Our ancestors the Israelites suffered a terrible trauma six centuries before Jesus – the destruction of Jerusalem, its Temple, and the exile of much of its population to various cities in the Babylonian Empire. Two prophets – Jeremiah and Ezekiel – argued it was largely the failure of the kings to offer good example and exercise leadership. In speaking to the people, Ezekiel used a common metaphor for kings, shepherd.
In the light of past failures of shepherd, it was a bold move for Jesus to call himself a shepherd. But Jesus quotes a key sentence of Ezekiel, which rids the term of its negative history: “I myself [the Lord] will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. I will gather them . . . will feed them with good pasture…” Jesus contrasts himself with false and self-interested shepherds, whom he brands as thieves and robbers. Strong language from the mouth of Jesus, but prompted by his passionate love for the people. We know how angry we get if people we love are tricked and robbed. Jesus likewise.
Jesus compares himself to a shepherd in two different senses. He is the shepherd who enters through the gate and leads the sheep from the sheepfold to feed in the pasture. He knows their names and calls them one by one. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. We have the unforgettable picture of Jesus leading the sheep. In the early church, a frequent depiction of Christ was the Good Shepherd; its function was like a crucifix today.
The second image of Christ is the gate of the sheepfold, which may surprise us. This claim reminds us of Peter’s speech in the first reading, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” We don’t know how God manages things differently for nations than ourselves, but for us Christians Jesus is the One. We should hear his voice alone, for as the gospel says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Sometimes we hesitate to bring our needs to God. Why? Often the reasons are two: (1) we don’t think God is interested in us. We are too small, too unimportant; (2) we have been unfaithful in the past and can’t guarantee we won’t sin in the future. But both these attitudes are refuted by Jesus’s comparing his Shepherd’s love for us to the love Father and Son have for each other. They attend to each other, delight in each other, give themselves trustfully to each other. To say it’s “quality love” would be an understatement. It’s stronger and more consistent than anything we can imagine. So, when Jesus says to us, “I am the Good Shepherd,” he’s saying an astonishing and marvelous thing.