The Sheepgate and the Shepherd

Homily for Monday of the Fourth Week in Easter

Midway through the passage from St. John’s Gospel that we hear today, the evangelist tells us that Jesus was using a figure of speech. This series of word pictures is a riddle or an extended metaphor with elaboration and response.

The metaphor itself is mixed, for in it Jesus describes himself as the gate or door to the sheepfold and also as the shepherd who enters through the gate. Understanding the metaphor depends on a visual image of a Palestinian sheepfold or sheep pen, an enclosure made of stones or briars where several shepherds could bring their sheep at night to keep them safe from predators. A section of the enclosure was left open to serve as an entry way in which the shepherd could lie to keep sheep from straying out and predators from getting in. The fact that a person might serve as both shepherd and gate should not obscure the fact that in the text there are two distinct metaphors.

The dominant image is that of the shepherd who enters the enclosure, calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out from among the mingled flocks. His own sheep follow him out because they know his voice. Two elements in this picture are important. Unlike the cowboy who drives a herd, the shepherd leads a flock. Second, unlike cattle that respond only to physical prodding or visual signals, sheep follow the sound of the shepherd’s well-known voice.

Jesus uses the Johannine form of an “I am” statement. What is intended in this statement is an identification with the entryway through which sheep and shepherds go in and out of the enclosure. This understanding is reinforced when Jesus says, “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and out and find pasture.”

By identifying himself as the gate or entryway, Jesus is promising the sheep security, pasture, and sustenance. We are the flock of Jesus; and although we live in troubled and dangerous times, we recognize that in the Eucharist Jesus continues to offer us this threefold gift.