Sunday 11 May 2025 - Jesus the shepherd

Sunday 11 May 2025

Today is Sunday the 11th of May, beginning the 4th week of Eastertide.    Paul Zach sings, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’.     The Lord is my shepherd  The Lord is my shepherd  I shall not want  He leads my soul by the still waters  In the green pastures I am restored  Though I may walk through the dark valley  Of the shadow of death  I will not fear for your rod and staff comfort me  Goodness and mercy they will follow me  All of the days all the days of my life  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord  Forever and ever 
  Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.    John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.  “I know them” says Jesus of his ‘sheep’, his followers. What does it feel like to hear those words of Jesus, that affirmation, that you are known? “I know them.”  Savour those words.  Reflect on the tenderness, yet also the toughness, of a shepherd towards his sheep. In a modern day setting a shepherd might round up his sheep with the help of a feisty sheep dog.  He might even guide them along a road with traffic. Sit with those images.  And think about how the sheep might recognise the voice of the shepherd. How they might work out the difference between the shepherd’s voice and that of a stranger.   Listen to the passage again. Allow the vivid, familiar imagery which Jesus uses to show something new.   John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.  In these closing moments, sit with Jesus the Shepherd. You might be on a sunny hillside. Or sheltering in a simple hut. Or walking in sleet and snow. Treasure the moments of being shepherded, of staying close.  Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.   As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be  World without end  Amen