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John 10:11-18
Easter 4B
Jesus’s rich self-revelation as the Good Shepherd gives us a number of aspects to highlight in a message about God’s provisional care. Within his identity as the Good Shepherd, there’s a stark comparison to the “hired hands” we silly sheep get wrapped up in following—only to be abandoned to the hand’s selfish bravado. There’s the…
John 10:1-10
Easter 4A
Each year on the fourth Sunday after Easter, the lectionary brings us to a passage that relates to the Good Shepherd narrative. Notice, though, that in our passage this week, the I AM statement that Jesus focuses on in verses 7-10 are about being the door, or gate, depending on your translation. (I’ll be using…
John 10:22-30
Easter 4C
This passage follows very closely Jesus’ “I am the good shepherd” speech. People were already suspicious of Jesus and how he described himself, thinking he had a demon or was out of his mind. There were some, though, who thought there might be more to Jesus than madness or possession (verse 20). Some scholars see…
John 10:11-18
Easter 4B
Those of you who are familiar with art may recall a funny habit that many Medieval painters practiced for quite a long time in Europe, and particularly in Germany. Artists such as Lukas Cranach and others painted many depictions of biblical scenes but they did so with the curious twist of dressing the biblical characters…
John 10:1-10
Easter 4A
Sometimes your need for a Shepherd hits home. Like during a global pandemic. I don’t know about you, but I spent the first 9 weeks of this year in one of the busiest stretches of my life. And when you run from day to day, from event to event, meeting to meeting, class to class,…
John 10:22-30
Easter 4C
For the last 12 or so years, few names in the world have been more famous than that of Barack Obama. Not so long ago, however, that was not the case. Indeed, not so very long ago almost no one had ever heard of Obama. A scant four years before he managed to get nominated…
John 10:11-18
Easter 4B
Today we don’t have shepherds much in the wider society. Today we have managers. But shepherds and managers are not the same. Whenever Jesus uses the pastoral image of a shepherd for himself, the point is nearly always the same: as the good shepherd of his sheep, he will risk his life and even temporarily…
John 10:1-10
Easter 4A
Mark tells us in Mark 4 that Jesus basically never taught anything without using parables. The Gospel of John famously contains no parables but is instead our sole New Testament source for Jesus’ much-loved “I Am” sayings. But John is honest enough to admit that the “I Am” sayings mostly made no more sense to…
John 10:22-30
Easter 4C
Now that he is finishing his two terms in office with about 9 months or so to go, it can be a bit startling to realize that a scant decade ago, not only was the name of Barack Obama relatively unknown, the man himself could walk around Chicago or anywhere else freely and without the…
John 10:11-18
Easter 4B
Comments and Observations: Today we don’t have shepherds in the wider society. Today we have managers. But shepherds and managers are not the same. Whenever Jesus uses the pastoral image of a shepherd for himself, the point is nearly always the same: as the good shepherd of his sheep, he will risk his life and…
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