"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." John 10:16 Who are the "other" sheep in today's Gospel reading? I have the strange feeling I might like to be one of them! Ezekiel (34) had prophesied about the Lord God as the faithful shepherd of the sheep, the people of Israel. This imagery was employed as a way of contrasting the Lord God with the so-called "shepherds of Israel" who had grown fat at the expense of the "sheep" (the people) in their care. Instead of defending the sheep against marauders and ravenous beasts, and instead of pasturing and nurturing them, these treacherous shepherds had "fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings." (Ezek. 34:3) The Lord God had promised to put an end to the perennial abuse of the sheep at the hands of the unfaithful shepherds by pasturing the sheep personally. "'I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest,' says the Lord God. 'The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal… shepherding them rightly.'" (Ezek. 34:15-16) John's "Good Shepherd" imagery invoked by Jesus is used in a similar context in today's Gospel. Jesus is found in the Temple on the feast of Dedication, upbraiding the leaders of Israel, often called "the Jews" in John's shorthand, some of whom had just accused Jesus of being possessed by a demon, or out of his mind. (John 10:20) It is at the climax of this controversy story that "the Jews took up stones again to stone him." (10:31) Jesus' crime? He had proclaimed, "I and the Father are one." (10:30) Such a scandalous proclamation made in the symbolic center of Jewish worship and identity, the Temple, would have warranted the charge of blasphemy from its leaders, and Jesus was accused of just this charge by the "shepherds of Israel." (10:33) How dare Jesus proclaim himself the Good Shepherd, speaking with the authority of God, indeed proclaiming himself to be "one" with the living God? And who does he think he is saying that he has "other sheep, not of this fold"? As I continue to walk with my post-Easter experiences of new life from death, today's readings strike me with this insight: while making all things new, God is also making things a bit messy! What is considered unclean and profane is actually rendered holy by God? This was Peter's visionary insight from today's Acts reading. Who belongs to the one flock, and who doesn't, who has the Holy Spirit, and who doesn't is all mixed up, it seems. Peter is certainly perplexed about the inclusion of Gentiles in God's plan for salvation. Upon entering the house of a Gentile, and seeing how the Holy Spirit has come upon the members of the household, Peter must have been shocked and unsettled, at least, if not horrified and repelled by the idea. God, the Good Shepherd, was declaring "other sheep" holy, beloved, and part of salvation? What was the world coming to if even these unclean "sinners" were God's beloved people? How would all the good, clean, upright people live good, clean, upright lives amidst the stench of sinners? Today, I am content with the questions and the mess if it means
new life. Today, I am thankful to be one of those "other sheep"
in a smelly, over-run flock of "unclean" and "wandering"
disciples. I am overjoyed to be a loved sinner, so precious to the
Good Shepherd that I will never be abandoned or devoured by the
wolves. Today, I am happy just to be held in the arms of Someone
who looks upon me with love. Alleluia! Athirst is my soul for
the living God! Alleluia!
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