Words can paint pictures. Modifying an old adage, a picture painted with a few words speaks more than thousands of words of explanation. We don’t merely hear the words, we see the image in our mind’s eye, we spend time with the teller, with whom we explore and contemplate. Today we are invited to see God in shepherd’s clothing. This vision can also be a mirror for us — are we sheep or wolves?

God is frequently depicted as a shepherd throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, beginning with Gn 49:24. Psalm 23 is most familiar, but see also psalms 74 and 80. The great king David had been a shepherd (see 1 Sam 16:11-13), and is referred to as shepherd of the people in Ps 78:70-72. Later leaders were often corrupt and called unfaithful shepherds by the prophets who gave voice to God’s promise that he would shepherd his people himself (see Jer 23 and Ez 34).

Sheep can graze on land that is almost barren, but they need to be led to pasture, to water, to shelter. They are hardy animals, but have little sense of finding their own way. If separated from the flock, they must be sought out — they will never look for or find a way back themselves. Shepherds established a striking rapport with the sheep in their care. Even when flocks mingled together in shelters, each sheep would recognize its own shepherd, and would follow him wherever he led. It was not unknown for a shepherd to be killed in defending his flock against thieves and wolves. On the other hand, many shepherds were dishonest and would steal from the sheep’s owners.

Jesus simply takes the Hebrew Scriptures’ imagery of God as shepherd and shows himself to be the fulfillment of its prophetic promise.

Read all of chapters three and four. Peter and John were arrested on the pretense of bringing a sick person into the temple in violation of the law (3:8; 4:7; see Lev 21:18), but the real reason was that the Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the body. While Peter’s discourse to the people after the cure (3:12-20) emphasized the historical roots of Christ whose power was revealed in this event, his address to the priests in today’s reading is more direct: the healing of this man is proof that Jesus is risen from the dead, and is the source of salvation for all.

This whole psalm refers to the Israelite nation, oppressed by other nations and yet favored by God. Early Christians, as in the first reading, saw these words as typifying the Jewish reaction to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s saving work. Response: "The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone."

This is a good opportunity to read all 1 John at one sitting. These verses are a pivot between the first part, concerned with knowledge and love of God and its obligations, and the second part, which reflects on our new life as God’s children. We are called to recognize the full dignity of what we are now, and live accordingly, for that is the seed of what we will become.

1. Does the image of a shepherd still speak to us technologized twentieth-century Americans? If not, can you suggest other images that might convey the same deeper reality faithfully and more clearly?

2. How would you understand "resurrection of the body" as compared with "salvation of the soul"? Which expression is more important in Scripture? Which is more important in your life? Why?