10/04/2023
7 C Jesus as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (10:1-21)
The Place of 10:1-21 in the Narrative:
The location of this story has often disturbed commentators who fail to see links with what precedes and what follows. Recall that we mentioned at 9:1 that Jesus was still in Jerusalem in the 2-month period between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of the Dedication (10:22). It seems very clear that 10:1-21 is to be related to the preceding: no new audience is mentioned or suggested; it seems evident (10:1) that Jesus is continuing his remarks to the Pharisees with whom he had been speaking in 9:41. This is further indicated by 10:21, where some in the audience even recall the healing of the blind man, while others repeat the charges of demon-possession that have been made of Jesus in chapter 8.
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It is true that there is an abrupt change of topic between chapters 9 and 10, from "light" to "sheep and shepherd," but although the imagery has changed, 10:1-21 is still a polemic against the Jewish leaders, who are to be identified with the "thieves and robbers" of 10:1 and following. In fact, chapter 9 has provided a perfect illustration of these very actions: instead of properly caring for the man born blind, the Pharisees have thrown him out (9:34). Jesus, in contrast, as the good Shepherd, found him (9:35) and led him to safe pasture. Just like the sheep in 10:4-5 will not follow a stranger because they do not know his voice, so the man born blind refused to listen to the Pharisees, but turned to Jesus, an illustration of the sheep who recognize the voice of their true master.
But what about the relationship of 10:1-21 to the incidents at the Feast of the Dedication following (10:22-31)? Note that 10:26-27, spoken by Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication, recall this section. Also, the Feast itself recalled the rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165-164 BC when he drove out the Syrians who had