Fourth Sunday of Easter (C)

Readings:

1. Acts 13:14, 43-52
   Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5  Response:  “We are his people, the sheep of his flock.”
2. Revelation 7:9, 14b-17
3. John 10:27-30

Reflections on the Gospel Reading

This Sunday’s short passage, culminating with Jesus’ declaration, “The Father and I are one.” can be read in a number of contexts.  In the complex literary setting of John’s Gospel we listen to part of a debate during Hanukkah between Jesus and the Judean leaders that anticipates Jesus’ trial and turns into a meditation on Jesus as Messiah.  Historically, this passage marks a stage in the development of Christian teaching that reached its climax in the magnificent credal statements of the great fourth century councils.  These, in turn, have been incorporated into the communal prayer of the Church and lead us to consider the passage in its liturgical context as well.

The Literary Context

The central portion of John’s Gospel is organized around the actions of Jesus on Israelite feast days and the controversy they provoke.  The setting is Jerusalem and the Temple precincts.  Chapter 5 relates to the Sabbath and the cure of the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  In chapter 6 the multiplication of the loaves and fishes takes place at Passover time  (spring).  Chapters 7, 8, and 9 take place at the festival of Booths or Sukkoth (fall) and conclude with the cure of the man born blind.  The wider setting for today’s passage is the festival of Dedication or Hanukkah (winter) with the cure of the blind man still in the background of the controversy. (Be sure to read John 10.22-42, before going any farther.)

Hanukkah celebrated the rededication of the Temple altar under the leadership of Judas Macchabeus in the second century before the Christian era.  However, the same term is used in reference to the dedication of the altar in the tabernacle in the desert, in the Temple of Solomon, and in the Second Temple after the Babylonian Exile.  Although it was not one of the three required pilgrimage feasts, Hanukkah seems to have been very popular following the restoration of the Temple by King Herod.  In effect, it was a celebration of the meaning and holiness of the Temple itself.

In the second half of chapter 10 the controversy between Jesus and the Judean leaders centers around 1) the identity of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God; 2) accusations of blasphemy; and 3) the relationship between Jesus and the temple.  These same issues are central to the trial scenes in all four Gospels.  The four verses in today’s gospel reading are part of Jesus’ reply to the question:  “If you are really the Messiah, tell us so in plain words.”  (John 10.24)

It is important for us to remember that the Christian notion of the Messiah was a radical reinterpretation of the Israelite expectation prior to the time of Jesus.  C. H. Dodd summarizes four elements of that expectation.  The Messiah 1) is the Son of David; 2) would appear from some unknown place of concealment; 3) would abide forever; and 4) would be king. (1968, 228-229)

John the Evangelist never mentions the messianic title “Son of David.”  While he stresses the openness of Jesus’ ministry, he frequently alludes to the mystery of Jesus’ true origin.  John does believe that Jesus abides forever, but not in the sense that he would never die.  However, John clearly presents Jesus as King.  In the very first chapter of John’s Gospel Nathanael proclaims Jesus as King of Israel (John 1.49), and the kingship of Jesus is central to his passion narrative.

In today’s passage John portrays Jesus as answering the question about his status as Messiah by calling upon the shepherd imagery, which primarily relates to God but is often applied to David and other kings of Israel and Judah.  In biblical terms, the ideal king was God’s representative and God’s agent for the well-being of the people.  It was important that the king be close to God, in tune with God in mind and heart and action. Since in Semitic culture the relationship of a son to his father was considered to be the closest of relationships, at his coronation the king was solemnly declared to be the son of God.

In today’s four verses Jesus is justifying his claim to be the Messiah, the ideal King of Israel.  He gives those who believe in him eternal life and preserves them from ultimate harm, precisely because of his closeness to the Father in love, in power, and in operation.  As a result, the assertion, “The Father and I are one.” serves as a plain answer to the question, “Are you really the Messiah?”

The Developmental Context

The question can be asked:  When John puts the words “The Father and I are one.” on Jesus’ lips, is he saying the same thing that we say in the Creed, “eternally begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father”?¹  We might paraphrase the challenge addressed in today’s gospel reading by asking John the Evangelist:  If Jesus is truly God, tell us so in plain words.

There is no doubt that John the Evangelist and his literary executors who wrote the prologue and epilogue to his Gospel espoused a very high Christology, a view of Jesus as coming from above.  This is reflected in passages such as “The word was God.” (John 1.1); “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8.58); and the profession of the no longer doubting Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20.28)

On the other hand, in John’s Gospel it is clear that Jesus is not the Father.  Given the thought patterns of Hebrew and Aramaic culture, it is more probable that the statement “The Father and I are one.” reflects the intimate unity of will and action characteristic of a loving and obedient son and his father.  Pheme Perkins observes, “In the farewell discourses [in John’s Gospel] the unity of Father and Son is shown to include the community of believers . . . .”² (1990, 969) As a consequence, the phrase does not immediately signify a unity of substance between Jesus and the Father.

Still, when statements such as this encountered Greek culture with its characteristic way of thinking and speaking, they inevitably raised questions that could not be answered in purely biblical terms.  More than two centuries after John wrote his Gospel the bishops of the Christian Church addressed these questions at the Council of Nicea (325) and again at the Council of Constantinople (381).  The result was the creed we profess at Mass.

Does the Creed say the same thing as the verse in John’s Gospel?  No, but there is a definite line of development between the two expressions of faith.

Can we be confident that the Nicene formula adequately addresses the questions of our culture at the beginning of the twenty-first century?  No.  However, since we believe that the Spirit continues to be active in the Church and in the world, we have every reason to expect that new ways of expressing the ancient faith will emerge which are in continuity with previous expressions but actually say something new.  It may well be that the furor over the so-called historical Jesus is a prelude to the necessary reformulation of Christian faith for our time.

The Liturgical Context

Apart from the fact that in all three liturgical cycles on the Fourth Sunday of Easter the gospel reading is taken from the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel (which deals with the image of the Good Shepherd), it is not always easy to figure out why a particular gospel passage is chosen for a given Sunday.  Why, for example, did we listen to nineteen verses covering two full pages in the lectionary last Sunday, and this Sunday hear only four short verses covering about one fourth of a page?  Why wasn’t last Sunday’s reading a little shorter and today’s a little longer?  Why are these four verses presented to us without the immediately preceding and following verses that are such an integral part of this gospel passage? (See John 10.22-42.)

One clue is the second reading.  On feast days like Christ the King or Corpus Christi and during the seasons of Advent and Lent the second reading is almost always the key to understanding the liturgical meaning of the gospel passage.  Even in the Easter Vigil the reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans brings out the baptismal significance of the Gospel’s proclamation of the resurrection.

In this Sunday’s liturgy the reading from the Book of Revelation serves as a commentary on Jesus’ words in the gospel reading:  “[My sheep] shall never perish.” “No one can take them out of my hand.” “No one can take [what my Father has given me] out of the Father’s hand.”

In the Book of Revelation John the Seer echoes John the Evangelist.  In his vision those followers of Jesus who have undergone persecution and death stand before the throne of God and the Lamb.  “They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.  For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Read in this liturgical context, Jesus assures all of us who recognize him in the breaking of the bread that we can risk all because the power of Jesus is the power of God.  “The Father and I are one.” is a word of comfort to those who suffer for their belief.

---

In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:

Brown 1966 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Gospel according to John (i-xii), Volume 29 of the Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966), pp. 401-412.

Brown 1967 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Jesus God and Man  (Milwaukee:  The Bruce Publishing Company, 1967), pp. 1-38.

Collins 1990 – Adela Yarbro Collins, “The Apocalypse (Revelation)” in Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Editors, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary  (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 1990), pp. 1005-1006.

Dodd 1968 – C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel  (Cambridge:  The Cambridge University Press, 1968), pp. 228-240.

Fuller 1984 – Reginald H. Fuller, Preaching the Lectionary.  The Word of God for the Church Today  (Collegeville [MN]:  Liturgical Press, 1984), pp. 430-431.

Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John  (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 183-192.

Mitchell 2004 – Joan Mitchell, CSJ, “4th Sunday of Easter,” Sunday by Sunday, Vol. 13, No. 35, May 2, 2004.

Moloney 1998 – Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B., The Gospel of John.  Sacra Pagina Series Volume 4, A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]:  Liturgical Press1998), pp. 312-321.

NRSV – New Revised Standard Version – Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, Editors, The New Oxford Annotated Bible [with the Apocrypha] containing the Old and New Testaments.  New Revised Standard Version.  (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1994)

Perkins 1990 – Pheme Perkins, “The Gospel According to John” in Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Editors, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary  (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 1990), p. 969.

Pilch 1997 – John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday,  Cycle  C .  A Liturgical Press Book (Collegeville [MN]:  Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 76-78.

---