1.         After the appearances of Jesus to his friends and followers had come to an end they must have been anxious to recall all they could of what he had said to them before his death.  Eventually those recollections were written down and became what we call the 'Gospels' today.  One of the many things they remembered and which they considered worthwhile recording was that on one occasion Jesus had spoken of himself as being like a good shepherd.

 

            We know how disappointed and dismayed even his disciples and friends were when Jesus was put to death.  All that they had expected of him had come to naught.  They had hoped that he would be the 'Messiah', the one who would set the people of Israel free again.  "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." - the disciples on the road to Emmaus said to the 'stranger' who had joined them on the way.  Indeed, the picture of the disciples in those first days after the death of Jesus is of a group in complete disarray, bewildered, and at a loss as to what they should do next.  In fact, they were all going their several ways when Jesus began appearing to them.

 

            And we saw, last Sunday, when reflecting on the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection, that he made no attempt to get things organized and in order for the time when he would be no longer with them in a visible manner.  All he did during those forty days was to spend time with those to whom he appeared.  He talked with them, he walked with them, he ate with them, giving the impression that he was just happy to be in their company and also reassuring them that it was really he in person, in flesh and blood, who was back with them again.  He did tell them that they were to continue his work but he gave them no detailed instructions, if any at all, as to how they were to go about doing that.

 

            The disciples had obviously to rethink their image and understanding of Jesus and his mission.  After all they had got it wrong the first time! So, we can well imagine how they must have tried to recall and record what he had said and done during the three years of his public ministry.  One of the things, which they felt was important if they were to understand Jesus properly, was the story which we have read in today's Gospel; how Jesus had on one occasion compared himself to a 'good shepherd.'

 

 2.         The 'Good Shepherd' - not a very inspiring or imposing image for one whose aim was to change and transform the world, to inaugurate the kingdom of God.  But perhaps it is an image worth looking at again in the light of others who also set out to reshape the world.  And we don't have to look too far for examples of those whose aim was just that.  Indeed, the last century has given us many such examples - men like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and many others, not so infamous but equally ruthless.  All of them in their zeal to set things right in the societies (countries) in which they lived and came to power, unleashed untold suffering and hardship on the peoples whom they believed and proclaimed they were leading to an earthly paradise, not to mention the millions whom they exterminated, wiped from the face of the earth, because they were seen as a threat or obstacle to their objectives and dreams.  Surely, there is something prophetic in Jesus saying that all others, apart from himself, "are thieves and robbers" and that they came "only to steal, and kill and destroy."  That is precisely what so many self-proclaimed ‘saviors’ have done and continue to do even today.                     

             But you might say, what of all the good intentioned people who really set out to serve others.  Of course we must praise and support them in their efforts to be of service to their fellow brothers and sisters.  Are these too to be included in the "all others" to which Jesus refers and whom he calls "thieves and robbers".  Romano Guardini believes that even these (yourself and myself included) come under the judgment passed by Jesus.  Let me read for you what he says - "Are we offended by the words "thief", "robber"?  Let us be honest, how deeply must we penetrate human nature before we strike greed and violence?  Christ says: Greed and violence are also to be found in the wise man who teaches wisdom, in the preacher who preaches piety, in the teacher who educates, in the superior who commands, in the lawgiver who creates justice, in the judge who metes it out - in all of us!  Only One is entirely free from them.  One only speaks pure truth in love and sincere devotion:  Jesus Christ.  He is the door to mankind and he alone!”                                                                                                                           It’s a sobering thought to realize that all our motives, no matter how well intentioned they may be, are tainted.  But it’s a comforting thought to know that there is one who loves and values us, not for any ulterior motive, but for ourselves.  And the depth of his caring is affirmed when he tells us - "I lay down my life for my sheep."

                                                                                                            

3.         And the relationship which appears from the story of the 'good shepherd'!  It certainly cannot be said to have anything to do with greed or violence, with politics or economics where people are important only in so far as they serve to promote the power or the wealth of others.  In both cases people are important only to the extent that they serve the purposes of others, be they political or economic.  They are not regarded as having any great worth in themselves and for that reason they are usually reduced to statistics, faceless people without a name.

 

            In the parable the relationship is altogether different.  There the sheep are known by name and they are familiar with the voice of the shepherd.  All the shepherd's interest is to serve their needs, not his own.  "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  This Jesus knows us intimately and his concern is only for our well-being. 

 

            No wonder the disciples thought it worthwhile recalling the story of the 'good shepherd'.  No matter how they might be treated by the world around them, and no matter how they might even ill-treat one another, there was one who would always be a true and faithful friend and companion in all the ups and downs of life.  And it is that knowledge which has given hope and courage and optimism to the followers of Christ down through the ages.  It is one of the ways in which we can serve best our own tormented world - by keeping alive that same hope, courage and optimism even in the midst of doom and disaster.

 

 4.         And the question of hope and optimism for the future is no empty question, no futile rhetoric.   One commentator on the direction which our world seems to be taking, asks himself the question - "Can hope persist without faith in some God?  The humanists attempted to raise man to the status of God.  Man's faith in himself, however, has not taken root.  The pessimism of our age stems from the conviction that man, either because of inherent inadequacy of his nature or because of the environment he created for himself, has only a grim future (if any) to look forward to.  The two presumed sources of man's plight are, of course, inter-related.  As to which is the primary source, the answer is not of the 'either-or' type.  Man may have created the environment in which he finds himself because 'he is what he is'.  But he may have become what he seems to be because of the environment he created.  If so, then the view that man has attained freedom from the tyranny of nature by shaping his environment 'to suit his needs' must be critically re-examined.  Indeed, judging by the ground swell of lamentation and despairing prognoses of impending doom that now dominate the 'collective voice of civilized man', the opposite view is already in ascendance:  that the man-made environment is enslaving man, perhaps dooming him to extinction, by endowing him with the power to destroy himself."

 

(Anatol Rapoport, Conflict in Man-Made Environment, Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1974, p 94)

 

            It might well be said that the world needs more than ever the hope and assurance which comes from knowing that the risen Lord, the 'Good Shepherd' is still with us and is still caring for us.