A Reflection, from Fr. Gareth Ingham, for the 4th Sunday of Easter
Sunday’s gospel reading is taken from one of my favourite books of the Bible, the Gospel according to St John. It’s a Gospel that does what it says on the tin, it was written so that we may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ.
One of the many reasons I like it so much, is to do with what are called the ‘I Am’ sayings. Where Jesus, famed for teaching in metaphors, similes, and parables, claims to be all manner of things: Jesus says:
I am the Bread of Life
I am the Light of the World
I am the Resurrection and the Life
I am the Way and the Truth and the Life
I am the Vine
I am the Gate
and then the one we find in Sunday’s Gospel reading:
I am the Good Shepherd
Now, Jesus doesn’t use all of these ‘I am’ statements to suggest that he is like a bit of bread, or a few rays of light, or that some of the things he says are truthful. In these statements he is saying, ‘I Am the Bread’, ‘I Am the Light’, ‘I Am the Truth’.
And those who hear him will remember where they have heard a similar ‘I AM’ statement before. It was in the book of Exodus when Moses was a shepherd, keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. He sees a bush burning but not consumed. God calls out to Moses from the bush and when Moses asks the Lord’s name, God replies ‘I AM WHO I AM’. This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations. ‘I AM WHO I AM’.
So, when Jesus says, ‘I Am’, he is identifying himself with the voice in the burning bush, with the divine, with the name above all names; with God – the ground of all our being and creation.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
He’s simply the one who makes us lie down in green pastures;
who leads us beside still waters; who restores our souls.
Who leads us in right paths, for his name’s sake.
Amen
Fr. Gareth
Priest in Charge – The Benefice of CRIFTINS with DUDLESTON and WELSH FRANKTON
and The Benefice of PETTON with COCKSHUTT, WELSHAMPTON, and LYNEAL with COLEMERE.
Feature Image: Rosary_Team_-Gentle_Jesus_Good_Shepherd-_Public_Domain