Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday!
Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday! All fourth Sundays of Easter are Good Shepherd Sunday. This tradition is a significant theme in scripture and in John’s gospel. Kenneth Bailey [1] proposes this tradition begins with 23 rd Psalm. The writer uses the ordinary work of a shepherd to describe how God seeks out the lost sheep, brings them home, protects them, and provides all they need to flourish. Bailey describes how this basic tradition is then reinterpreted again and again through threats, exile and beyond. And now by Jesus in today’s reading from John 10. This is not just Jesus’ reinterpretation. It is also John’s. He sets his version within the story of the man born blind who was healed, was then cast out by the Jewish leaders, and then became a disciple and was included in Jesus own community of followers. Everything Jesus says relates back to those very concrete acts. And we hear echoes of this as Lazarus and Mary hear the shepherd’s voice and respond. Jesus becomes the shepherd ...
