Day 26: John 10-12. Good Shepherd, Resurrection and the Life
After Jesus heals the man born blind, he has an extended teaching where he calls himself both the Gate and the Good Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd who leads people out to good pasture and leads people in to the safe refuge. This has probably become one of the most well-known images of Jesus from the scriptures, even though most of us urban people no longer have a clear idea about what shepherds do, or how they care for their sheep. Still, the metaphor sticks. In fact, clergy have often been regarded as "shepherds" too, of a sort: the word "Pastor" means shepherd. (In my first call in rural South Dakota, the people regularly said they thought of their pastor as their shepherd.) Jesus as shepherd calls his own by name -- but not just to gather them in. He also leads them out. But out where? For what reason? Where are Jesus and his sheep going? There are many places in John's gospel where he calls people by name. In J...