Today in the Spirit: Easter 4A (Good Shepherd)
Easter 4 is Good Shepherd Sunday every year. The collect and most of the readings through the three-year cycle on this day make explicit reference to God as the shepherd of his people. The assigned Gospel readings for Easter 4 over the three years take us sequentially through most of John 10. Ironically, while we find this section of John to contain among the most comforting words of the New Testament, we find Jesus is addressing himself to hostile unbelievers.
In Year A, the Gospel reading from John 10:1-10 appears to be addressed to the Pharisees Jesus has chastised at the end of Chapter 9 (see 10:1, NIV). To them, he declares, “I am the door for the sheep” (7), in contrast to the “thieves and robbers” (8) like them who can only lead them astray.
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The preferred choice for a first reading from Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60 gives us an abridged account of Stephen’s courageous confession, leading to his execution by stoning. In the context of our worship, we find his declaration, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (56) to be a dramatic case study of a believer relying on Jesus to be the gateway to glory.
In the alternative first reading from Nehemiah 9:(1-3)6-15, the Israelites, having returned from exile and completed the reconstruction of walls around Jerusalem, gather to confess their sins to YHWH and remember him as a faithful God who has led them (like a shepherd) out of Egypt to the promised land: “‘You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them’” (15).
Psalm 23 (assigned also at Lent 4A and Easter 4B) begins with the famed acclamation uttered by “David” in the Spirit: “The LORD is my shepherd; therefore I can lack nothing” (1). The remainder of the song celebrates the faithfulness of God leading him through danger into prosperity, and ending with: “Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever (6).
Even in the lectionary’s sequential presentation of 1 Peter through Easter, Year A, the appointed NT reading, 1 Peter 2:13-25, picks up on the theme of God as shepherd, with Peter calling Jesus Christ “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (25).
The assigned collect for Good Shepherd Sunday picks up on themes from John 10. The prayer begins with the believer’s confession that Jesus Christ is the “Good Shepherd of your people” (11). The petition assumes (“when” not “if”) that each believer will “hear his voice” and the sound of their name (3), and so asks for strength to “follow where he leads.”
The Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Standing at the Right Hand of God (Acts 6:1-9,7:2a,51-60)
6:1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.
7:2a And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me.
7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
“Standing at the right hand of God” (56)? Most often, we read that Jesus “sits” at the right hand of the Father (see Matthew 19:28, Mark 14:62, Revelation 4:9-10). We can only speculate, but could this be Stephen’s vision of Jesus, standing upright in prayer, interceding before the Father with words he himself spoke from the cross, “‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Lk. 23:34). In this case, Stephen’s utterance of similar words, “do not hold this sin against them” (60), might be conceived as words from the heart of Jesus, an imitation (perhaps even repetition) of our Lord’s own prayer.
Devotionally, we find in this observation a vivid picture of our Lord whose ministry now is one of actively advocating for his followers in the heavenly places: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). “For them” (Gk. hyper autōn) can mean “for the sake of them” but also “in place of.” Thus, we find added comfort in the intercessory ministry of Jesus, who is not only praying for us but also helping us to make better prayers, as he does here for Stephen. The risen and exalted Son of God sits to reign and stands to pray.
Today, when called upon, stand and make your testimony boldly in the power of the Spirit, as one who knows you are not standing alone.
You Alone (Nehemiah 9:(1-3)6-15)
1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
6 ‘You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. 9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.’
This prayer, maybe from a Levite or Ezra the priest, is noteworthy in the OT for the repetition of “you (referring to YHWH), you…you…you”. Its underlying message is that everything positive that happens to the people of Israel is due to the Lord, and everything negative is down to “them” (the “forefathers,” see 9:16ff). Still later in the prayer, this dualistic view of the world will lead this congregation of Israelites gathered in Jerusalem, still in ruins after the exile, to conclude that they themselves in the present are also sinners in “great distress” needing YHWH’s deliverance (36-37). They are convinced, at least for this occasion, that goodness arises only out of the character of God and his revelation of himself in the world.
All the initiative of love, every impulse of good in the world, is from the Father God. Abram (Abraham) is commended in this prayer in Nehemiah as one whose heart is found faithful, believing in the goodness of God alone. Likewise, we are commended in scripture to insist that pure goodness comes from God, not from ourselves or the world, since everything in creation is tainted by sin. So, James the Just teaches in the NT: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
Today, Holy Spirit, place us in the company of Abram, and that of this congregation of Israelites praying to “You” as the only One from whom all good comes.
I Shall Not Want (Psalm 23)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; *
therefore I can lack nothing.
2 He shall feed me in green pastures *
and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
3 He shall refresh my soul *
and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness for his Name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, *
for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.
5 You shall prepare a table before me, in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
For Good Shepherd Sunday, the church naturally assigns Psalm 23. “David” relates his experience of being on pilgrimage in the first part of the song (1-4), then his vision of arriving at the destination in the second (5-6). Notice in both parts how David goes beyond simply describing God’s activity to predicting (prophesying?) how he will respond: “I can lack nothing” (1); “I will fear no evil” (4); and “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (6).
Devotionally, it is supremely good, beloved, to imagine, humbly, both the faithfulness of God with us and our faithfulness to him in return. Jesus does so himself in the Gospel reading: “I am the good shepherd…I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:9). So much of our worship music, old and new, paints pictures of the greatness of God and our right response. Consider the modern classic “In Christ Alone”, and note the juxtaposition of faithfulness of God and servant in the lyrics of this opening verse: “In Christ alone, my hope is found/He is my light, my strength, my song/This Cornerstone, this solid ground/Firm through the fiercest drought and storm/What heights of love, what depths of peace/When fears are stilled, when strivings cease/My Comforter, my All in All/Here in the love of Christ I stand.”
Today, in the Spirit who inspires the imagination of David in this psalm, envision for yourself Christ as your shepherd through the challenges of the day and your faith-filled following after him.
Have Now Returned (1 Peter 2:13-25)
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Peter’s language “but [you] have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (25) is worthy of careful reflection. Grammatically, the Greek “returned” (literally “turned back”) could be understood passively “been returned” (as in “been brought back,” GNT) or reflexively “returned” (as in “are themselves returned”).
Devotionally, with the passive “been returned,” the focus is naturally on the action of the One who has led us home. We see our Lord the Rescuer, like the images we know well of Jesus carrying the lamb on his back. This is good, but I believe (and so do most translators into English) that what Peter intends here is that we focus not on the means of return but on the state of things upon return. Instead of being in the condition of “straying” (wandering, unsettled), we are “returned” (restored, decidedly settled). We see Jesus now not moving as he is during the rescue, but standing steady as the “Shepherd and Overseer.”
Of course, the word “returned” also implies coming back to a former state—circular motion as opposed to linear. You are back to the place intended for you by God when he created you. In your whole earthly life, you may have never known what it is to be in this new state until “now”—but “now,” having returned, you know it is the right space for you. Where you have arrived is new but also strangely familiar, the place you were born to occupy.
Today, Holy Spirit, let us press in to what the Apostle Peter has written here. Let our eyes be open to see the new life we have now and were always meant to have, that to which we have “returned.”
I Am the Door of the Sheep (John 10:1-10)
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Or, “I am the gate for the sheep” (7, NIV). “Of the sheep” (ESV) and “for the sheep” (NIV) are both perfectly fine English translations of the text. The Greek phrase tōn porbatōn can mean both “on behalf of the sheep” and “belonging to the sheep.” The door, Jesus, is not made by the sheep, but he has come into the world to be a gateway for his followers alone. Without a door, the sheep are locked, both from going outside to pasture and from going inside for protection—a miserable situation, which is ours exactly, without Jesus, who in his person provides access. Jesus, the door is the only way for us to have life “abundantly” (10).
For us, Jesus being “the door” and the “good shepherd” are not wholly distinct images. We can and must consider them together. Jesus is the way forward (shepherd) and the way through (door). The sheep will only access the door upon hearing the voice of the shepherd. The door is opened only on his command. The good shepherd, though he will “lay down his life for the sheep” (see 10:11); he will never cease to be the way for the sheep into shelter and out to pasture. He ever remains shepherd and gate. The risen Jesus remains the way to freedom for us. Hallelujah!
In Readings in St. John’s Gospel, Archbishop William Temple offers counsel on what it means for us to go “through the door” behind a “good shepherd” who dies for us: “We make our plans for the work of God, and ask Him to prosper them. But they may be seriously infected with our prejudice, ignorance and short-sightedness. In particular, we can never see in advance that the way to final success lies through immediate failure; yet God may know that this is so; it is the way of the Cross.”
Today, Holy Spirit, hearing this passage in our worship, supply us with the understanding to follow the Son of God through the door of his greater suffering and our lesser sacrifice to spiritual prosperity and eternal life with him.
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