4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

April 25, 2010

by Deacon Lawrence A. St. Onge

During today’s gospel reading we heard Our Lord Jesus say, “My sheep hear my voice and follow me.”  In this particular section of John’s gospel, Jesus was speaking of his divine title as the Good Shepherd, but in an earlier section of the same chapter in John, Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”

The question that comes to mind is, “Who are the sheep of Jesus?”  In the same chapter, Jesus also said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles addresses one of the most significant developments in the early church: that of the church’s mission to the Gentiles (all those who were not Jews). In fact, one of the main reasons that St. Luke writes the story of the early church is to explain to others how it is that so many Gentiles belong to a movement rooted in the Jewish Messiah.

On this first of three journeys by St. Paul, there is a pattern of Jewish rejection and Gentile acceptance that comes to the forefront about his teachings about Jesus. In the midst of these experiences, and bearing in mind that Paul was a Pharisee, a notable religious leader of the Jews, he declares to his Jewish antagonists, that “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first” (because the Jews were God’s chosen people), and then he continues, “but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.” Paul’s words here thus foreshadow his final spoken words in the Acts of the Apostles, when he says to the Jews who are rejecting his teaching of Jesus: “Let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

The second reading today from the Book of Revelation is a continuation of St. John’s vision of God and Jesus (the Lamb) in heaven being worshipped by a “great multitude.” This “multitude” included those Christians being persecuted by the Romans. But the most significant factor here is that John sees individuals in heaven “from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” This reinforces the church’s fundamental message that Jesus is the universal savior – a savior for both Jew and Gentile, alike. St. John sees that Jesus, as universal savior, will “shepherd” all people, leading them “to springs of live-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In today’s gospel we hear the image of Jesus as the shepherd leading his sheep to eternal life. Jesus as “the Good Shepherd” was a popular image in the early church and helped support the reality that many “sheep” from all nations had faith in the resurrected Christ and were joining the church.

Not unlike many of our churches today, real tensions existed in the early church around membership issues. For how could two very different groups of people (Jews and Gentiles) come to share a similar faith in Jesus Christ? The early church survived, because, in part at least, they focused less on their differences and more on their similarities: that of a shared faith in Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

There was a study done in England where tape-recordings were made of 31 newborn infants and played for their mothers in a series, so that each time, the mothers of the newborns heard five different babies cry in a row. In the first two days after her baby was born, 12 of the 23 mothers in the test sample recognized their own baby’s cry. After two days, all of the mothers tested recognized their own child’s cry. And, in another part of the experiment, mothers in a hospital ward with lots of mothers and lots of children were found to wake up when their own baby cried, but were able to sleep through the cries of the other children. As human beings, we can be amazingly proficient at listening when we know something is truly important to us.

Jesus said in today’s gospel that his sheep hear his voice and follow him. But even with more sensitivity than a mother hearing the cries of her child, Jesus has heard the voices of all those who cry out to him. He pointed to the need for faith and mutuality in today’s gospel. Jesus and God the Father are one, with an unbreakable unity, and that is the sort of unity Jesus wants for his followers.

Those who believe in Jesus, those who seek to hear and heed his voice as best they can, will arrive at a whole new reality. We know that we are not perfect, and that we cannot live without recognizing our brokenness and our need for others. We are not complete by ourselves, but we are part of a flock, which Jesus tends. Community grows out of our commitment to caring for each other. As Jesus and the Father are One, their relationship grows from mutual love, and our relationships will also grow from mutual love.

Our Lord does not want to lose any one of us. His desire is for us to be with him forever, in heaven, where there will be no more sadness or pain. One of the ways he leads us is through the Eucharist we are now celebrating. He is with us as we gather in his name; he speaks to us in the Scriptures; and he feeds us with his body and blood. Sheep are not very smart animals, but they are smart enough to know they need their shepherd and to recognize his voice. Let us pray that we are always smart enough to know we need Jesus, our Shepherd, and to listen to his voice.