The image of Jesus as the good shepherd is one of the oldest images in Christianity. I remember seeing it in the catacombs of Rome…painted on the walls of ancient caverns by a people from long ago. What is it about this image that has captivated the minds and hearts of Christians for centuries? Surely for the post modern mostly urban culture of the West, this image may well seem a bit arcane and less accessible than it was to our ancestors. Jesus is depicted, through the use of this image, as a shepherd, and shepherds were, in that time and in that culture, relatively unimportant and certainly not powerful individuals; in fact, they were of a socially low status in Jesus’ culture.
The disciples and all those who followed him around experienced Jesus as kind and gentle, like the good shepherd who watches over the sheep with great care and concern and even risks his/her own safety for the sake of the sheep. This mage of a kind and gentle god was somewhat unique in Jesus’ time, but then so was the idea of a god who would be willing to suffer and die for their people.
I believe that this image of the Good Shepherd has endured precisely because of its radical departure of the common image, in Jesus’ time, of a distant and disinterested and often vengeful god…all we need do is look to the pantheon of the Greco-Roman gods whose dealings with humans were most often calamitous and certainly capricious.
This image Jesus creates, tells us that our God loves us and cares for us and journeys with us as we travel through the valleys and hills of our lives.
But too, I believe that the image of the good shepherd speaks to us of what we are called to be…in Christ’s image…“good shepherds” of the lost and vulnerable, the poor and the forsaken. Understanding that we are called to go after them, to reach out to the marginalized and the ones society dismisses or demeans because of the color of their skin, or because they are women, because of their age, or because of where they were born, or who they love, or how they came to this country, or their mental health, or because of their economic status, and the list of discrimination goes on…we are called by our baptism to stand up against all forms of discrimination and bullying and any manner of action or word that demeans the human dignity of another person…all persons. And, it does not matter who is responsible for the demeaning behavior, whether a coworker, a classmate, a family member or a member of the leadership of the government of United States of America.
As Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ we cannot turn a blind eye nor remain silent in the face of dehumanizing, and hateful speech aimed at individuals or at whole countries, cultures, races, or ethnic or religious groups.
And so given all these different realities, let us ask ourselves, as Jesus’ disciples, modeling our lives on him, how am I being called to be a “good shepherd”…in my family, in my school or place of work, in my community, in my nation as citizen of the wider world? What am I willing to risk “as a good shepherd” for the sake of “the other” and for the sake of creation?
Easter blessings,
Fr. Tim
The disciples and all those who followed him around experienced Jesus as kind and gentle, like the good shepherd who watches over the sheep with great care and concern and even risks his/her own safety for the sake of the sheep. This mage of a kind and gentle god was somewhat unique in Jesus’ time, but then so was the idea of a god who would be willing to suffer and die for their people.
I believe that this image of the Good Shepherd has endured precisely because of its radical departure of the common image, in Jesus’ time, of a distant and disinterested and often vengeful god…all we need do is look to the pantheon of the Greco-Roman gods whose dealings with humans were most often calamitous and certainly capricious.
This image Jesus creates, tells us that our God loves us and cares for us and journeys with us as we travel through the valleys and hills of our lives.
But too, I believe that the image of the good shepherd speaks to us of what we are called to be…in Christ’s image…“good shepherds” of the lost and vulnerable, the poor and the forsaken. Understanding that we are called to go after them, to reach out to the marginalized and the ones society dismisses or demeans because of the color of their skin, or because they are women, because of their age, or because of where they were born, or who they love, or how they came to this country, or their mental health, or because of their economic status, and the list of discrimination goes on…we are called by our baptism to stand up against all forms of discrimination and bullying and any manner of action or word that demeans the human dignity of another person…all persons. And, it does not matter who is responsible for the demeaning behavior, whether a coworker, a classmate, a family member or a member of the leadership of the government of United States of America.
As Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ we cannot turn a blind eye nor remain silent in the face of dehumanizing, and hateful speech aimed at individuals or at whole countries, cultures, races, or ethnic or religious groups.
And so given all these different realities, let us ask ourselves, as Jesus’ disciples, modeling our lives on him, how am I being called to be a “good shepherd”…in my family, in my school or place of work, in my community, in my nation as citizen of the wider world? What am I willing to risk “as a good shepherd” for the sake of “the other” and for the sake of creation?
Easter blessings,
Fr. Tim
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