And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.
Claude-Guy Halle, "The Deliverance of St. Paul and St. Barnabas" detail
And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
Claude-Guy Halle, "The Deliverance of St. Paul and St. Barnabas" detail
So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.
Claude-Guy Halle, "The Deliverance of St. Paul and St. Barnabas" detail
Then the churchesthroughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
Claude-Guy Halle, "The Deliverance of St. Paul and St. Barnabas"
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep..."
You've heard it before. It has a familiar ring to it. Maybe not the music from the Italian opera L'Orfeo but you've probably heard of the Good Shepherd. The phrase is used all over the place. Maybe it was the title of a preschool or nursing home in your community. Maybe it was the name of a cemetery or local Lutheran Church in your area. Maybe you've heard it in a sermon or read this verse. It's a catchy title that evokes a strong visual image in our minds. It's been that way all throughout history and was one of the first images that Christians used to represent Christ in art. The familiar image of the shepherd spoke to both the aesthetic and theological sensibilities of early Jewish and Gentile believers alike. There was something about this metaphor from Jesus that they already knew. Like a chorus it repeated a theme that they had been learning over the centuries. That musical and poetic idea of repeating a theme or phrase several times is a homiletic tool that Jesus used often. In one form or another Jesus would often repeat the main idea. The best example of this is the Beatitudes part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus repeatedly starts off each section with "Blessed are" and follows it with a different aspect of being his follower and the the blessing that it yields. In today's Scripture reading gets a little more expressive while utilizing that poetic structure. He will vary how he uses the repeated phrase. First he opens with the the main theme; the phrase to be repeated like a musical refrain. He follows it by an explanation of of the main theme. Then later he breaks up the theme by stating the first part and then encasing the second part of the theme inside of the explanation of the theme. Finally Jesus begins with the explanation of the theme, encases the second part of the theme within the explanation and only insinuates the first part of the theme. Now I know that this may all seem technical and confusing but understanding how the first part of the theme (where Jesus says "I am the Good Shepherd"), the second part of the theme (where Jesus says "The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep") and its explanation will help us understand what Jesus is telling us in John 10:11-18. It will also explain why it has always seemed so familiar to diverse people throughout history. Like the opera L'Orfeo, John 10:11-18 shares the image of the singing shepherd.
“...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep..."
To Jesus' original Jewish audience the song of the Good Shepherd would have seemed familiar. They would have remembered reading through the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) and listening to the story of another singing shepherd: David. They knew how the writer of many of the Psalms had started off as a humble shepherd over his father's flock. They had heard the stories of how he had fought off ferocious beasts all to protect his beloved sheep. He was a good shepherd and Jesus' first century Jewish listeners knew what a good shepherd looked like. They knew the Palestinian shepherding custom of protecting the opening of the sheepfold (livestock corral) by sleeping in front of it. hey knew that there were literal gates of wood or stone that guarded the sheep. There was only protective gate of a sleeping shepherd. Any wolves or thieves would literal have to come in over "their dead body." So just as Jesus said, they would literally "lay their life down" for heir sheep. But Jesus' Jewish listeners would also know the second part of David's like; how he went from presiding over a congregation of sheep to ruling over the congregation of Israel. The singing shepherd became a singing King. They would have remembered reading how David was made a king while yet a lowly shepherd when the prophet Samuel anointed his head with oil. That was the "crowning" process for Israelite kings; therefore the Kings where not referred to as the Crown (as we do in the English speaking world), or the crowned one but the Anointed One (or Messiah/Mashiach/מָשִׁיחַ in Hebrew). David was not only the image of the ideal shepherd and songwriter but also the ideal king. Yet Jesus' Jewish listeners would also be familiar with the dark chapter in David's life. It was an episode filled with adultery, scandal, murder and political corruption. Even though David would later repent of his grave sins, the lesson was still evident: David was only a hireling. Whether it was overseeing his father's flock of sheep or God's people Israel, he had always only been a custodian of someone else's possession. He was a good hireling. We could even say that he was the greatest hireling. No doubt he was better than the Pharisees of Jesus' day that passed themselves off as the spiritual shepherds of Israel. But at the end of the day David, the Pharisees or any other former leader of God's sheep were only men who saw the wolf of sin, greed or temptation coming and failed to protect the sheep. Jesus was not a hireling because the sheep were his and he was willing to lose his life from the judgment of sins that he did not commit rather than lose any of his sheep. This Jesus was the Shepherd of Shepherds. This Messiah was the King of Kings.
"...I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd..." As you may be aware, Jesus' original Jewish audience was not the only audience to hear his message about the Good Shepherd. You and I have heard it as well and I assume that neither of us are first century Jews who have lived for 2,000 years. Some in Jesus' original audience eventually wrote down their memories of his life and sermons (we call them gospels). Tradition holds that the first century Jew that wrote down the story of the Good Shepherd was a disciple/apostle named John (hence this Gospel being named "John"). In the period after Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension their were several Greek speaking Jews who joined this predominately Hebrew speaking Jewish movement. By that point in history their where several Jewish communities (the Diaspora) all over the Gentile (and Greek speaking) world. Due to the efforts of one of these Greek speaking (or Hellenistic) Jews named Paul of Tarsus, several Greek speaking Gentiles would eventually join Christianity. So by the time when the Gospel stories were finally written down, they were done so in Greek since it was the new lingua franca of those who believed in Jesus. Whether they were Jews or Gentiles, they all would have been most culturally familiar with all things Greek. To John's Greek speaking audience the song of the Good Shepherd would have sounded familiar. They would have remembered reading through the old Greek mythological tales and listening to the story of another singing shepherd: Orpheus. Now they would have been aware that just like the Hebrews, the Greeks had many tales of noble shepherds but Orpheus stood out amongst all of them due to his shepherding his flock through the power of music. One tradition holds that his musical power was so strong that it displayed a supernatural origin. For it was said that Orpheus was no mere man but rather the son of the Greek mythological god Apollo. The myths say that Orpheus not only gleaned the fleece if his own flock but he even appeared in appeared in the legend of Jason and the Argonauts; joining these heroes as they travelled abroad in persist if the Golden Fleece. John's Greek audience would have known that the singing shepherd Orpheus was the one would end up saving these sailors from the deadly seduction of the sirens through the power of his song. Also John's Greek readers would have known Orpheus as the singing shepherd that descended into Hades to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, who died. It was said that Orpheus' music was so powerful that it overpowered the power of Death itself. But even with all of these amazing tales, John's Greek audience would have heard the story of Orpheus' death. They would have known that Orpheus' music would live on but not his body...and that is the beginning of the differences between the singing shepherd Orpheus and the singing shepherd Jesus. For when Jesus was tortured to death by the hands if his enemies (like Orpheus) he would later physically rise again (unlike Orpheus). Jesus was not only the son of a god but rather the only begotten Son of the only living God. When Jesus left his (Jewish) flock it wasn't to fleece the flock of another but rather to retrieve that other (Greek and Gentile) flock and make the two into one. Jesus also descended into the abode of Death to retrieve his wife, but her name was Ecclesia. This Ecclesia is the Greek word for the Church. This Church was the congregation of all believers; Hebrew, Greek, Jew and Gentile). This congregation is the gathering of all of God's precious sheep.
The Good Shepherd, Christian catacombs show Orpheus surrounded by Biblical scenes. Another shows him carrying a lamb
The Scriptural Community
“...Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
So there is yet one more the community to consider the song of the shepherd. This community's members are all of the other books of Scripture. We treat the Bible as one book but it is probably better termed an anthology. The Bible is a book of books and the word "bible" literally means "the books." So when we attempt to discern the meaning of a certain passage of scripture it must be considered in the context of all of Scripture. We must ask what the general testimony (or as Jesus said "the spirit") tells us. When we consider the song of the shepherd against the context of the audience of Scripture in general it echoes back an earlier harmonizing song of a shepherd. This song, Psalm 23, is probably the most famous scripture about a shepherd. It is also a Psalm written by King David. In it David recognizes that he is not only a lowly hireling but also a sheep when compared to God. It starts with the familiar opening: "The Lordis my shepherd" You have probably heard of this Psalm, but what you may not have considered is that in the original text it starts with two different words. Two different words that compose one name. "יְהֹוָה" In English the those four Hebrew letters translate as YHWH which is usually fully spelled out as Yahweh. This was God's revealed name to Moses and it literally means "I Am." Due to their fear of breaking the third Commandment (taking the Lord's name in vain), the scribes of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) would read them aloud they would replace the name "Yahweh" with the term "The Lord." When the Scriptures were translated to other languages the translators just went with "the Lord" or some other phrase to refer to "Yahweh." So the original Psalm 23 in Hebrew actually begins with: "Yahweh is my shepherd" Or to read it literally: "'I Am' is my shepherd"
So why am I making a big deal of this? It is because Psalm 23 sets the tone for how we should view God's shepherding and pastoral role all throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The community of books that comprise the Hebrew Scriptures all agree with the identity of the true shepherd of Israel being the God of Israel; "I Am." To this community, to his original Jewish audience and to the eventual Greek speaking audience, Jesus begins his story with:
"I am the good shepherd"
The identity of Jesus' shepherd is the same as the identity of David's shepherd in Psalm 23. The shepherd is God. But as Jesus' adversaries immediately gathered, Jesus was also boldly and publicly revealing the fuller identity of the shepherd. This singing shepherd, the good shepherd, the God of the Universe was Jesus himself. He had the power to lay down his life and take it up again because he was the Creator and originator of life.
So by now you may have gathered that the opera L'Orfeo is about Orpheus. You may have also gathered that all of the murals, mosaics and statues of the young, beardless, musical shepherd in the Christian catacombs and churches of the ancient world were also images of Orpheus. Now I am not offering this as some syncretistic, conspiracy theory where the early Christians believed Jesus to be the son of Apollo (or any other false god). However they did see in Orpheus a symbol for Christ. Likewise they also saw in King David a shadow/prefiguring of Christ. And of course they saw the fullness of the Godhead revealed in Christ. The early Christians who made these images, just like the Apostolic generation, saw Christ revealed in every depiction of Deity. Now this can be a little dangerous since many mythical narratives of pagan cultures present a capricious and/or evil depiction of Deity. But it is important that we not lose sight of their overall argument just because of the limits of its particularities. What these early Christians were saying is that God had been working through and shepherding all of humanity (even in our foolish myths and superstitions) to one day recognize the truth that is found in Christ Jesus. All along, in all of our cultural and personal histories God has been in the background wooing us by the sound of His song in the background. He has been using the sweet, merciful, shepherd song of Jesus to one day gather all of His flock home.
James Tissot, The Offering of Melchizedek. Genesis
Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.
James Tissot, The Ark Passes Over the Jordan
All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me, Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.
James Tissot, Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark
The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
James Tissot, The Seven Trumpets of Jericho
Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them, And I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, Through which the righteous shall enter.
James Tissot, Abraham and the Three Angels
I will praise You,
For You have answered me, And have become my salvation.
James Tissot, God Renews His Promises to Abraham
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
James Tissot, Nathan Rebukes David
Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.
“Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
Argentinian gathering of the early Salvation Army
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
by Him this man stands here before you whole.
Norwich Citadel Band was established in 1882 following a visit by General William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army
This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.
Salvation Army co-founders William and Catherine Booth on their wedding day
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved"
Turn of the century Salvation Army motor-car tour from England to Scotland with William Booth
Luke 24:35-48 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you...” In the Art world Nam June Paik is widely understood to be the
"Father of Video Art." Maybe it would be better if we revised
that title to the "Father of Television Art." When this Korean born
artist began working in this medium in the late 1960's there were several other
contemporary artists (like Andy Warhol) who were experimenting with film as a
medium. What separated Nam June Paik from the rest of the field was that he was
not only interested in the video or film that played on the television screen,
he was also interested in the old cathode ray tube television set itself as an
object. He treated the television as both a two dimensional canvas of
moving images to be manipulated and a three dimensional sculptural object to be
stacked in duplicate. He was even interested in broken TV’s. This is where Nam
June Paik still stands out unique from any video artist that followed him. He
made one form of art that allowed the viewer to witness another form of art…
yet all in the same medium. The fullness of this experience was one that the
original viewers walked away from knowing that they had witnessed something
that would change history. They experienced this moment just by watching. That
is the nature of witnessing; it begins with watching. That is the power of being
a witness; it begins with watching. At least that’s what the New Testament’s
idea of what witnessing and being a witness is. Luke 24:35-48 tells the story of one of
Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and those who witnessed it. The fullness of this experience
was one that the original viewers walked away from knowing that they had
witnessed something that would change history. They experienced this moment
just by watching.
Nam June Paik, Magnet TV
Watch/Witness the Suffering
"...But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet..."
Nam June Paik/s video art was born from death. Luckily it wasn’t
the death of the artist or anyone close to him. It actually wasn’t the death of
a human at all. It was born from the death of a television set. The seemingly
and antiquated kitsch box television sets that Paik used in his early works
were state of the art at the time. Even so they came with several fatal flaws
and when the cathode ray tube went out the screen would fail to emit the desired
image…yet it still emitted an image. So Paik stumbled upon his genre-defining
medium by accident. He indeed was intending to use a television in a fluxus
performance piece but the television broke. It only displayed a gray screen
with a vertical light beam. Paik decided to turn the television on its side and
include it in the show. He realized that even in this diminished state the TV
still retained visual power. Even in its death it emitted a light. The same can
be said of Christ. When he appeared to this gathering of his followers they
find it hard to believe that he is the same Jesus that they saw die; the same
Jesus that was rumored to be resurrected. The evidence that Christ uses to
witness them is the marks of his suffering. They witness of the truth and power
of Christ is the light of his suffering.
Nam June Paik, Dadaikseon (The More the Better)
Watch/Witness the Food
"...But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?”So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.And He took it and ate in their presence..."
Nam June Paik’s largest work makes me think of food. Maybe it’s
just me. Nevertheless it’s still about a type of consumption. In a piece
entitled “Dadaikseon (The More the Better)” Paik fills
the atrium of the National
Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea with a multi-screen video
installation that towers throughout the space like a gigantic wedding cake.
This piece is not about the consumption of food but rather the consumption of
images. In the consumption of images we consume popular culture. In consuming
popular culture we form ideas (in agreement and opposition). Indeed we are what
we eat. This identity forming consumption is experienced by watching. Jesus’
second witness in Luke 24:35-48 takes the form of food. The story follows the
episode in Emmaus when the two disciples realize who Jesus is “in the breaking
of the bread.” So when Jesus appears to them again (while they are witnessing
to a room full of their fellow followers) he uses food again. The food that
Christ consumes to reveal his identity (this time) is fish. These may seem like
isolated episodes in history but they are actually harbingers of precedent.
They look pack to the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine at the
Last Supper (which in itself looks back to Passover), while simultaneously
looking forward to the continual Christian practice of celebration the
Eucharist (communion). When we eat the bread and drink the wine as the body and
blood of Christ as members of the body of Christ we witness to the suffering of
Christ. We witness of the truth and power of Christ that is in the light of his
suffering.
Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway
Watch/Witness the Word
"...Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem..."
Nam June Paik (just like Andy Warhol) was one of those twentieth
century artists who wasn’t just famous for his artworks but for his words…words
that had an uncanny ability to be predictive of the future. Andy Warhol was
famous for having foreseen a day when everyone would be famous for fifteen
minutes, Our contemporary world sees this as being fulfilled in the viral video
phenomenon, reality TV and instant celebrity culture. Nam June Paik was an
early adaptor of he term ‘electronic super highway.” It appears that Paik’s
obsession with images lead him to foresee the internet and the “information
super highway.” Paik’s words were a witness of things to come. Jesus’ third
witness that he presents in today’s scripture reading is a reading of scripture
past. He tells of the greats of the Old Testament and how their words witnessed
of things to come. Truly the written Word of God (prophesy) witnessed to the incarnate
Word of God (Jesus), When we read to the Bible today, we must do so
understanding that it is not just a random sampling of cultural narratives, it
is not just a book of promises for our personal motivation; it is an Divinely
intentional document with an end in mind. That desired end is the revealing of
Jesus Christ. It witnesses of the truth and power of Christ that is in the
light of his suffering. And that revelation of Christ has an end goal in mind
as well…
Nam June Paik, TV-Buddha
Watching/Witnessing his own Image "...And you are witnesses of these things."
Nam June Paik’s most famous work is entitled TV-Buddha. Like
many of the artists that I cover on this blog, Nam June Paik was not a
Christian Yet like many of those other creators, there is a parallel to the
story of the Creator in their own stories Nam June Paik was a Buddhist Though
he practiced art in several parts of the world, his television works occurred
when he moved to the United States. It was a time when Buddhism (and Eastern
religions) became en vogue amongst many in the Western artistic and academic
crowds. For Nam June Paik it was not something exotic and new but rather
something that he had witnessed since birth. If not personally and religiously he still
understood Buddhism and its founder Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)
philosophically and culturally. So he incorporated the Buddha in several of his
TV pieces. In them a Buddha statue sits in front of a camera while
simultaneously facing a live video feed of itself on a TV screen. It is a
depiction of a presumed deity watching himself. As you may be aware, I am a
practicing Christian, however I see a parallel behind the image of this video
sculpture and the intention of today’s scripture. Jesus is the true Deity that
watches to witness his the duplication of his image. When Christ said to his
followers in that room, ‘You are
witnesses of these things” he was also speaking to us. We are witnesses to the
things that he has witnessed to us. We are witnesses to the things that his
disciples and followers through the ages have witnessed to us. We are witnesses
of his suffering. We are witnesses of his meal. We are witnesses of his Word.
We will be witnesses to the change that he brings in our own personal lives. Just
like Nam June Paik’s sculptures, Jesus desires to sculpt us into his own image
bearers. Our lives are to depict his power, truth and mercy on their surfaces.
God is watching for our witness. And witnessing begins when we start watching.
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