u/Vergil_337

THE PROMISE OF A SHEPHERD

The salvation of man is accomplished through the work of a shepherd. Through sin, humanity had scattered far from God, wandering like a flock without a keeper: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Isaiah 53:6. Among all the nations, God had chosen the people of Israel and made a covenant with them, to constitute them his particular flock. He had entrusted their guidance to shepherds, kings and priests, who had largely failed. The prophets then carried the promise of a new shepherd, given by God himself.

Through Ezekiel, God announced his coming in person: "I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out." Ezekiel 34:11. Through Micah, he announced his stature, and the universal scope of his charge: "He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord. They shall dwell secure, for he shall be great to the ends of the earth." Micah 5:3. This is the expectation that Jesus fulfills when he says: "I am the good shepherd." John 10:11. The Greek word kalos, translated as good, denotes what is beautiful, noble, accomplished: Jesus is the perfect shepherd, the one in whom what this name calls for is fully realized.

His entire public life unfolds this charge. To the Pharisees who reproach him for sitting at table with sinners, he answers with the parable of the lost sheep: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?" Luke 15:4. Such is his way from the beginning: to leave the ninety-nine and run after the single stray, and to carry it back on his shoulders. Those whom he thus gathers, he leads to his own table, where he makes himself their food: "I am the bread of life." John 6:35. This table reaches beyond the borders of Israel, for other sheep still await his gathering: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." John 10:16.

THE GIFT OF HIS LIFE

"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away." John 10:11-12. The hired hand flees because the sheep are strangers to him; the shepherd remains because they are his own.

This belonging reaches into a mutual knowledge, set by Jesus on the model of his relation to the Father: "I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father." John 10:14-15. For them, he gives his life of his own accord: "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." John 10:18.

The blow struck against the shepherd and the scattering of the sheep, the prophets had announced. Zechariah had heard this word: "Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered." Zechariah 13:7. On the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus applies it to himself and warns his apostles that they will be these scattered sheep: "You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." Matthew 26:31. A few hours later, at Gethsemane, the word is fulfilled: when the soldiers seize him, all the disciples abandon him and flee. Matthew 26:56. On the cross, he lays down his life for these sheep who have abandoned him, taking upon himself the sin of mankind and opening for them, through his death, the way to eternal life: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28.

THE GREAT SHEPHERD AND HIS CHURCH

Through his death, the shepherd has given his life for his sheep; in raising him from the dead, the Father manifests that he accepts this sacrifice and establishes him forever in his office. The title he had given himself then takes on its full reach. The epistle to the Hebrews names him "the great shepherd of the sheep" Hebrews 13:20, raised from the dead by the blood of an eternal covenant.

Before ascending to the Father, he entrusts his flock to Peter, three times: "Simon son of John, do you love me? Tend my sheep." John 21:16-17. The Church thus receives the charge of guarding what she has not acquired, in the name of him who acquired her at the price of his life, until his return: "When the chief Shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away." 1 Peter 5:4.