April 21, 2013 –– Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 13: 14, 43-52; Ps 100: 1-3, 5; Rev 7: 9, 14B-17; Jn 10: 27-30
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.” With these words our Lord and Savior reaches out to us individually and as a multitude, embraces us, and escorts us home. On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, we learn who we are and what we can be.
There are two key concepts, which are reinforced by the readings: First is the symbolism of Jesus as the Lamb of God and our Shepherd, and the idea that we are His sheep, His flock. And, second, is the revelation (and it was a revelation at the time of the Apostles) that the Kingdom was open to all, including Gentiles.
It is perhaps the last verse of the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that resonates so fully with us — “The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Is that not exactly how we should feel during this Easter season? Of course, there is more depth to that statement than appears when we take it out of context. The reading from Acts recounts the experience of Paul and Barnabas in Antioch, a city in the south of what is now Turkey, and a stop on Paul’s first mission journey. Incidentally, Barnabas is believed by many scholars to be the first cousin of St. Mark the Evangelist.
The key message in this reading is that Paul not only preached to the Gentiles, but he informed them that they, too, were included in the salvation proclaimed by Jesus Christ. A Gentile by translation is anyone who is not Jewish. The Jews, we need to recall, were God’s chosen people. In keeping with Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, nevertheless, salvation was for all people, not just for the Jewish people. Some of the Jewish leadership were offended by this open invitation to non-Jews, and Paul and Barnabas were driven from the city. Knowing the truth, though, as stated above, “The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” as they departed.
The second reading from Revelations reinforces the first reading. It opens with John stating that he had envisioned “…a great multitude… from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” Truly we were all saved, and the Kingdom of God was open to all believers and followers. As is often the case in the three readings for any given Sunday, the image of the shepherd and the sheep is brought forth, “For the lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water.”
Today’s Gospel is one of the shortest of the liturgical year, but it is filled with the message of hope and fulfillment. Jesus says directly, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” For us as believers and as Gentiles, as saved, and as good stewards, this is the message of hope on which our lives of stewardship can be based. If we do practice stewardship; if we do follow the Lord; if we do trust in His saving grace, then we, too, must be filled with “joy and the Holy Spirit.” As stewards we must respond to the love given us by Jesus. As Blessed Mother Teresa once stated, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”
