Making Sense of Life: Book of Revelation

The King of Love My Shepherd Is

There is a Bedouin shepherd in the Jordan valley. His name is Oday. He herds a mixed flock of sheep and goats – 50 sheep and 70 goats belonging to other people and 70 sheep of his own.
He is paid very little but he loves shepherding.
Oday leads his flock and the flock follows him.

They recognize his voice and he calls to them to keep them together and to keep them moving along. Three of his sheep wear bells. He decided which sheep he would bell by holding out a piece of bread for the flock and the 3 sheep that came up and nibbled the bread out of his hand got the bells.


Oday thinks these are the sheep most responsive to him, that they most faithfully follow him.

We are still in Easter time.

Since Easter we have heard stories of how people saw the resurrected Jesus. We watched Thomas come to realize that he didn’t really need to touch to believe. We would have seen Jesus come into the upper room, have a bite to eat, and explain the Scriptures (except we celebrated the Feast of St. Mark last week). Today, we listen to Jesus talk about sheep, and shepherds and had the Gospel been a little longer we would have also heard about gates.

Jesus is talking to his disciples, people who saw shepherds like Oday every day, and to us, also his disciples, people who seldom if ever have seen shepherds.


So, thinking about Oday and his flock, ;et’s look at how Jesus describes himself, what he gives as a job description.

He says that he is the shepherd. Like Oday, he watches his flock; he leads it to pasture; and he keeps it together. The flock follows him and “knows his voice.”

It’s a good parallel for Jesus to make, himself as shepherd, disciples as flock.

But for the disciples, shepherd means more that one who tends sheep.

Remember, the Shepherd of Israel is God himself.

And when the psalmist sings,
“The Lord is my shepherd” and
“we are the sheep of his pasture",
the Lord he refers to is not King David, but God.

Jesus is using the image of shepherd to tell his disciples, and us, something important about himself.

But the Gospeller says, “They did not understand.” Remember, they are listening with pre-Easter-time ears.

So, Jesus tries again.

One thing we know about Jesus – he has no secrets.

He wants the disciples to understand.
He wants us to understand.
He wants them to know him.
He wants us to know him.
He want them to see him as he is and
he wants us to see him as he is.

He wants us all to be the sheep wearing bells.

“I am the gate,” he says.
In Jesus’ world, the shepherd would pen up the sheep at night and lie down across the opening of the pen – a living gate.

“Whoever comes in by me will be saved.”

We are not very comfortable with this idea – though we say we believe that Jesus is the way. We get confused by political correctness and the desire to be multi-culturally sensitive.

So let’s open up the statement and think about our lives in the 21st century.
Our lives are very different from the lives of those to whom John is writing.
They were torn between their new faith in Jesus and their religious home in Judaism.

We also are torn – between our faith in Jesus and our home in the world.

We often think we will be “saved”, even if we don’t use that word,
“saved" by science, by psychiatry, by medicine,
“saved” by education and knowledge,
“saved” by capitalism, by the free enterprise system,
“saved” by technology.

We will be saved, we will be safe, we tell ourselves,

if we know enough,
if we have enough money,
invest in the right stocks,
see the right doctors,
go to the right school,
attend the right church.

But Jesus says, “Not so.” The gate will keep you safe.

He says that wolves and thieves and bandits may be all around, but the gate will keep them from the sheep. He will keep them from the sheep.

Wolves and thieves and bandits there are still, some unfortunately in our churches,
more in our communities.

There are some who would abuse our trust
for personal gain,
for money or for power.

If we let him, Jesus will be between us and them.

He will keep us safe.

We will be able to go in and go out and “find pasture,” “lie down in green grass” “beside still waters.”


Then, Jesus finishes his job description with a flourish!

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

This is the best word on all of John's Gospel – “abundantly.”

It rolls in the mouth and fills it.
It brings to mind
Thanksgiving feasts and Christmas dinners,
Sunday pot-luck suppers and Easter baskets.

It is goodness overflowing.

It is hugs and kisses,
Warm sweaters and cozy blankets.

It is sharing what we have so that we might have more.
It is generosity and welcome.

It is prayer for those in need,
Shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry.

It is life lived in love.

This is why we follow Jesus,

the good shepherd who guides us to those green pastures
and still waters, to abundant life;
not a life abundant because of health or riches,
but a life abundant
because it is lived with love,
in love, and through love
for others and for Christ.

It is why we sing:

The King of love my shepherd is.
His goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine forever.
Amen.