No Other Lamb

Scripture — John 10:11-18 (NRSV)

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. 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—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 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. I have received this command from my Father.”

Devotion

Amazingly, though I’ve written on the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter in Year A twice at Life for Leaders (2020 and 2023), I’ve never written about this lesson for the Fourth Sunday of Easter in Year B, a passage in John 10 which immediately follows the Year A passage. (The lectionary works in three-year cycles, which are normally referred to as Years A, B, and C.)

It’s actually easier to comprehend John 10:11-18 if you’ve just read John 10:1-10, so I don’t mind if you want to take a second and read those devotionals (or at least the Scripture passage). I’ll still be here when you get back.

John 10 contains a long discourse that immediately follows Jesus’ healing of a man blind since birth in John 9 (honestly, you could go read all of John 9, too). As a result of the healing, a controversy breaks out over where Jesus comes from and where he gets his healing power. It is in this context that Jesus speaks one of his famous “I am” statements (John 10:7, 9): “I am the gate for the sheep. . . Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.” He opposes his role as the one true gate, and as the gatekeeper (10:2), with the thieves and bandits who seek only to destroy.

In the course of all that, Jesus briefly refers to himself as a shepherd, but now he elaborates on that metaphor with an “I am” statement much more familiar to us than the one about the gate: “I am the good shepherd.” And how do we know that he is the good shepherd? “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11)—lays it down voluntarily, as he will soon make clear (10:17-18).

As Jesus contrasted thieves and bandits with those who come through the gate earlier, now he opposes the good shepherd who will sacrifice himself for his sheep to a hired hand who will run away if he hears a wolf coming. And furthermore, Jesus isn’t just going to protect this one sheep pen: he has “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” (10:16).

Jesus’ audience—who, remember, were hearing this story as a response to their accusations and confusion over the source of his power—were not entirely convinced:

Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (10:20-21)

It is interesting to me how much this passage parallels our Epistle lesson from yesterday. People are confronted with Jesus’ miraculous power. They issue a challenge to that power, and testimony is given proving that the source of that power is divine and unique. Then they are asked to respond and follow the Good Shepherd. We (if we are Gentiles reading this devotional) are those “other sheep” of which Christ spoke. What will our answer be?

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Shepherd Appoints a Shepherd.