The Gospel According to John – 2017.05.07
Getting
it Wrong
The writers of John’s gospel lived generations after
Jesus. They lived in a period of time when the church itself was being
persecuted. It was persecuted by the Roman State, it was in grave conflict with
traditional Judaism, which stridently sought to differentiate itself from
Christians, and deny they the historical protections that Rome had always
afforded its Jewish citizens, which made up about ten percent of the population
of free Romans.
The early Christians were also beset by the rise of
various popular movements that sought to trade in on the spread of the
Christianity.
The writers of John made every effort they could to
stand against these types of persecutions, and corrupting influences, like that
of the Gnostics, or the practitioners of the Qabalah, which was the foundation
of Gnosticism.
They became protectionists, and their protectionists
way had its own corrupting influence on their presentation of the ministry of
Jesus.
Jesus gave to everyone, with the only qualification
being that they trust in his vision of the way, which only means that they be
as charitable, as merciful, as loving, as forgiving as he.
The authors of John get it wrong when the write about
gates, and gatekeepers, thieves and brigands.
The table that Jesus set was open to
everyone.
The
Sheepfold and the Gate
Jesus said:
‘I
tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the
gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters
through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the
sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out.
When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow
because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from
him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
Jesus told them this parable but they failed to
understand what he meant by telling it to them.
So Jesus spoke to them again:
‘I
tell you most solemnly,
I
am the gate of the sheepfold.
All
others who have come
are
thieves and brigands;
but
the sheep took no notice of them.
I
am the gate.
Anyone
who enters through me will be safe:
he
will go freely in and out
and
be sure of finding pasture.
The
thief comes
only
to steal and kill and destroy.
I
have come
so
that they may have life and have it to the full.’
4th Sunday of Easter
