John 10:1-10 - Good Shepherd Sunday (May 11, 2014)

The following trivia would help us better understand the message of this very familiar gospel passage.

Photo by Jim Barton

1. What is a sheepfold? - It is an animal pen usually circular or rectangular.  It may be located near a village or far from it along a hillside.  It may or may not have a gate.  At the end of the day, several shepherds would keep their sheep inside the sheepfold. The following day, the shepherds will take turns in entering the pen and would make their peculiar cry, recognizable to their sheep, to collect his flock.  He would touch each of his sheep with his staff as it goes out as a way of counting them.

In the gospel, Jesus compares himself as both the shepherd AND the gate.  When a sheepfold does not have a gate, the shepherds will line themselves along the opening during the night, to alert themselves in case one of the sheep wanders out.

2. Calling each sheep by name - This was practiced by the shepherd and would call the main animals of his flock by certain names such as "big ear," "brown leg," "long tail," etc.  It is unlikely that all of the sheep would be named.  

For the shepherd, the sheep is the source of milk, cheese, meat and clothing.  Beyond these benefits, the shepherd became close to the flock as they are together most of the day.  The naming of the sheep suggests this relationship.

3. To whom was Jesus directing this story? - If you turn to the bible, you will note that this passage follows right after the story of the man born blind (click here), and in that story, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees.  Since there is no transition, we can assume that Jesus was also talking to the Pharisees.

This passage then presents the contrast between Jesus, the good shepherd, that cares for the sheep and has a personal relationship with them; and the religious leaders at that time that used their position to take advantage of the people.  Jesus emphasized love, forgiveness, and genuine prayer; the Pharisees reduced the relationship with God into simply following a set of laws, rules, and practices.  The true shepherd is personal; the Pharisees saw the people as the masses.

Reference:

- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Hungry No More (Makati: St. Paul's Publications, 1989), 128-134.

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John 10:1-10

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”

Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”