Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd."
Jn 10:11-18
The Greek word which translates “good” is “kalos”. “Kalos” does not mean “good” as in “good for something. Rather it means “noble” or “ideal”. When Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he is saying that he is what a shepherd should be, that is, that he is the ideal shepherd.
The image of God as a shepherd is already found in the Old Testament. In fact, in Psalm 23 the psalmist (David) describes his experience of God as a shepherd. It begins with the following words: “The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I lack.”
Jesus tells us what he does as the good shepherd. (1) “I will lay down my life for the sheep.“ He defends with his own life the sheep against the wolf. And (2) “I know mine and mine know me.” He knows his sheep and his sheep knows him.
When Jesus says that he KNOWS his sheep, what does that mean?
In the family day of the Filipino community of Sacro Cuore, there was one very interesting contest. The participants were husbands and wives. All of them were blindfolded. The challenge was this: would the husbands be able to identify their wives just by their smell? Interestingly but not surprisingly all the husbands were able to correctly identify their wives. They knew their wives so well that they knew even their smell.
This gives us an idea of what Jesus meant when he said that he knows his sheep. He knows us inside out. He knows us by name. He knows our past. He knows our “little” secrets. He knows our likes and dislikes. He knows our fears and our desires. He knows our character. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows us inside out. And because he knows us so well, he can also fully understand us.
What we say of Jesus in particular, we can say of God in general. God knows us so well that he can also fully understand us.
That is why he can be very forgiving with us. I think that the reason why he doesn’t strike us dead when we commit grave sin is because he knows and under-stands that many times we commit sin not because we’re evil but because we’re weak.
Because God fully understands us, he can be very patient with us. He gives us our whole life-time to learn how to live as good Christians. And if that were not enough, he also gives us all the time we need in purgatory to finally learn how to be good children of God. Why such patience? Because he know na tayo’y tao lamang (because we’re only human).
What is our response to this God who is so understanding? Should we take it easy because we know he is forgiving and understanding? Hindi ba ito nakakahiya? Is this not an abuse of his kindness? What then is the right response? To be more serious about living our Christian life. Never mind the results. The important thing is for God to see that we are making a real effort.
Jesus says that he will defend his sheep against the wolf, even to the point of giving up his life.
The wolf can be a ferocious animal, especially when hungry. Once, St. Francis of Sales was returning home from his priestly ministry. It was a cold winter’s night. Half-way he met a hungry wolf. He could do nothing to save himself but climb a tree. He stayed there all night, freezing. It was only when a villager saw him and took pity on him that he was saved from being frozen to death.
The wolf can be a symbol of evil, both spiritual and physical.
We can and should ask the protection of the Good Shepherd from these evils. When I was young, I was struck by the good example of a neighbour. Whenever she left the house, she would always make the sign of the cross. My guess is that she was asking God’s protection from any untoward event. Whenever I ride a plane, I would make the sign of the cross as it took off. I ask God that I would arrive alive and well at my destination.
I know of a mother who prayed for her son everyday. Her son had gone to study in the city. For the first time, he was away from home. She prayed to God to protect her son from the wolves of bad companions (masamang barkada) and from the wolves of robbers.
We find this confidence in God's protection in Psalm 23. "Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage" This psalm is so a powerful in arousing confidence in God's protection prayer that it has made the difference between life and death of soldiers during the second World War.
Here is such one story.
The tide was turning against the Japanese in the Pacific. The Americans were reclaiming one island after another from them. Then one day the kamikaze planes arrived and wave after wave attacked the American ships. Many of them were badly hit and sunk. Five sailors managed to get into a life boat. Days went by. They had no water and no food. No American ship was in sight. These five men, however, survived to tell their story.
What was it that gave them hope? What was it that made them not give up? Whenever they felt giving in to despair, they would pray Psalm 23.
Whenever the going gets tough, let us remember: The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
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