Fourth Sunday of Easter
Good Shepherd Sunday
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| Good Shepherd, Bernard Plockhorst, early 1900s. [PD-US] |
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs
away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no
concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my
voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up
again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my
own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it
up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
John 10:11-18
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I love the image of the good shepherd. It's such a beta role for an alpha-and-omega king, isn't it? The image of kindness and goodness and self-sacrifice. And the role of a protector with a good heart. Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you, Debby!
ReplyDeleteYet the shepherd's in Jesus' day were rugged men, enduring hardships as they pastured their sheep.
DeleteI love the concept of the Lord searching for that one lost sheep--me--and carrying it back to safety.
God is so good!
Hi Debby: Just as an aside: shepherding is still so hard a job, with loneliness and other hardships, that a great many are imported from other countries. I also like the Lord as a Shepard but as a kid I always thought it was foolish to leave the herd to look for the lost sheep. What if the wolves came when Jesus was way and made off with twenty or more sheep? At that time I was a fan of "Victory at Sea" which aired on Sunday morning and there were sad stories of ships leaving stranded sailors in the sea because it was too dangerous to stop and pick them up. This would have endangered all the men on the rescue ships. I was never a lost sheep fan or of paying the workers who worked only one hour the same as the men who toiled for a full day in the sun. I was not a favorite of the nuns! :)
Delete