Catholic Bible Scholars

Easter 4A

Brant Pitre

THE MASS READINGS EXPLAINED

Fr. Francis Martin

THE WORD PROCLAIMED INSTITUTE

Kieran J. O'Mahony, OSA

HEARERS OF THE WORD

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Easter 4A

1st Reading

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2nd Reading

2nd Reading

Gospel Reading

Gospel

Encountering the Word

Easter 4A

The Good Shepherd

The faithful “shepherd” is a consistent Biblical metaphor for Israel’s religious, military, civil leaders, and kings. It was also a metaphor for the rulers of ancient pagan Near Eastern kingdoms, the ruler/king who was a “shepherd” of his people. It was a fitting image because both civil and religious leaders were responsible for guiding and protecting their people as a shepherd cares for his flock. In the Old Testament, Moses uses this metaphor for leadership to petition God to give Israel an ideal leader to serve as a “shepherd” to the people (cf. Num 27:17). The same symbolism appears in the story of David, the shepherd boy who became Israel’s great king (cf. 2 Sam 5:2; 7:8). The shepherd imagery also appears in the negative in the books of the Prophets where God condemns the failed “shepherds” who are Israel’s religious and civil leaders who “scatter the sheep” of God’s flock (cf. Ez 34:2-10; Zec 10:2; 11:15-17). And finally, it is applied to God who is Israel’s Divine Shepherd (cf. Ps 23:1; 80:1; Is 40:11; Ez 34:11-22) and for the Redeemer-Messiah who the prophets promised would one day come to “shepherd” God’s covenant people (cf. Ez 34:23; 37:24-28). Jesus will use the same metaphor to describe His relationship with the “flock” of His people in our Gospel Reading from the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” He is the “good shepherd” who is willing “to lay down His life for His sheep” (Jn 10:11).

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1st Reading

Jesus is both Lord and Messiah

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

In the First Reading, St. Peter takes up his role as the "shepherd" of Christ's New Covenant people. He addresses the Jewish crowd outside the Upper Room on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, telling them that repentance of sin followed by baptism in the name of Jesus the Messiah is the only way to eternal salvation.

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2nd Reading

Christ our Savior

1 Peter 2:20b-25

In the Second Reading, St. Peter applies the familiar shepherd symbolism to the guidance Jesus offers to those who suffer. He promises God's grace and salvation for those who endure unjust suffering for having done what is righteous. St. Peter continues the shepherd and sheep metaphors by quoting from Isaiah 53:5-6 concerning those who are "gone astray like sheep." Jesus is the "Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11) for Christians who were once lost but are now found and have returned to Him. The "returning" does not refer to Christians who have fallen away from Jesus. Instead, Peter is referring to the fundamental act of conversion in accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Christian journey of faith is one of continual repentance and conversion in "returning" to holiness and living in the image of Christ.

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Gospel

Parables of the Sheep and the Shepherd

John 10:1-11

The Gospels apply the same shepherd imagery to Jesus (Mt 9:36; 10:6; 15:24; 26:31; Mk 6:34; 14:27; Jn 10:11-18). The imagery is also used for the leadership of the Christian community (cf 1 Pt 5:3) who "shepherd" Jesus' flock and "feed" them spiritually through Jesus' teachings and the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as Jesus commanded Peter when He said, "Feed my sheep" (Jn 21:15-17). In the Gospel Reading, Jesus uses the same shepherd and sheep imagery to identify Himself as the "Good Shepherd" of the "sheepfold" that is the Church, the community of God's re-born New Covenant people. The Church is the protective sheepfold that brings the covenant people together and through the Sacraments into union with Christ. The gate to the "sheepfold" is Jesus Christ, the only one through whom believers have access to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Church, that administers the Sacraments of Jesus Christ and prepares the faithful for the journey to their home in Heaven and eternal life.

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