John 10: 11-18.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Today’s Gospel has a different theme. It speaks of Jesus as the “gate.” This is much more difficult to grasp at first glance than the Good Shepherd. Yet, as always with the Gospel, there is a beautiful message inviting us into the Pascual Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.
At the time of Jesus, each night all the sheep were put into a protective area called the sheepfold. There was only one entrance, the gate. This way in was both a protection from thieves of the night and a daytime passage to the fertile pastures. In this way, the gate both guarded and supported the life of the sheep.
This is the key to open this image of Jesus as the “gate.” Our encounter with Jesus both in prayer and a life committed to the Gospel opens the mystery of God’s Word. Jesus sustains and protects us when we are faithful to our allegiance to him. Thus, He says. “I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)
This teaching flows from the essential message of the fourth Gospel. In the loving encounter with Jesus we not only have life in abundance, we have the highest quality of life, eternal life.
John uses the “I AM” statements to invite us into the mystery of God revealed in Jesus. Jesus is the source of eternal life to sinners. This is the major connection with the Resurrection that we celebrate today. He is the life-source in the “vine,” the “life” and the “resurrection.” He is the “gate” and the “way” for sinners searching in the darkness and unpredictability of life. He is the “shepherd” guiding us in our confusion and bewilderment. He is the “bread” that nourishes along the way. The saving reality of the “I AM” descriptions of Jesus is united in the glory of the Resurrection, the total victory of love and life over the forces of evil and death.
In the “gate” in today’s Gospel, we are called to embrace Jesus as our way to life eternal in the fullness of the Kingdom. In the season of Easter, we are invited to enter in the “gate” of life in the face of our daily struggles and insecurities. We are the people of the Alleluia. The victory has been won. We take up the victory through “gate” that is Jesus, the Risen Lord. He will lead us to embrace life and live it to the full with the Alleluia ringing in our hearts.
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