Every fourth Sunday after Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. It is why this week we’ll hear from the 10thchapter of John’s gospel each year on this Sunday. We see from chapter 10 Jesus say one of his famous I am statements: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. We also see this Sunday that we’ll hear from Psalm 23, which is a favorite psalm for many people, and includes in its opening: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
There is a lot of sheep and shepherd language in the Bible and we even saw it last week when the resurrected Jesus visits some of the disciples while they’re fishing and he calls Peter to tend his sheep and feed his flock (John 21).
The whole language of Jesus being a shepherd has even shaped the language we use in our Christian vocabulary. We call our leaders who preach and teach pastors which shares the root of pasture and pastoral. Pastoral means the land that the cattle, including sheep, graze and live on. We have a great song for children that is: I Just Wanna Be A Sheep, as well as other beloved hymns. Some traditions even have leaders in the church carry a shepherd’s crook or staff. We also see countless images of the staff, sheep, gates, and so on in Christian art.
With so much rich history through Bible passages and tradition, what do you think of when you think of the term shepherd and sheep when relating it to your faith? Does it bring comfort, joy, confusion, awe…? Think about it and take a moment to send me a note to let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear from you.
John 10: 14-15 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian
