In the gospel reading that corresponds to the Fourth Sunday of Easter this year (John 10.22-30), we discover Jesus in a very particular place, during a particular time of year, engaging with a particular people. There is nothing generic about the scene nor the context that lurks beneath the dialogue. “How long will you keep us in suspense?” they asked. Other translations render the question this way:  “How long are you going to keep us guessing?”, “How long will you test our patience?”, “How long dost thou make us to doubt?” Beyond confrontation and challenge, if you listen closely and perhaps even read yourself into the crowd, you can sense the sentiment of generations entangled in disappointment. We all know what it is to feel disappointment, to hang in the tension of prayers unanswered, difficulty stretching on endlessly, and hopes unfulfilled. We, too, hung in balance without resolve, waiting. This is certainly not to over-psychologize the text, as that can do much more harm than good. We must not pretend to comprehend the experience of a particular people characterized, historically, at least, by covenant and yet held under the controlling rule of a foreign empire, but what else would people wonder?

Here, during the Festival of Dedication, as Jesus walks through Solomon’s portico on the eastern side of the temple, the Jews surround Jesus to demand an answer, “Tell us plainly.” Jesus directs them to see. See the season, see the portico on the eastern side of the temple, see the works that I do in my Father’s name. It is no coincidence that this same crowd earlier witnessed him heal a man born blind. He restores the blind man’s sight, and the man believes in him. The chapter closes with Jesus revealing the purpose of his Incarnation, “that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

He has come; He has died; He has risen. We confess these words together each week as we meet Him again at the table that he sets for us, especially in the presence of all that opposes us. And, friend, that is enough because it is exactly everything. The Good Shepherd is good because he is God, who came to embrace death so that his sheep might live.

Blessed are those who believe, for they will abide in the safe pasture of the Good Shepherd forever.

Guy+