The five discourses of Peter reported in the Acts of the Apostles and read during the Sundays of Easter might appear a bit dull, since they all very nearly say the same thing. It would be a mistake to complain about this repetition. Each of these discourses is an announcement of Jesus’ resurrection expressed in certain standard phrases: “Christ is risen! He is truly risen!” No-one should grow weary of hearing them over and over during these Sundays that celebrate the feast of Easter. We know it is impossible to keep great news to oneself. Consider this. When news concerns several persons, a whole group, a crowd, each person tries to outdo the others in shouting aloud with joy, such are the repeated alleluias of the paschal liturgies. To repeat the same news to oneself or others helps it to be accepted and interiorised. To hear the proclamation of the resurrection over and over during these Sundays of Easter is essential to our faith, which constantly needs to be strengthened by the witness of others’ faith, particularly the apostles’. The paschal liturgies give us this gift. Therefore, we must welcome and be attentive to this new proclamation of Easter. The first announcements of the resurrection are often embellished, in Peter’s discourses, by citations from the Psalms. It is a way of saying that the event has fulfilled the prophetic oracles, or even that Jesus must suffer the passion in order to enter his glory: Moses, the prophets and the Psalms have said so. Along with some of the great prophetic texts, the Psalms were doubtlessly very familiar to the apostles’ listeners. In any case, the use made of them in this discourse authenticates and renews our Christian reading of some Psalms.
As often happens in such cases, the apostle addresses his audience directly, with a kind of needless aggressiveness. This man “whom you killed.” We must not misunderstand the import behind such a saying. What the apostle wants is to cause his hearers to feel personally concerned with what is a message, and not simply a bit of information to which one might remain neutral. This he accomplishes. Peter’s audience do not feel themselves unjustly accused. Rather they were: “cut to the heart…….they asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘what are we to do, my brother?’” “Peter said to them ‘Repent and be baptised, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” As opposed to the feeling of guilt, which focuses on oneself and one’s sins, conversion opens up to forgiveness and the freedom that comes from it. This call to conversion always accompanies the proclamation of the good news.
Baptism is said to occur “In the name of Jesus Christ” because it involves a profession of faith in the one whom God has made Lord and Christ by raising him from the dead. The reference is not directly to the formula used in the administering of the sacrament. Moreover, the clearly affirmed link between baptism and the gift of the Spirit leaves the question of ritual open. Instead, it is important to note what Peter then says:
“For the promise was made for you and for your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”
The universality of salvation, which Luke insists upon and of which he will be a witness by accompanying Paul in his missionary journeys, also belongs to the first announcement of the good news. Luke never misses an opportunity to evoke joyfully, as he does here, the wonderful extension of the Gospel. How can we not turn and marvel at it in our turn? We are witness to it as well, since in the centuries following, we have benefited by the promise. Even today we can see that certain peoples who were but recently pagans have benefited by it. Allowing us to proclaim: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
When they speak to the Christians, the apostles do not only say: “God has made Jesus Lord and Christ, reform your lives.” Reminding the baptised of their profession of faith, they exhort them to follow the footsteps of the resurrected, to live the life opened to them by Christ’s Passover, which they have received in baptism. Written to cater for the specific needs of Churches, the apostolic letters nevertheless, retain an undeniable value for us today. They tell us, that to do “What is good”, not to commit sin, not to heed to deceit, even if such conduct costs us unjust persecutions, is a “grace before God.” For it is thus that we proclaim, not with words but with deeds, that he is God, the God of Truth. We walk according to his will, like Christ, without straying down the paths of “deceit” that those fools follow who say in their hearts: ‘there is no God.” The Christian is not called to suffer, but to remain united with God whatever the cost, to find joy in him. “To die to sin” never occurs without painful renunciations, whatever they may be. But this death is a Passover. “He handed himself over to the one who judges justly.” Christ’s “example” is our guarantee. “Ransomed from your futile conduct”, because we were “astray like sheep,” we “have returned to the shepherd and guardian of [our] souls.” The “Sacrificial lamb who bore our sins in his body on the cross,” Christ has become through his resurrection, “the shepherd” of our souls. “The Good Shepherd.”
Some of Jesus’ more enigmatic sayings become clearer when read in the light of the resurrection and paschal faith. Only then is it understood that they are revelatory sayings concerning Jesus’ person and mission, in themselves and.for us, though their meaning was at first hidden. This is particularly the case with Jesus’ discourse that contains the image of the “Good Shepherd,” the beginning of which we read today.
Addressed originally to the Pharisee’s, today these words of revelation concern those who question the necessity of going to God through Jesus, those who would doubt the incomparable character of his mission, those who by their manner of speaking or acting would wish to take his place. If the Church wants Christians gathered for the liturgy to hear this text, it is not to remind them of Jesus’ controversies with his opponents, or the way certain Pharisees regarded him, but so that we might believe the Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and thus have life in his name.
Jesus is the legitimate “Shepherd of the flock.” He does not break into the “sheepfold” but enters by the gate. “The gatekeeper opens it for him.” The sheep hear his voice and follow him without hesitation when he comes to lead them out. “But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognise the voice of strangers.” One can hardly express this more simply and concretely.
He also says that he enters the sheepfold to lead out all his sheep. There may be nothing remarkable in this: why should the shepherd open the gate of the sheepfold, if not to lead out the sheep? But one cannot help but think of another “going out” of “all the sheep”: the Exodus led by Moses, God’s messenger. At any rate, Jesus, aware of the limits of his sayings and the doubts that their enigmatic character might foster, goes on to say explicitly “I am the gate (door) for the sheep.”
At first glance one might be startled by the lack of coherence between the successive images: “The Shepherd” becomes “The Gate”! (Door) But there is an undeniable continuity of conception. It is not enough to understand that Jesus is the Shepherd sent by God—like Moses—to lead his sheep. He is also their “Door — Doorway” and the only sure way out of the sheepfold. Whoever before or after him pretends to fill this role is an imposter, a thief disguised as the shepherd in order to “steal and slaughter and destroy.”
This is a harsh, firm condemnation of the “false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.” It is entirely understandable coming from Jesus, who came so that we “might have life and have it more abundantly.” Even so, this condemnation is joined to a promise spoken to all: “Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” The false shepherds are also called to conversion, to find the way to salvation for which Jesus is the gate. The sheep already gathered under his staff know that they owe this to the shepherd’s love. They accept that he allows them to come and go freely in their pasture. While he seeks the lost. They look for his return and come running as soon as they see him, to rejoice with him and welcome in joy the one he bears back on his shoulders.
Jesus has passed the gate of death to enter glory: “God has made him Lord and Messiah.” To proclaim his resurrection is to recognise that he is the guide in whose footsteps we must follow in order to have life and have it more fully. He marches at the head of the ransomed people, leading them on the road of their paschal exodus.
The shepherd, whose face is worn by suffering but also shines with light, leads us confidently on difficult paths. He watches that nothing unfortunate may happen to us. If the mist sometimes obscures our vision, his voice continues to lead us in the right direction. He is “The Good Shepherd” Our Lord and Master, who leads us; and he calls us today, not only to follow him, but also to pray for other shepherds whom he will call to lead his Church, so that his mission may continue— Bishops, Priests, Deacons. “The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, pray that the Lord will send labourers into his harvest.”
“Alleluia.”
