New Thoughts (09/08/09-09/12/09)
It is tempting to try and explain the symbolism behind every last aspect of these verses, but I must bear in mind that it is parable, not allegory that Jesus uses in teaching. We need not look for some hidden message in the door and the doorkeeper. That is not to say that there is no meaning to them, but it is not certain and it is not central to the message Jesus is speaking here. Soon enough, He will explain who those thieves and robbers are (Jn 10:8).
For the present, the focus is on the sheep and their shepherd. Now, this fold He has set as the scene for His parable: it could be the grounds around a private home, or it could be a rough pen established out in the pasture lands. It could also, I suppose, be the yard of a more public house, such as a caravanserai or the like. That there are sheep in the fold other than those of the shepherd He speaks of suggests a more public setting is in view. What of the presence of a gatekeeper? To me, this would point away from the pen in the pasture, and towards something more like that caravanserai, a stopover where the shepherd may be one of many, and the owner of the establishment keeps an eye on who comes and goes for the sake of his own reputation.
One interesting note, and of potential importance given the setting of this message, is that the same term used to describe that fold would also apply to the courts of the Temple. Remember that, so far as can be determined from the flow of John’s narrative, Jesus has not gone far from those courts, either in time or in distance. Indeed, in Jerusalem I would think that the Temple was never very far from thought. It was such a central and visible edifice to begin with, and so much a part of the life of the people in that city. So, with Jesus recently come from that confrontation in the courts of the Temple (Jn 8), and facing these erstwhile compatriots of those who are harassing Him, it would hardly be inappropriate to suppose that He has those temple courts in mind as He paints this image for us.
So, let us suppose that the fold of which He speaks here is indeed intended to reflect the Temple surrounds. The sheep are clearly representative of the people of Israel, and perhaps those Gentiles who have come to be known as God-fearers, who might be found in the outer courts. Jesus is, of course, the shepherd. If that is not perfectly clear from this parable, it will be made show immediately following (Jn 10:14), as He clarifies the message.
If the Temple is accepted as the locale for the fold, then those who hold sway in the Temple are clearly indicated as the thieves and robbers. They have not entered by the gate, but have crept in. My! How aptly this describes the power structure in play at the time. The high priest was no longer a man appointed by God, but rather a man appointed by Rome. A position that was appointed for life by God is now terminated by the whim of an unbelieving Gentile in a far-distant country! Hideous, unpardonable sins have been committed in pursuit of that office! And yet, the one in office has the audacity to pretend to have grounds to stand as the arbiter of holiness!
And what of the Sanhedrin? Well, there were the Sadducees, of course. Some of them might have at least had a degree of legitimacy. But, the Pharisees? How had they come to find seats on the Council? Were they of Levitical lineage? Sons of Aaron? What? On what basis had they been given any authority to tell Israel how they should pursue God? No. They had climbed over the wall, slipped in under cover of darkness. They were, Jesus is clearly saying, false shepherds come to rustle God’s sheep out from under His own care.
But, Jesus says, His sheep won’t listen to such false leaders. They might, I suppose, be taken away by force, but they won’t make it easy. See, it’s not just that they won’t follow after the imposters. They will actively flee from the imposters! They recognize the falsity. They know it is not their own shepherd calling to them. They know, then, that there is danger in that voice, and they will do their utmost to run from that danger.
Now that I have enjoyed this time of pursuing the image of the Shepherd, how marvelous to come back to this thought as the next point I had gathered upon which to comment: “When trials come, when storm clouds surround, why then do we worry? He has gone ahead of us to prepare the way, and He leads us to pleasant pastures and calm waters.” Yes, I am quoting myself here, which may be bad form. But, having just enjoyed such a revealing of the fullness of my Shepherd and His great care for me, this is a marvelous sentiment to come back to! In the midst of trial, I know that He is with me. He never leaves me. He never shall forsake me. I may be found faithless and weak, but He is never so. He is faithful and strong, Righteous and True. He has indeed gone before me through these trials. He leads! He doesn’t point me into danger and wish me luck. He goes ahead of me, preparing the way and making certain that however much the trial may impinge upon my sense of wellbeing, it shall not prove to be too much for me to bear. For, I shall not bear it. He shall bear it. If there is weight upon my shoulders, it is because I have tried to lift a load that is not my own.
Oh! To fully internalize this Truth! He has prepared the way. He leads us to pleasant pastures, calm waters. Yea! Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, these things remain true and certain. His rod and His staff, they are visible in front of me. I need only keep my eyes on Him and follow. Those pastures, those waters are certain to be at the end of the walk, for He is my Shepherd and I shall not suffer want.
[09/11/09] I have commented on this to some degree already, but it is worth a bit more immediate notice: The people of God had actually come to despise the very image that God chose for Himself. I want to put it thus bluntly because I need to see it as more than a sad moment in the history of man. It’s current. God chose the image of the shepherd to represent the depth of His care for His people. It was an image that was, at the time, common to the nation, for they were, as they told Pharaoh, a nation of shepherds. Yet, over the years the opinion of surrounding peoples began to influence the opinion of God’s people more than God did, and they began to look down upon the shepherd like those more commercially minded nations around them. They wanted to fit in.
In one respect, then, the issue is that of cultural influence on the church, which we see in many different aspects. It is a constant danger, and most insidious because it comes to threaten the church all but unnoticed. Unless the body is constantly alert to the risks, it will succumb to the influence without ever realizing anything has happened. That is the story of many a denomination in our day. They have succumbed to the point that they no longer consider God’s Word final. It just myths and nice ideas, and they’ll keep the bits they still happen to agree with. But, if their beliefs run wholly counter to the text, well, the text must have been written for that specific time and place. They feel they can ignore it with impunity. But, of course, God will not be mocked.
The aspect I am more interested in, though, is the direct rejection of the image God puts forth in His own regard. For them, it was the image of shepherd. He chose it for its honorable aspects, but the people chose to despise those who, by practicing that same profession, most fully reflected the nature God was calling attention to. In our society, we might look to the assault on the image of the father to find the same problem. Throughout the media, the father is now portrayed as a clown, an imbecile, a useless appendage the mother is required to carry along. It is the mother who is played as the wise one, the counselor at large to her children. I do not ask how this has come about, for that is not the interesting question. The interesting question is why? I would contend that it is for the same reason the shepherd was despised: because he reflected something God commended, and an unbelieving world wanted nothing to do with such a reflection.
There is a need, then, to be very careful of what roles we come to consider less respectable. True there are those roles and positions of man that need no real consideration. They are despicable and always shall be. But, there are others that I ought not to reject out of hand. Indeed, looking at each individual I come across, I should be well served to consider what aspect of Scripture they represent. What do they show me about God? Anything?
Listen to this! Every individual I come across was created in the image of God. This is a given. That is not to say that every individual I come across reflects God well. I cannot even say that of myself much of the time. But, what of the things that individual demonstrates in his or her person? What of the profession, the hobbies? Are they reflective of things God commends or condemns? Given that assessment, how does my reaction to that person reflect on my own acceptance of God’s opinions? That is the test. Do I form my views upon His, or upon the views of society at large?
Let me look, for instance, at the white collar / blue collar divide. While I’m hardly a suit, and rarely wear a white shirt, I am still to be counted amongst the white collar work force. In this so-called information age, when knowledge is power, it would be easy for one of my training and habit to think less of those who choose to labor in less mentally challenging areas. Yet, what is it about those other professions that I should find of lesser value? Indeed, would it not be more fitting to look upon my own profession as the less valuable? What I do for a living does not really contribute directly to the welfare of the people. Were it to cease entirely, it would not be the end of civilization. It might even be the return of civility to civilization. Who knows? But, the grocer, the farmer, if he decided his profession were beneath contempt and unworthy of being done any longer, what would become of us?
Honestly, if I look around at the society I am part of, it is clear that we put greater value on those whose labors are of less value. The greats in our sight are mostly entertainers. How many even know the name of so much as one person at the grocery store? Supposing there is a farm stand nearby, how many do you suppose know both the first name and the last name of the farmer who owns that stand? It’s not important to us. He’s just scenery. You know, we might be aware of the CEO of some major corporation, particularly if that corporation is involved in providing entertainment in some form. We all know the founders of Microsoft and Apple. Yet, if these corporations had never come into being, would we be the worse for it?
Look, I work in that industry. My profession would be most unlikely indeed without the things these corporations and their like have empowered. But, really: life got on pretty well without them before they came to exist, and it would surely continue to do so if the whole industry were to disappear now. Oh, sure. We’d have a bumpy road for awhile as we worked to recall how to do things for ourselves more, but we’d recall, and we’d continue to prosper. We might even discover we were happier for the effort, as the speed of living slowed just a bit.
The point, though, is as I said: Am I measuring by God’s standards, or by the world’s? Israel’s story, Jerusalem’s low view of the shepherd that was their heritage, should give me a clear warning as to just how easy it is to slip into the wrong system of measures. May I never become so wholly opposed to the godly heritage God has provided me! May He be swift to correct those places where I have been blinded to such false perspectives in myself already.
If I look at the issue that is present in what I have been writing, the issue is discernment. We have been trained to think of discernment as a gift of the Spirit, and therefore not possessed by all. After all, Paul has reminded us that not all have the same gifts, but each contribute their unique suite of gifts to the body. But, what I read in this passage leads me to believe that discernment is a part of every believer’s suite, or is at least intended to be. Look at what Jesus says. His sheep listen to His voice. They follow Him because they know His voice. They flee from the stranger because they don’t recognize his voice. Put that differently. They flee because they recognize that his voice is not the Shepherd’s voice. Discernment!
As a quick bit of an aside, I would note that the critical sense Jesus assigns for His sheep is hearing. Coming in answer to the Pharisees’ question about their blindness, this could easily be heard as a reprieve. Yes, you’re still blind because you still think you see clearly when you don’t. But, fear not! You can hear. If you can hear, you can hear correction. If you can hear correction, you can be corrected. If you can be corrected, sight may yet be restored.
You see, the sheep Jesus speaks of do not recognize their Shepherd by sight. They don’t look up as He enters the gate and say, “ah! That’s our man, we’d best see what he wants of us.” No! They recognize Him by His voice, by hearing. How we need to understand that!
This, of course, strikes a familiar chord for me. The works, the display, these do nothing to prove the validity of the one who claims to represent God. It’s not the display that matters. It’s the message. What are they saying? Does it align with what the Shepherd says? That is, in the end, the only question. Is this one who claims to be shepherding under the Shepherd instructing as He would instruct, or is he presenting his own agenda? If the latter, don’t just ignore him, tune him out. Flee! That is the way of the proper sheep.
Looking back on that prophetic material I considered in looking at the shepherd, I notice that when the sheep fail to flee the false shepherds, it is not only the shepherds who pay the price. The sheep, too, will suffer the rebuke of their failure. I return to the matter of cultural influence. The most insidious influence we suffer from today is that of multiculturalism. This is itself an aspect of the post-modern mindset that truth is never absolute. There is no truth, only opinions, and every opinion must be found valid. Well, in practice it turns out that there are certain opinions which must be held invalid because they oppose the theories propounded by post-modernism and its minion, multiculturalism. But, what these views teach us to do is to accept every opinion as equal. We are taught that politeness requires that we give every man a hearing, that we do not reject their message just because we happen to disagree with it. It’s all good.
God, on the other hand, says No! It’s not all good. It’s not all right. Truth is absolute, and far beyond opinion. Truth is not changed by opinion. Truth is not something we can vote on, decide whether we wish it to be true or not. Facts, as they say, are pernicious things. So, when the purported representative of God speaks things that are in conflict with the clear revelation of Scripture, flee! Don’t filter. Don’t suppose that because the programs in that church are reaching hundreds this somehow validates the falsehoods spoken from the pulpit. Don’t, like a foolish young girl, suppose that you can change that church into the one you wanted. Flee! Abandon ship! That is the clear instruction of the Shepherd. If He chooses to right that ship and bring its shepherd (yes, mixed metaphor. Deal.) back into true service, praise God! But don’t gamble your own well being on patiently waiting for Him to do so. If that one is to remain reprobate and you insist on sitting under his teaching, on your head be it, and be certain that on your head it shall be.
Discern! It is not just a gift. It’s a commandment. It’s the sheep’s responsibility. If that voice isn’t the Master’s voice, ignoring it is not enough. Such a voice is like a clarion bell warning of danger. Don’t just say, “it’s OK, I know better than to heed.” Run! Get out! Put some distance between you and that wolf, for the only possible intention he can have is to destroy you. The wolf in the midst of the flock is never benign. He is never just passing through. He comes to destroy any who are foolish enough to tolerate his presence.
All of this might give us some idea as to what is the gate and who the gate-keeper in this image Jesus has set before us. I have to remember, of course, that this remains parable not allegory. Yet, with the context that is provided, it seems like these two pieces of the picture, if not critical to understanding the parable, are understandable in themselves. The gate, it would seem, is the Truth of Scripture, and the keeper of that Gate is the Holy Spirit. This is particularly so in our own time, when we have the Holy Spirit sent out to believers to guide them into all Truth. He stands as the keeper at the gate, welcoming Truth and rejecting falsehood.
“All who came before Me are thieves and robbers,” Jesus says (Jn 10:8). He says this having declared Himself the gate. This fits, for He is the Word of God, the Word of Truth. Those who have come with anything other than the Truth are thieves, robbing the people of God of their heritage. They come to satisfy their own appetites, whether for fame or fortune or any other motive. They do not come promoting Truth and they do not know Truth. They come to destroy the sheep. But, the sheep, the real sheep, the true sheep; they did not listen to these false teachers.
For those Pharisees to whom Jesus seems most directly to be addressing Himself, this is of a piece with the previous rebuke. Those ones you have been listening to, those ones who convinced you to enter into this life of works and rules and regulations and all manner of constraints upon your behavior that are not founded on the Scriptures: they are thieves and robbers. They haven’t come to you with the Truth. They have come with their own fables, their own pet peeves, and convinced you to validate them in yourselves. But, they are not representatives of the True Shepherd. They are thieves. They have come to steal you from out of the flock and having taken you from the flock, to profit by your destruction. The sheep, these ones you have thought less than yourselves, they didn’t listen to these lying robbers of righteousness. They waited for the real Shepherd to come. They measured the message against the Word and found the message wanting.
Now, the Shepherd has come, and He is calling them out of the fold of Israel. He is calling them out of what Temple worship has become, and He is leading them to greener pastures. He is leading them to still waters. Oh, the path ahead is not free of difficulties. Not by a long stretch. But, He leads. These leaders you have been following have that habit of pointing out the way and saying, “go.” The Shepherd, He is ever in front of the flock, and having surveyed and secured the Way, He says, “Come. Follow Me.” What a difference! He is not one to say, “do as I say.” He is One Who says, “See what I do, and do likewise.”
Oh! That we, His sheep, especially as we take up any degree of responsibility as shepherds under our Great Shepherd, would do our utmost to be able to so closely adhere to His model! Let us strive, not in our own strength, but from our devotion, to walk as He walked, to lead as He leads, to live as He lives: as those able to say, “See what I do and do likewise.”
It’s a cheap way out when we convince ourselves that this is impossible to us. Yes, perfection is beyond our human capacity until our transformation in Him has been made complete. But, if Paul was able to make such suggestions to those he taught, then nothing precludes us from reaching that same level of obedience to the walk of faith. It does not require perfection to say, “do as I do.” It only takes humility, and a swift willingness to repent when in error. That’s the model we are handed.
Isn’t it interesting, considering this, to think that we are advised to confess our sins to one another (Jas 5:16). The clear intent of James in saying we should do this is to avail ourselves of the prayer of those others to whom we confess. The prayers of the righteous man accomplish much. If we are finding repentance difficult, what better tool have we to turn to then the prayers of a brother who is not in such difficulty? Perhaps then we can be brought by aid of our brother’s prayers to the point of confession to God. For, we know that if we confess our sins (and truly repent of them), He is faithful to forgive us, and able to do so in full Justice. Nor does He stop there, but He continues onward to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9)! But, we must first come to the point of humility in which we can truly confess our sins, and the confession is not confession except it be accompanied by real repentance.
To return to my point, though, it is not only for our own well-being that we are called to confess to one another. For, in truth, the confession we make to one another does not in itself lead to forgiveness except in as much as it leads our brother to pray for our deliverance. But, what it does for our brother is significant as well. It models the walk. It keeps him from being caught up in self-condemnation over having failed of perfection. It serves to remind our brother that we all fail of perfection. Perfection is not the point, really. Perfection is the goal, yes, but it is found solely in Christ. In that we shall be found in Christ, we shall eventually be found in perfection. But, so long as we continue upon this earth, we remain imperfect. We remain in need of repentance. By our willingness to confess and repent, we remind our brother that he, too, has need of repentance. By our willingness to bare our sins before God and before our brother, we encourage him to likewise bare himself to his God that God may heal him, cleanse him and restore him that much further into the full image. If we will do this, we have sufficient cause to say, “do as I do. Follow my example as I follow after Christ before me.” If we will not, I fear, we mark ourselves out as thieves and robbers amidst the flock. And that is not a state I wish to find myself in.
Let me close with this: Dear sheep! Don’t listen to those false voices! Exercise that discernment which your Creator has set within you. This is your responsibility. Even sheep have responsibility! Be aware of who is speaking, and if they do not speak with the voice of your Shepherd, run! Get away from these false teachers and stop tolerating their poison. They are come to destroy, and you are given the wherewithal to escape, if you will but use it. Oh, foolish sheep! Pay heed. Don’t be so caught up with the prosperous grazing that you fail to keep your guard up. Don’t become so focused on fattening yourselves that you become willing to follow any voice that promises good eating. Listen for the True Shepherd and follow Him. Follow Him and no other. If your eyes be short-sighted, at least your ears are sharp. Use them. Use them, and heed what the Spirit tells you about what you are hearing. Sheep will run from the strange voice and pursue the True. Let this be your story. Let this be my story!
