For Good Shepherd Sunday, I offer commentary on two different texts:
I am the Good Shepherd
A small sampling:
καλος ("good"; 10:11) Good is an entirely understated way to put this. The word in Greek means beautiful, ideal, model. Try any of these out: Model shepherd, beautiful shepherd, ideal shepherd. They get closer to what is going on, although model shepherd can lead us astray pretty fast. Good is also an entirely wrong way to put this. What kind of shepherd goes and gets himself killed? A very, very bad one.
Psalm 23
For Good Shepherd Sunday I've looked at Psalm 23. Given people's
emotional resonance with the Psalm, this passage does not call for one's
"exegetical underwear." That said, reading the actual Psalm presents
more "earthy" image than the bucolic landscape scene the Psalm often
conjures in our minds. There is wet grass to be eaten, wine to be
poured, death to be encountered and God's disciplining rod to be felt
slamming into our side. To put it another way, God doesn't simply want
to paint pictures, but truly revive our soul that we might return to his
temple, time and time again, even in our everlasting life, made
possible by the Good Shepherd.
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