Real shepherding
27 April | Monday of the 4th week of Eastertide - Year A(II).
John 10:11-18
At that time: Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus addresses religious leaders who expelled a healed blind man. Self-serving authority is exposed. Against this, “lays down,” “I know,” and “one flock” carry the full weight of the passage: authentic leadership is sacrificial, intimate, and boundless — not transactional, distant, or exclusive.
