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| Good Shepherd Mosaic in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 425 |
“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.
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.
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| The Good Shepherd, 3rd century, Catacombs of Rome. |
“...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.
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.
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| 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 Lord is 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.
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| The Good Shepherd, c. 300-350, at the Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome |
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.
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