Sermon for 4th Sunday of Easter – John 10:11-18

In case you didn’t get the memo, this is Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” Good news up front! Now, it’s a parable, so what do we always do? We try to figure out which character we are. So by faith we hear Jesus telling us that he’s our shepherd and we’re his sheep. So naturally we compare our life of faith to sheep. Sheep are smelly and dumb, so let’s be humble. Sheep make bad decisions, so let’s admit we need a shepherd. Sheep recognize their shepherd’s voice, so we listen for Jesus’ voice in the tumult. I could keep going, but you get the point. We could talk about shepherds in the same way, but we’ll save that for another sermon. That just leaves the hired hand and the wolf, but we’ll get to them soon enough.

Now, whenever Jesus tells a parable, it matters who Jesus is telling it to. If he’s talking to his disciples, then we figure Jesus is teaching with love and compassion. Except what’s interesting here is that Jesus isn’t talking to his followers. He’s talking to a bunch of raging Pharisees. And Jesus is pretty angry too. Here’s what happened. Jesus gave sight to a blind man. And of all the miracle stories, this one stands out because there’s all kinds of interrogation afterwards. Neighbors drag the man to the Pharisees for questioning. The Pharisees don’t like his answers. So they summon his parents and question them. Now, his parents are painfully aware that if they don’t watch their mouths they’ll be kicked out of synagogue. You can’t afford that kind of social death in a small village. So they say “we don’t know. Ask him.” Then the Pharisees haul in the man for another round of interrogation. It’s a real Gestapo situation. Finally they get so outraged that they drive out the man. Jesus hears about it. He seeks out the man like a good shepherd. And he says these words. “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Naturally the Pharisees hear, because they’ve got ears everywhere. They say, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus answers, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. Then he tells this parable.

See, this is a parable of comdemnation. It may have good news in it, but not for these folks. Jesus is judging them. Not just because they refuse to acknowledge who Jesus is, or because they refuse to believe that such a miracle could happen. It’s that they’ve already written off the man as condemned by God. To them, blindness only means one thing. This man has sinned, and it’s unforgiveable. So for him to dare suggest that his blindness wasn’t his own fault? They’re outraged and tell him so. “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” So Jesus lays everything out. I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not she shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep. And the wolf snatches them. Jesus is calling the Pharisees hired hands. These folks who God has called to tend the congregation. What do they do? They establish doctrine and judgment. I mean, you’ve got to have rules and categories, so that it’s abundantly clear who’s liable for everything that’s wrong. Because what would it mean if you couldn’t explain why bad things happen? That everything’s arbitrary? That we’re stuck in the hands of an angry God with no hope?