FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER ‘A’
The great German theologian of the 20th century, Father Karl Rahner, taught that the
context of Christianity is that the unknowable mystery of God bestows itself in
forgiveness, and draws us into the life of God, the divine nature of the mystery.
Christianity refines this mystery of God into lesser mysteries, which helps us appreciate
God’s presence. We first learn of God’s creation – how this great mystery of God goes
outside of self to create all that we have in life. Through the mystery of creation, God
seeks to draw us into eternal life.
The next lesser mystery is redemption. During Lent and Easter, we have been reflecting
deeply upon the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God. We have considered how he took upon
himself our human nature and lived as a sinless human until being crucified, so that the
Son of God might obtain forgiveness for us and draw us back into the big mystery of the
loving God.
For Father Rahner, God’s grace is another lesser mystery of the big mystery --- God’s
loving efforts to connect with us in our daily lives. God is constantly reaching out to us,
drawing us into divine life.
And the Seven Sacraments are lesser mysteries … the ways that the Church identifies
special events and describes the unique grace of God’s presence in our lives in each
sacrament.
As you can see, Father Rahner is very complicated and difficult to understand, even as he
encourages us to not think too deeply about all of this. He says, “Don’t think of so many
complex things. Give the deeper realities time to surface: love, silence, fear and truth.
As they surface, an experience God will emerge for you.”
Father Rahner wants us to appreciate all that we have been given by God in Jesus. What
he writes is good, but it seems that Jesus, long before Father Rahner, gave us lots of help
and encouragement by simply proclaiming himself to be the Good Shepherd. We do not
see shepherds and their flocks wandering about; we know we are surrounded by
thousands of farm animals, but most of them spend their entire lives confined in
buildings. Thank God our scriptures, our church, and even worldwide communication
have kept the shepherd image somewhat alive for us.
Leaders of churches and nations and even of organizations of various types sometimes
are described as being or having been a good Shepherd or Pastor, or a not-so-good
shepherd or pastor. And it all boils down to their use or abuse of authority. A shepherd
of sheep has many advantages over the sheep, beginning with intelligence. Sheep are not
considered to be intelligent animals compared to a pig or cow or other animals. One
thing they will do is follow – come to recognize the voice of their shepherd and follow
wherever he leads them. A good and wise shepherd will take into account the passive
nature of his sheep and tend to all of their needs, -- so that they will eat well, reproduce,
grow, not get lost, injured, or stolen – and thus serve well their shepherd with their lives.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter each year is called Good Shepherd Sunday because the
Gospel reading for each cycle is taken from part of Jesus’ Good Shepherd speech in the
gospel according to Saint John. I read that Saint John placed the Good Shepherd account
between the stories of the cure of the Blind Man and the Raising of Lazarus, gospel
readings we heard during the season of Lent.
You recall that Jesus gave sight to the blind man in Jerusalem and caused quite a stir. The
Pharisees wanted him arrested and he had to leave town for fear of his life. He fled a
great distance, and wherever he had fled to was where he learned of the death of Lazarus.
He did not immediately react to this news, but for love for Lazarus, Martha and Mary he
finally took the risk of returning close to Jerusalem in order to raise Lazarus from the
dead.
According to Saint John, during this brief exile Jesus talked to the people about good and
bad authorities, using the example of a shepherd and his sheep to show how some
Pharisees, kings, and others with authority over them were not good shepherds, did not
have the people’s well-being at heart, took advantage of their positions of power to harm
others and improve their own condition.
And Jesus taught how he, on the other hand, was a Good Shepherd, how God became
human to seek out and save the lost. As shepherd, Jesus herds us, leads us and tends to
our needs. Jesus leads us to places good for us; he walks in front of us, and we follow.
To shepherd is to lead, guide and rule, govern and protect, foster and nurture. All this we
enjoy because we recognize Jesus as our good shepherd. And in the ways that we are
shepherd to others, we must act as Jesus did; always giving our lives for the lives of those
we are called to serve.
Having been expelled from Jerusalem for giving to a man blind from birth the gift of
sight on a Sabbath, Jesus first flees for his life to a place where he can reflect and teach
about the unknowable mystery of God that bestows itself in forgiveness of us sinners and
draws us into the life of God, the divine nature of the great mystery. He uses the image
of a shepherd and sheep to teach about this mystery.
We are his sheep, unable to know or grasp the mystery of God. He is God, our shepherd,
the mystery which grasps us, gathers us up in God’s love.
Our God, in the person of Jesus, has accomplished our redemption. He seeks to pour out
to us his grace through the sacraments we receive, celebrate, and live. In these ways,
God is constantly reaching out to us, drawing us into his life, the Divine Sheepfold.