; strangers want to snatch the sheep. The true shepherd will be recognized by both the gatekeeper and the sheep. Then, using the technical phrase “I am”, he characterizes himself as the gate. Those who go through Jesus will be safe within the pen. As both shepherd and gate, Jesus shows concern for the welfare of the sheep. He insists that he has come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

Jan 08 2025

From Ruin to Restoration

When I was little, my grandpa gave me a packet of World War I postcards for my postcard collection. He had been stationed in Paris in 1918. I remember staring for long minutes at his sepia pictures of bombed-out buildings. The streets were empty and full of rubble. My ten-year-old imagination said that France was in ruins.

I went to France in 2011 to visit my brother. Streets bustled with cars. Apartment buildings were bright with petunias in window boxes. The sidewalks were full of people walking. Mothers were pushing strollers. My grown-up impression of France was of a community that had been materially restored.

Ruin comes in many forms. Thieves who break in and steal the sheep can devastate the owner of the sheep. Deceit, corruption, and insult can tear a person down. A leader who goes astray from a moral path can bomb holes in family and community. The rubble from the abuse crisis litters the streets of the Church and tests our ability to trek onward.

It is the Good Shepherd who wants to lead us from ruin to restoration and then to flourishing. Despite the impression that sentimental Jesus pictures might give us, a shepherd is not a soft character. He is weather-hardened and battle-ready. He is willing to fight to the death for his sheep so that they can safely walk through dark valleys. He restores and watches over all, for his protection is communal; sheep move in flocks.

Jesus says that he came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. We pray for this renewal. From a personal Spirit-filled abundance, we are to work toward the reinvigoration of the Church and the whole world. We go together. The Good Shepherd will lead us to a vibrant new life.

Consider/Discuss

This week we begin a subtle scriptural shift. In the first half of the Easter season, we’ve focused on the revelation of who Jesus is. In this second half as we build toward Pentecost, we shift our focus toward the empowerment to be the people Jesus calls us to be. Look back at today’s readings. Which passages, verbs, and images speak about what we are to do and who we are to be?
The hunger for restoration is a recurring theme in the Old Testament. As we form impressions of the world in which we live, do we think more about ruin than restoration, or more of restoration than ruin? Where does our information come from? How do those sources affect the way that we approach life? How does that impact our hope?

Living and Praying with the Word

Shepherd of the flock, if we are headed off of a cliff, use your staff to snatch us back. If we are scattering in all directions, herd us together and steer us where you want us to go. As we walk through today’s dark valleys, help us trust that your rod and your staff will help us to travel securely together. Bring us to abundance and help us to flourish. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

In concluding his Pentecost speech, Peter points out to the Jerusalem crowd that Jesus, whom he has just shown to be Lord and Messiah, was the same Jesus they had crucified. Realizing that they have committed such a grievous crime, the crowd wonders what is next for them. Peter’s response comes as a relief: God has not condemned for crucifying Jesus. Rather, they are offered the gift of repentance, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit. The promises God made to them as Abraham’s children are now fulfilled in Christ. Rather than chastisement, Peter holds out the promise of life, if they will allow themselves to be saved by the same Christ they condemned to death.

In his letter, Peter continues to develop the implications of being Christian. He reminds his persecuted audience that in his own suffering, Christ showed them how to remain faithful as “aliens and sojourners” (2:11) in a hostile world. Jesus did not respond to insults with insults, or to threats with threats of his own. The death of Christ was part of God’s mysterious plan to free Christ’s followers from their sins and equip them to “live for righteousness.” Jesus’ followers have been healed not only of the wounds of past sins, but also from sinful inclinations to hurt those who hurt them, “worldly desires that wage war against the soul” (2:11). Jesus shows them a better way and guards those very souls against which the world (and worldly desires) wage war.

The image of the people of God as God’s flock is a venerable biblical metaphor. In Jesus’ figure of speech, the “thieves and robbers” who have illicitly entered the sheepfold are the Pharisees and other opponents, who do not have the people’s best interests at heart. Although he will soon call himself the good shepherd, here Jesus refers to himself as the gate for the sheep, an image that focuses on his role as the one who gives access to God, the source of life. Whereas others who claim to shepherd the people in fact only lead them to destruction, Jesus alone guides God’s flock to abundant life and salvation.

Dec 16 2024

Work for Everyone, Guaranteed

We go from Acts’ record of the early days of the church to a vision of the final coming of God’s kingdom. In Acts, those first days were a time of building up and strengthening the community. Paul and Barnabas moved from town to town: Elytra, Conium, Antioch, Epicedia, Pamphylia, Pergo, and Attala. Their work was preaching to convert, lifting the spirits of believers and encouraging their perseverance, and appointing local leaders.

Revelation offers an idealized vision of how the work begun then will turn out: a new heaven and earth, a holy city where God will dwell with the human race and will wipe away all tears caused by death and pain. Of particular interest is the phrase “the sea was no more,” the sea being a symbol of chaos and destructive powers.

How will this come about? How will this activity be sustained through persecution, sin, and human weakness? The Gospel holds the key—by living the new commandment Jesus gave to his disciples: “Love one another as I have loved you.” In this way, Christ continues to be glorified and God glorified in him.

The names of the cities may have changed. Now the work continues in Arlington, Baltimore, Newton, Flossmoor, Arroyo Grande, San Jose, among others. But whether cities or towns, a new creation will only result if a community of believers, under dedicated leadership, perseveres in loving as Christ loved. When this happens, the seeds of Resurrection life are certain to bear fruit.

Consider/Discuss

Have you accepted your job assignment?
Could God be calling you to move on to “a different city,” some new place to love as Christ loved?

Responding to the Word

Your commandment to love as you loved us, Lord Jesus, with a willingness to give generously, not counting the cost, is frightening to most of us most of the time. Give us your companionship, which we surely need, and increase our hope in the fulfillment you have promised. We place our trust in you.