When we were talking about Jesus as the King and reflecting on
kingship and the king in the Holy Scripture, we said that theres a
sense in which the King is synonymous with the Son of God; the King
is synonymous with the LordAdonai, Kyriosthe King is synonymous
with Christos, the Anointed One, the Son of David. But what we want
to see today is that theres a very particular synonymity.
Synonymous with basileos, or king, is the Biblical term shepherd:
poimen, o poimen, the shepherd. That in the Bible, the kings of
Israel are called often the shepherds of Israel. Or theyre called
shepherd-kings, that they govern the flock of God.The same way that
God alone is the king, according to Scripture, God alone is the
Shepherd. That you have in the Psalter, for example, Psalm 80: Give
ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock.
Thou [who] art enthroned upon the Cherubim, shine forth. Stir up
thy might and come to save us.So you have all these images there:
shepherd, king enthroned, come and save, savior. So you have that
imagery used. For example, in Psalm 79, it says, Then we, thy
people, the flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee forever,
from generation to generation. So the people identify themselves as
the flock of God, and that God is the one who shepherds them.
Perhaps the most well-known line in the Scripture about the
shepherd is the Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd.Now, here again,
as we mentioned with the term king, very often its in verb form,
not noun form. We mentioned when we were speaking about the king
that sometimes its translated as The Lord is king, whereas in the
original language, it doesnt say, The Lord is king, but rather it
says, The Lord reigns; the Lord governs; the Lord rules, and then
its translated: The Lord is king.The same thing is true in Psalm
23, certainly in Greek. It doesnt say, The Lord is my shepherd. It
says, The Lord shepherds. The Lord does the act of shepherding.
Therefore, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He
leads me in paths of righteousness for his own names sake. So that
the Lord is shepherding. The Lord is doing the activity of
shepherding.Here you have exactly the same thing with shepherd as
you had with king. God is the king, but then there are human beings
who are appointed to be kings, and theyre supposed to reign and
rule according to God who is the king. And very often, in fact,
most often in the Scripture, they dont do this. They sin. They do
not bring the kingship and the lordship of God to the people. They
are wicked kings.The same thing is true about the shepherds. As a
matter of fact, as we just said, when the Scriptures, the Old
Testament particularly, speaks about the shepherds, theyre speaking
about the kings. Its the kings who are supposed to be shepherding
the flock, but they do not shepherd the flock. They, in fact, are
evil to the flock. They misuse the flock. They abuse the flock.
They dont care for the flock. They abandon the flock. They betray
the flock. They are just false shepherds, just like they are false
kings.So you have, in the Scripture, [these] woes against these
shepherds of Israel who destroy and scatter the sheep. [Probably]
the most violent examples that you find in the Old Testament
prophets are found in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. For example, Jeremiah
23:Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture, says the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people. You have
scattered my flock, have driven them away. You have not attended to
them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil-doing, says the
Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of the
countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their
fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set
shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no
more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the
Lord.And, of course, that particular verse continues now to use the
imagery of king.Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I
will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall [reign] as
king and deal wisely.So you have this woe against the shepherds who
are just not doing their job. Just like the priests, just like the
prophets. We saw already, speaking about the prophets and the
priests that they were just betraying God. The kings are betraying
God most of the time and so also are the shepherds.In Ezekiel, you
have exactly the same thing. You have the word of [the] Lord coming
to Ezekiel and instructing Ezekiel to inveigh against the
shepherds, the shepherd-kings. Lets just listen to what the Lord
says to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34).The word of the Lord came to me: Son
of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say
to them, even to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God, Ho,
shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves. Should not
shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves
with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the
sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not
healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have
not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and
harshness you have ruled them.So they were scattered because there
was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My
sheep were scattered. They wandered over all the mountains and on
every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the
earth with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you
shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.As I live, says the Lord God,
because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food
for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because
my shepherds have not searched for my sheep but the shepherds have
fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds,
hear the word of the Lord.Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am
against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand and
put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the
shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths
that they may not be food for them.And now listen to this: God is
going to say that he not only is against the shepherds, but that he
himself is going to rescue the sheep from the shepherds. Hes going
to care for the sheep against the shepherds. This is what it says
in Ezekiel:For thus says the Lord God: Behold I (I myself, the Lord
God, Adonai Eloheinu, the Lord God, the Kyrios, the Lord himself),
I myself, will search for my sheep. And I will seek them out as a
shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been
scattered abroad. So I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue
them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of
clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples
and gather them from the countries. I will bring them into their
own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the
fountains and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will
feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of
Israel shall be there pasture. There they shall lie down in good
grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains
of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will
make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, I will
bring back the strayed, I will bind up the crippled, and I will
strengthen the weak. And the fat and the strong I will watch over.
I will feed them in justice.As for you, my flock, thus says the
Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and
he-goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture,
that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture,
and drink of clear water, that you must foul the rest of your feet?
And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and
drink what you have fouled with your feet? Therefore, thus says the
Lord God to them: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat sheep
and the lean sheep, because you push with your side and shoulder
and thrust out at all the weak with your horns until you have
scattered them abroad. I will save my flock. They shall no longer
be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep, and I will set
over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them.
He shall feed them and be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be
their God, and my shepherd David will be prince among them. I, the
Lord, have spoken.And then that particular chapter ends with these
words:And they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them,
and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord
God. And you are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your
God, says the Lord God.Now, Christians believe that all this is
fulfilled in Jesus. In the Gospel of St. John, it says it
explicitly. We should remember one more thing before we take a look
at St. Johns Gospel on this point, and that is that the term
shepherd, which is synonymous with king, can also be translated
into English as pastor. Its the very same word: o poimen translated
shepherd, or Ego eimi o poimen o kalosI am the good shepherd which
we will have in John could just as easily be translated I am the
good pastor. And that is why the presbyters in the Church, what we
call, generally speaking today, the priests, the bishops and the
priests, are called pastors: pastors of the flock, pastors of the
sheep. Lets remember that shepherd and pastor are exactly the same
word. Theyre not two different words. Theyre exactly the same
word.What we want to do now is to go, line by line, through the
tenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. Hopefully, this
is familiar to all the listeners of Ancient Faith Radio, but its
important, when were thinking about the Shepherd, and reflecting on
the image of shepherd as the synonym of the King, [to remember
Davids] being the shepherd-king. Its not for nothing that David was
a shepherd-boy. Thats part of the symbolism of the Bible, that he
was taken from feeding the flock of sheep and then was placed over
[the people], taking care of Gods flock, who were the people of
Judah.Then, of course, you have in the Bible, whatever the actual
history was, its certainly the actual teaching that you have Israel
and Judah as one people, and the city of Jerusalem as the center.
So David, who comes from Ephratha, from Bethlehemand by the way,
when we spoke about David and the kingship, we neglected to mention
that you have the prophecy of Micah: And you, Bethlehem, smallest
of the people, in the land of Ephratha, from you shall come the
hegoumenosthe igumen, the leader, the governorof my people Israel.
Its Micah, very important, quoted in Matthews Gospel.But its not
for nothing that David is the shepherd-boy and then becomes the
shepherd of all of Gods people. He comes from Bethlehem and then he
builds the city of David which is Jerusalem, the city of peace.
Then Jerusalem becomes this great symbolical place for the
Christian faith. Then, of course, the claim is that Jesus brings us
to the New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, not a Jerusalem on
the map. So the real king is the [one of the] kingdom of God, who
enters and [is] enthroned in the heavens and not on some throne in
an earthly city, on the planet earth, some geographical location.
That is just basic to Christianity.Lets take a really close look at
the teaching in St. Johns Gospel about Jesus as the Shepherd. The
tenth chapter of St. Johns Gospel begins with these words:Truly,
truly, I say to you: He who does not enter the sheepfold by the
door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a
robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep.Now, lets just remember again that that particular
expressionTruly, truly, I say to you, or in King James, Verily,
verily, I say to you, or in Greek and other languages like
Slavonic, Amen, amen, I say to youthats a peculiarity of the
teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. He says Amen first. He says
it twice, to emphasize that this is not negotiable, and hes not
interested in your Amen. He doesnt care whether you say Amen to
what hes saying. In other words, whether you agree or dont agree is
beside the point. Im saying to you: Amen, amen, I say to youAmin,
amin, lego ymin. Thats it. Thats a categorical statement.So you
have a categorical statement here. Amen, amentruly, trulyI say to
you. But he begins by the imagery of the door, and claims that the
shepherd of the sheep enters by the door. And then, to him the
gatekeeper opens, the one who guards the door opens to the
shepherd, to let the shepherd in, because the gatekeeper opens, to
him the gatekeeper opens. And then the sheep hear his voice. And he
calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out.So the claim is
this: You have this gate, the door. The door is the door of the pen
where the sheep are kept. Then Jesus says thieves and robbers jump
over the fence or climb around it or dig under it or whatever. They
dont enter by the door. Only the shepherd enters by the door. And
the gatekeeper opens to the shepherd. Then when the shepherd comes,
it says, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by
name and he leads them out. Then it says, And when he has brought
out all of his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice.So what we want to remark about here is
very simple. Theres this incredible, intimate relationship between
the shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd knows the sheep, and the
sheep know the shepherd. The sheep know the shepherds voice, and
they follow him. And they wont follow the voice of a stranger. They
wont follow the voice of somebody they dont know. The sheep have to
know the voice, and they know that voice, and [they] follow
[him].Then it says, The shepherd knows the sheep by name. The sheep
[hear] his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them
out. Now this knowing by name is very important, because in the
Bible, the name of a reality is what it is, and everything has its
name. When you know the name of something, you know its reality.
When you know the name of something, you have a kind of a control
over it.That is why, in the Scripture, when Moses asks God his
name, God wont tell him! You know: Youre not going to have control
over me! I am who I am. I will cause to be what I will cause to be.
My name is Yahwehthis famous word, the [Tetragrammaton]. In other
words, God is the Name above every name. Then God makes the Name
above every name to be Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior, the
Christ, the King, the Shepherd. This Jesus gets the Name above
every name and thats the Name, and there is no other Name according
to Scripture. But naming here is very important. Thats why we say
in the Lords Prayer: Hallowed be thy name, because the name
signifies the very reality of the thing.When you know somethings
name, like Adam had to name the animals, it means you know it, you
really know it. You know it personally. And the name is very
important. Thats why the Ten Commandments even [say]: You shall not
take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. The Lords Prayer
says, Sanctified be your name. You do not take the Name lightly, in
vain. You dont defile the Name. You dont blaspheme the Name. You
are kept in the Name. You pray in the Name. The Name is very
important here, very, very important.When he says that he knows the
sheep by name, it means he knows who they are. He knows what they
are. He knows each one, very important, in his uniqueness. In his
or her uniqueness. There is a uniqueness to each reality. No two
lambs are the same. No two sheep are the same. It looks like a
whole flock, and it is a flock, but its a flock of individual
sheep, each with its own name.Most likely, the sheep of a flock
were not named. They werent given names. Only pets were given
names, especially if youre going to slaughter the sheep and eat
them, and the sheep are going to give their [lives] for you so you
could live, you didnt name them. But this is not what that means.
Knowing by name means he really knows them. They know his voice,
and he knows their name.Then you have another imagery being used
here, another image being used here, which is very, very important.
It says, He brought out all of his own. They are his. They belong
to him. So if theres a pastor, a shepherd, and there are sheep, the
sheep belong to the shepherd. Theyre his sheep. Well see later how
Jesus will speak about hirelings who run away because they dont own
the sheep.One of the things here, very important for Christians,
for sure, is that if Jesus Christ is our pastor, if he is our
shepherd, then we belong to him. Were his. He owns us. We do not
belong to [ourselves]. There are modern atheistic books now, like
Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, and they make a lot of
fun out of the fact, they ridicule the fact, they say, What kind of
a religion is it, Christianity, where the people are called flock,
where theyre called sheep, where they just sort of follow another?
They consider that demeaning, degrading, but we dont.We think thats
a very apt imagery, that we would identify [ourselves] as sheep,
because it means we have a Shepherd. It means we are not our own
ruler. We are not our own king. We are subjects. Yes, its true. We
are. If were creatures, we have a Creator. If were creatures, we
have [a Lord]. Were subjects. We are servants. And we identify
[ourselves] that way, and were proud of it, so to speak. We boast
of it. Were not ashamed of it. Were not ashamed to be called
servants. Were not ashamed to be called slaves. Were not ashamed to
be called subjects. Were not ashamed to be called sheep. Were not
ashamed to be called a flock, or [lambs]. In fact, what were saying
is that we belong to another. We belong to God. We belong to a
Lord.Then, of course, the most amazing thing, as well see very
soon, even on these radio meditations, we will see that the
Shepherd himself becomes a Lamb. And then the Book of Revelation
will say the Shepherd becomes the Lamb and then the Lamb becomes
the Shepherd and that the Shepherd himself, not only takes upon
himself the flock and goes searching for them, but he dies for
them. Well see that right now, just in a second. Were not there
yet.But what we want to see now is that, yes, were ready to say, We
have a Shepherd whose voice we know. And we have a Shepherd who
knows our names. Putting it personally: I have a Shepherd who knows
my name. He knows Tom Hopko. He knows me. He knows you. He knows
you by name. He knows me by name. Were all members of his flock,
but he doesnt just lump us all together. He knows each one of us,
and we, each one of us, have to know him. We have to know his
voice. We have to hear his voice.Jesus will even say in St. Johns
Gospel that the reason why some people do not recognize who Jesus
is, do not recognize his voice, is because they dont belong to him.
Theyre not his own. They belong to the devil. They belong to
themselves. They are themselves their own rulers. So if were not
ready to have God as our Lord and Ruler and our Shepherd, well
never know his voice. We wont follow him. Well just reject him.
Well ridicule him. Well make fun of him. Well crucify him by our
behavior.Jesus says the reason why you dont know me, he even says
to the people, [is] because youre not of God. If youre of God and
you recognize yourself as a creature and a child of God, you do
know who I am, and youd hear my voice and youd obey me, and youd
find obedience to me the most marvelous thing, and youd be the
happiest person on earth, to be a lamb, a sheep, that is part of my
flock. Then, of course, if you are a sheep, together with me, then
youve got to be with me as the Lamb of God. Well get to that, too,
but not right now.Here it says: They know his voice. And it says, A
stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure or this image
Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was
saying to them. So this is a parable. Its the parable of the
shepherd, the sheep, the sheepfold, the door, all this is parabolic
imagery, and those who are not of God do not understand it. Those
who are of God, and want to be of God, and say, Choose me, Lord. Be
with me, Lord. Let me be yours, they understand immediately what
hes talking about.Theres another point here that has to be made.
Notice that in this tenth chapter of St. Johns Gospeland I would
suggest: get your Bible out and read it carefully. Read it slowly.
Think about it. You know, a whole world will open before youbut one
of the points that weve got to comment on now is this, another of
the points: and that is that it says that the sheep follow the
shepherd. They know his voice and they follow him.Thats a very
peculiar thing, and its worth a comment, because the claim here is
that where Jesus was speaking, you might say the Middle East or
Judah, Israel, Palestine, whatever, the claim is that the shepherd
has such an intimate relationship with his flock and they know his
voice that they follow after him. They willfully, voluntarily
follow after him. They are not constrained or compelled to follow
after him. Thats very important because it means if we are indeed
going to identify ourselves as sheep with Jesus as our shepherd,
then we must follow him voluntarily. We hear his voice and follow
voluntarily. Only the stubborn sheep, or the bad sheep, run away.
Then, of course, the claim [is], as well see in a second, that the
shepherd goes after them. He goes after even the one that goes
astray. He lifts him up, puts him on his shoulders, brings him
back. But the obedient sheep voluntarily follow. They do not follow
out of constraint. They follow freely.Someone once said, I heard
this once in a talk, how a person was making this point, and they
said, If you go to the Middle East, very often youll see a shepherd
sitting on an animal, a donkey, and the shepherd will be riding,
and hell have his little bell, and hell have his voice, and the
sheep, docilely, will be following, obediently and orderly after
the shepherd. So then the speaker was making the point: You see,
the shepherd may have a crook, a staff, where he can pull back one
of the sheep whos straying, but he doesnt beat the sheep. He doesnt
use that staff to hurt them. He uses it to protect them, and to
protect them even against wolves and so on, as well see in a
second, where the imagery continues. But there is no compulsion.
Theres no beating. He doesnt push them into the pen. They follow
him freely.Well, when this man whos giving this talk was making
this point, a person in the audience raised a hand and said, Hey,
wait a minute! I was once in that part of the world and I saw a man
forcing, compelling the sheep, the flock, into the pen, pushing
them in, beating them in, whacking them across the rear end, making
them to go in. What youre saying isnt true!And then the speaker
said, Wait a minute. What you saw wasnt a shepherd. It was the
butcher. Ill never forget that. The butcher beats the sheep into
the pen and then butchers them. The shepherd doesnt butcher them.
He doesnt beat them. He calls them by name, and they follow him
freely. They follow him voluntarily. They are happy to be members
of his flock and to follow him.The people didnt understand all of
this, so it says, when we get down to John 10:7, Jesus again said
to them, Truly, truly, I say to you. Again you have this
expression: Amen, amen. Not negotiable. Im telling you this. And
then he doesnt say, I am the good shepherd. Hes going to say that
in a minute. He doesnt say it yet. What he says now is this: I am
the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and
robbers, but the sheep did not heed them. And remember, in the Old
Covenant, how these shepherds were bad. They were thieves. They
were robbers. They were not taking care of the flock, so they sheep
didnt follow them. They didnt want them.Very often the poor sheep
are the victims of the shepherds, and the shepherds act like
thieves and robbers. Thats true until this day. In the New
Testament Scriptures its going to say that you have to become
shepherds of the flock like Jesus is, not by domineering, not by
beating, not by compelling, not by gimmicking, not by tricking, not
by abusing and misusing, not by exercising violence or force. Its
got to be done freely, voluntarily. Its got to be done lov-ing-ly.
Its got to be done gently. This is the teaching about how shepherds
are to behave. Thieves and robbers dont behave that way. Even
hirelings, Jesus is going to say, those who are just hired, theyre
not really owning the flock: they dont behave that way.Jesus says
here, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not heed them. Then he says,
Ego eimi e thyra ton provatonI am the door of the sheep. And this
is one of the I am statements of Jesus: I am the door. I am the
door. I am the gate. And then he continues: If anyone enters by me,
he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief
comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I came that they
may have life and have it abundantly.So Jesus says, I am the door.
And he says, Thieves come to steal, kill, and destroy, but I come
that you may have life, and have life in abundance, abundant life.
And, by the way, in the Orthodox Church, this is whats read on the
festivals of the great pastors of the Church, the Church Fathers,
the great bishops: St. Nicholas, St. Gregory, St. John Chrysostom,
St. Basil. This is what we read in church about them. They are not
thieves. They are not robbers. They are shepherds, and they dont
come to steal and kill and destroy. They come that we may have
life, and have it abundantly.But then St. Johns Gospel continues.
Jesus not only says, I am the door of the sheepfold. I am the door
of the sheep, he says, I am (also I am) the good shepherd. You see?
Ego eimi o poimen o kalosI am the good pastor. I am the good
shepherd. And we all know that. I mean, if anybody knows anything
about Christianity, they have images of Jesus as a shepherd. They
see him with sheep around him. They see him with a sheep on his
shoulders. Thats a very common image. Lets hope that we never lose
that image.Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. Then he continues:
The good shepherd You see, the poimen o kalosand kalos is a
wonderful word. It means beautiful, good. Beautifully good, not
simply morally or ethically good. Its not agathos like a good
thing. Its kalos. Its a wonderful word. It means beautifully goodI
am the good, beautifully good, shepherd. Then it says the poimen
kalos, the good shepherd, lays down his life for the sheep.There
youve got it. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Hes ready to die for the sheep. We already thought about that when
we spoke about the king. If youre the king, youve got to die for
your subjects. If youre the shepherd, youve got to die for your
flock. And Jesus does. In fact, as the bridegroom, youve got to die
for the bride. Youve got to be ready to die for your wife. All the
images for Jesus are [of] the one whos ready to die, whos ready to
die, who comes in order to die. The bridegroom comes in order to
die for his bride. The good shepherd comes in order to die for his
sheep. The king comes in order to die for his subjects. This is the
Gospel. This is the New Testament teaching.So he says the good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He comes to give himself
for them, and thats just such a magnificent image. The good
shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Then Jesus continues: He
who is a hireling, and not a shepherdsomeone that they just
hirewhose own the sheep are notin other words, he doesnt own them;
theyre not hiswhen that hireling sees the wolf cominghe leaves the
sheep and he runs away!he leaves the sheep and he flees, and the
wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a
hireling, and he cares nothing for the sheep.So it shows that in
the Old Covenant, these kings and these shepherds, they cared
nothing for the sheep. They were not real shepherds. They were not
real kings. And, sad to say, thats also accusation made against the
pastors of churches today. St. John Chrysostom, for example, who
laid down his life for his sheep and was exiledall the great
bishops of the Church laid down their lives for their sheep;
sometimes they were even literally martyred for the sake of their
sheepbut St. John Chrysostom, he says, What kind of pastors do we
have, who are not only thieves and robbers and lechers and
God-knows-what, betraying their sheep day and night, but they sell
the sheep. They abuse the sheep. They flee from the sheep. They
dont protect the sheep. They care nothing for the sheep, because
theyre not real shepherds.So anyone whos a pastor of a churchif any
pastors listening, ask yourself the question: Am I real shepherd?
Am I real pastor? Am I ready to lay down my life for my sheep? Am I
real igumenos, abbot, the governor? Thats the expression used in
Micah. Am I ready as an abbot to lay down my life? Like a father.
Abbot means father, abba. Are we ready to die for our children, for
our sons? If were not ready to die for our kids, for our children,
were not [real parents]. Were not a real father. So: Are we a real
pastor? Are we a real shepherd?Jesus says, The person who is not a
real shepherd, when he sees danger, when he sees a wolf, he just
runs away. He protects himself. He flees, because he is a hireling
and cares nothing for the sheep. But then it continues: a second
time, exactly the same expression. Ego eimi o poimen o kalosI am
the good Shepherd. Twice he says it. He says it in the eleventh
verse; he says it in the fourteenth verse: I am the good Shepherd.
The good Shepherd: again, you have the definite article. Its not
simply I am a good shepherd, I am the good Shepherd. Just like
Jesus is not a king; he is the King. He is not a son of God; he is
the Son of God. He is not a teacher; he is the Teacher. He is not a
prophet; hes the Prophet. Hes not a high priest, or priest; he is
the Priest, and here he is the good Shepherd: o poimen o kalos:
definite articles.He says again: I am the good Shepherd. I know my
own and my own know me. There you have it again: intimate relation.
He knows the sheep; the sheep know him. And thats how it has to be.
By the way, for pastors, weve got to know our parishioners. Weve
got to know the members of our church. We have to know whos in our
flock. We have to know them by name. We should be able to name
everyone. It says, by the way, in the life of St. Polycarp of
Smyrnaone of the first Christian bishop-martyrs, very early,
probably a direct disciple of St. John the Theologian, in Smyrna,
Asia Minorit says when St. Polycarp of Smyrna was going to be put
to death for being a Christian and a Christian bishop, a Christian
pastor, he asked for one last wish, and they granted it to him. His
last wish was that he could pray for his flock. Then it says that
he went and prayed for every one of the members of his church by
name. He named each one of them. He knew their names.We have to
know peoples names. Even when we pray in the Orthodox Church, for
the people departed, we dont just say, All the departed, have mercy
on them, O God. We say their names: John, John, Anna, Mary, George,
Mike, Demetrios, Paphnutios, whatever their names are. We say their
names. Its a sign of respect. Its a sign of intimacy. Its a sign of
love, to know the name.So he says, I know mine, and my own know me.
As the Father knows me, and I know the Father. So he claims that
the same way he knows God, the Father, so he knows each one of his
sheep, each member of his flock, by name. Thats mind-blowing. Thats
totally amazing! Think about it, just think about it. Jesus says,
As I know my Father, God, and my Father, God, knows me, so I know
each one of my sheep, and each one of my sheep knows me. Thats just
amazing.Then he says, Andand here we go againI lay down my life for
the sheep. I give my life for the sheep. Then comes another, very
important sentence: And I have other sheep that are not of this
fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice so there
shall be one flock and one shepherd. One flock, one shepherd. The
usual interpretation of that is the Gentiles, not just the people
of Judah and Israel, but all the people of the earth, everyone who
knows Gods voice and wants to belong to God will belong to Jesus,
and Jesus will save them. And he gives his life for them.He said, I
have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also,
and they will heed my voice, so there shall be one flock and one
shepherd. When the Apostle Paul was defending that the Gospel was
for all the nations, he quoted Hosea and other prophets, Jeremiah,
by saying, I will be found by those who did not seek me. I will be
saved by those who did not look for me. And, of course, the main
teaching of Christianity is that Jesus is the Shepherd of every
human being, not just of Judah or Jews, but of Gentiles, of
everyone who lived, whoever they are. He is, at least in principle
Well, to put it another way: he is as far as he is concerned, the
Shepherd of everybody. The question remains whether we want to be
members of his flock, or whether were going to make fun of the
imagery of being the sheep in the flock of Christ.Then he
continues: So there shall be one flock and one shepherd. For this
reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may
take it [up] again. He says the reason that God his Father loves
him is because hes willing to lay down his life for the sheep. But
then he makes a very important theological point, very important.
He said, That I may take it up again.And then he continues: 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. This charge I
have received from my Father. Isnt that amazing? Because what Jesus
is saying is, Im laying down my life voluntarily. Nobody is forcing
me to do this. And he says, You even know what? I could raise
myself up again if I want to, too. I have power to lay down my
life. I have power to take it up. For example, in the Gospels where
the people chiding Jesus at the Cross, those men say to him, Does
not this man have the ... who opened the eyes of the blind, can he
not come down from the Cross? Of course he can!Even in the Garden
of Gethsemane in the synoptic Gospels, when the people come to
arrest Jesus in the garden, and its in St. John as well. He says,
Listen, I could call legions of the angels and wipe you all out if
I want to. Put that sword back. I am voluntarily laying down my
life for my sheep so that my sheep, voluntarily and not by
constraint and not by compulsion, but out of sheer love, will love
me in return. I will show my love for them by dying for them, and
they will show their love for me by voluntarily and freely loving
me.And Jesus said, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
In other words, You will obey me, because that will be the act of
love. Because I am the Shepherd; youre the sheep. Im the King;
youre the subjects. Im the Bridegroom; youre the bride. We can go
through all of this: I am the Vine; youre the branch. Well talk
about all of this as we continue. But he says, No one takes my life
from me. I lay down my life of my own accord. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it up again. This charge, this
command I have received from my Father, that this is what he has
come to do as the good Shepherd, to lay down his life for the
sheep.And then it says, as we continue reading in this chapter,
that there was a great division among the Jews because of these
words. Many of them said, This man has a demon. Hes crazy. Hes mad.
Hes insane. Why listen to him? Others said, These are not the
sayings of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the
blind?Then, further on, it says, There was the feast of the
dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter. Jesus was walking in the
Temple, in the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him
and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are
the Christ, tell us plainly.Jesus answered them, I told you, and
you do not believe. The works that I do in my Fathers name, they
bear witness to me, but you do not believe because you do not
belong to my sheep. There you have it. He says, If you really were
of my sheep, you would believe me; you would see this. How can you
say that Im a demon? How can you say that Im crazy? You say it
because you dont care about me. Thats the whole point. If you did,
you would know. He said, The works bear witness to me, but you do
not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.And then the
imagery of the sheep continues again. He takes it up again, and
this is what he says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and
they follow me. Thats how it all began.My sheep hear my voice, and
I know them and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life,
eternal life. And they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is
greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Fathers
hand. I and the Father are one.So he says that he and God are one,
and no one will ever be able to snatch his sheep from his hand.
Also, in speaking about the imagery of the shepherd, we know that
Jesus also says in the Gospel that the good shepherd goes after the
sheep that are straying, and that the angels in heaven rejoice more
over one who is lost and brought backthat image is used many times
in the Gospel: Like a woman who loses a coin and rejoices [when it
is found]. She has other coins, but she rejoices over the one
[which] is found.So he says the good shepherd goes after the sheep
who is lost. He finds them. He puts them on his shoulders. He
brings them back to the flock, and then they rejoice greatly that
the lamb who was straying is brought back. So this is what we read
in the Holy Scripture.We just want to point out that after the four
Gospels, the imagery of the shepherd and the sheep remains. The
letter to the Hebrews, for example, in the very end, the very last
chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, this is what we find written:
Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead, our Lord
Jesus ChristAnd then hes called:the great Shepherd of the sheep, by
the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good,
that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.So here, the letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus the great
Shepherd of the sheep. Its o poimen o megas: not only the good
Shepherd, but the great Shepherd, the chief Shepherd. And then even
the expressions chief Shepherd is used: the archepoimen, the chief
Shepherd of ton provaton, of the sheep. You have that expression
also being used: the chief Shepherd.You find it in the letters
attributed to St. Peter. For example, in the [first] letter of
Peter in the very last verses of the second chapter, you have this
said about Jesus. Ill read a lot of it. Ill read up high so you can
get the whole picture. It says:For this you have been called
because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that
you should follow his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was
found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in
return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he trusted to
him who judges justly. (Thats God the Father.) He himself bore his
sins in his body on the Tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.Thats a quote of
Isaiah. Then it says:For you were straying like sheep, but you have
now returned to the Shepherd (pastor, poimen) and guardian (it says
in the RSV; in Greek it says episcopos, bishop) of your souls.So
Jesus is called here the pastor and the bishop. If we translated it
ourselves, we might want to even translate it that way: You now
return to the pastor and the bishop of your lives, of your
souls.Now in that same first letter of Peter, in the fifth chapter
you find this expression. The author is writing to the presbyters,
the elders, and that presbyteroi, thats the term we use for our
priests in the Orthodox Church. We have episcopoi, bishops;
presbyteroi, presbyters, we call them priests in English; and
diakonoi, the deacons, both men and women deacons. So here you have
presbyteroi:I exhort the elders among you as a fellow presbyter and
a witness martys, of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker
in the glory that is to be revealed.Then this is what Peter says:
Tend the flock of God. Its Gods flock; its not yours. Tend the
flock of God that is in your charge. In other words, that you have
to take care of, thats under your authority. Its Gods flock, but
its in your charge. And earlier, when it says that hes not only the
pastor but hes the episcopos, we should remember that episcopos was
the name of a chief slave in a household. An episcopos was the one
who governed all the masters goods and the masters people and the
masters property, the masters possessions, but he wasnt the master
himself. He was in charge, but he was in charge of that which
belonged to another.So here it says, Tend the flock of Godits Gods
flockthat is in your charge. Now here you have also this same
teaching: Not by constraint, but willingly. In other words, no
compulsion, no beating, no manipulation, no threatening, nothing
harmful. Not by constraint, but willingly or voluntarily. Then it
says: Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not as domineering over
those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. So the
presbyter, as pastor, is to be an example to the flock. And then it
says, And when the chief Shepherdin Greek its archepoimen, the
chief Shepherd; the same way that Jesus is called archeiereus, high
Priest, well now its archepoimen, high Shepherd, high Pastorso When
the high Pastor (or the chief Pastor) is manifested, you will
attain an unfading crown of glory. Then it even says, it
continues:Likewise, you that are younger should be subject to the
presbyters. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one
another, for God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that in
due time he may exalt you.But here weve got it. The earthly pastors
in the Church, the presbyters, the bishops, the episcopoi and
presbyteroi, are to tend the flock of God in their chargebut its
Gods flock, not theirsnot by constraint, but willingly. Not for
shameful gain, but eagerly. Not as domineering over those in their
charge, but by being examples to the flock. And when the chief
Shepherd, the archepoimen, is manifested, the high Shepherd, the
high Pastor, they, these shepherds, will obtain the unfading crown
of glory. So this is what the teaching is.Theres one more verse
that we really have to recall when we think about these things, and
its found in the Apocalypse. In the Apocalypse as were going to see
very soon, in our next meditation, probably, Jesus is not only
called the good Shepherd, hes called the Lamb. Hes called the Lamb
of God who is slain, the Lamb of God who is killed. So hes not only
the Shepherd, but hes the Lamb. And well see that in the Book of
Revelationand I will bring before your attention every single verse
in the Book of Revelation where Jesus is called the Arnion, the
Lamb of God.But theres one line that we must think about just now,
just mention at least right now. And thats in the seventh chapter
of the Book of Revelation, where it says that the Lamb of God is on
the throne, together with him who sits upon the throne, which is
God. So there is the throne of God and the throne of the Lamb, and
they are on the same throne. And then it says that all the people
were singing out to him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.
They were clothed in white robes. They had palm branches in their
hands.They were crying out with a loud voice, Salvationor Victory
or Conquering: Soteria which in Hebrew means also conquering or
triumph or victory, salvationbelongs to our God who sits upon the
throne and to the Lamb, and blessing and glory and wisdom and
thanksgiving and honor and power to our God and to him who sits
upon the throne, the Lamb. Then it says these people who came, who
have these white garments, their garments are white because they
were washed in the Blood of the Lamb. And then it saysthis is the
verse were searching for now:For the Lamb in the midst of the
throne will be their Poimen (their Shepherd), and he will guide
them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes.So its amazing that in the book of Revelation it
says, The Lamb will be their Shepherd. The Arnion will be their
Poimen. Its beautiful, isnt it? That the great Shepherd of the
sheep, the chief Shepherd, the good Shepherd, becomes the Lamb, and
the Lamb in the midst of the throne with God will be their
Shepherd. So the Lamb becomes our Shepherd, and our Shepherd
becomes the Lamb of God.And so we will, at another time, meditate
on Jesus, not simply as the good Shepherd, but as the Lamb of God,
the Sheep who takes away the sins of the world. But for today, what
we must always remember is that the Lord Jesus Christ, the King,
the Anointed One, is also the Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the
chief Shepherd, the good Shepherd, and that he gives his life for
the sheep. He knows the sheep; the sheep know him. They follow him
voluntarily. He loves them. He knows their names. He does not flee
when evil comes. He protects them. He dies for them, and he gives
his life for them. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Lord, the
Christ, the King, the Teacher, the Prophet, the High Priest, is
also the Good Shepherd.
