Breaking the Word

The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." (Jn 10:22-30)

The people who do not belong to the fold of Jesus are they that suspect him and question him. They do not believe either. The people see all the activities of Jesus and they listen to his preaching and they are the spectators when Jesus does mighty works. Yet they doubt about his identity and suspect and question about his whereabouts etc.

The people who belong to Jesus are they that listen to him gladly, they follow him and they believe in him. There is a sense of belonging in them which in turns keeps them close to Jesus and Jesus himself protects them and no one can take them away from Jesus. They are rewarded with eternal life which is equal to saying that they share the inner life of Jesus here on earth which will continue for ever.

Jesus does all these things because he is from the father and the father has commissioned him for this work and it is to him that Jesus belongs. Jesus belonging to the father is so much that they both become one. There is such a belief among the on each other and openness and sharing and following of one another that they become one. The disciples of Jesus should be so with Jesus.

"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came (before me) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. (Jn 10:1-10 )

A thief and a robber is the one who does not enter through the gate. The thief tries to avoid meeting the gatekeeper and the shepherd. The gatekeeper is the one who guards the sheep and protects the sheep from being stolen. The shepherd is familiar with the sheep. The thief avoids the gatekeeper because he does not want to guard the sheep and protect them rather he wants to steal the sheep. For the thief, the sheep do not have any other value but their usefulness (material).

Shepherd enters through the gate and the gatekeeper is familiar with him and also the sheep. Sheep recognize his voice; they follow him; he walks ahead of them. The familiarity between the sheep and the shepherd and the close relationship between them are important. Sheep are not things to be used in fact they are persons (he calls them by name). There is personal and familiar and close relationship.

Jesus is the shepherd and that gate. In him and through him there is life, salvation and protection. The sheep that enter through him and follow him and listen to his voice are they that have protection, salvation and life. Jesus is the only shepherd: there has never been one before (because all those who came before him were thieves and robbers); and there will not be another after him.