Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but
they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the
gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the
sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be
saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.” John 10:6-10
My Dad has a lot of
great sayings on his office wall. My favorite is, “Live fully, love wastefully,
and have the courage to be yourself.”
God loves us “wastefully”
or with an abundance beyond the limits of our conception.
.
Even hen Jesus tries to
describe God’s wasteful love by using overly-familiar images of temple, sheep
gate, shepherd and sheep his followers “
… did not understand what he was saying to them.” (Jn 10:6) In the midst of the harsh realities of their
lives in the ancient world, I imagine it was easier to believe in a violent and
vengeful God than the one Jesus is describing. In the end, he has to spell it
out for them and give them the definitive good news that “I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
Our lives sometimes make
it hard to see, but Jesus reminds us God’s love is huge and obvious as the temple, humble and
gentle like a sheep, guiding us like a shepherd, and safely leading us to
holiness through the “gate” that is communion with his love for us.
Jesus is shepherd, gate,
and sheep rolled into one. He is self-giving, guiding, saving love made plain
for all humanity. Abundant life- being truly human- is found not in “killing
and destroying” but in constantly orienting our lives (with God’s help) towards
self-sacrifice, humility and compassion for ourselves, others, and the world.
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