4th Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026
Acts
2:14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 2:20b-25; John 10:1-10
Theme:
We are Both the Sheep of Jesus and Good Shepherds for our Brothers and Sisters
A. A
Brief Exegetical Analysis of Jon 10:1-10
1.
Historical and Literary Contexts
Our
Gospel passage is the first part of the “Good Shepherd Discourse” in John’s
Gospel. The story of the Healing the Man Born Blind (9:1-41), which immediately
precedes our text, constitutes its background. In that story, Jesus cured a
blind man from birth, but the Pharisees excommunicated the cured man because he
did not give false testimony against Jesus as they requested of him. After all,
they planned to accuse Jesus and have him arrested and condemned. That story
ended up with Jesus addressing the Pharisees about their spiritual blindness
because they did not recognize they were sinners and needed Jesus. Our Good
Shepherd Discourse continues Jesus’ address to the Pharisees and serves as a
commentary on the entire story of the Healing of the Man Born Blind. Our
passage is immediately followed by the second part of the Good Shepherd
Discourse (10:11-21) and the story of the Feast of the Dedication (10:22-42),
which ends this chap. 10.
2.
Form,
Structure, and Movement
Our
Gospel is an allegorical discourse structured into two movements. In the first
movement (vv. 1-6), Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd; in the second
movement (vv. 7-10), he says he is the gate for the sheep.
3. Detailed
Analysis
Our
text serves as a commentary on the story of the Healing of the Man Born Blind
(Jn 9). The sheep are the people of Israel, represented by the man born blind.
The sheepfold (a low stone wall open to the sky)[1]
is Israel.
Vv.
1-6. The good shepherd who enters through the gate, meaning who obeys God’s
commandments, is Jesus. The people of Israel, represented by the cured man born
blind, hear the voice of Jesus, who calls them by name and leads them out
because they belong to him. Jesus walks ahead, and they, recognizing his voice,
follow him. In contrast, the Pharisees are the “thieves, robbers, and
strangers.” They climb over the sheepfold, which means they do not follow God’s
commandments. The people of Israel will run away from them because they do not
recognize the Pharisees’ voice. The narrator comments that the Pharisees do not
understand Jesus's message.
Vv.
7-10. Jesus identifies himself as the gate, first, for the shepherd (himself)
to come to the sheep (7-8), and second, for the sheep to come in and go out
safely and find pasture (vv. 9-10). The Pharisees’ mission is to steal,
slaughter, and destroy as they threatened to excommunicate anyone who would
acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (see 9:22) and applied this threat to the
cured man born blind (see 9:34). In contrast, Jesus’ healing of the man born
blind testifies that his mission is to offer abundant life to the people who
believe in him.
4.
Synthesis
The
Pharisees, who excommunicated the cured blind man because he acknowledged Jesus
as he is from God (chap. 9), are identified as thieves, robbers, and strangers.
Their mission is to steal, slaughter, and destroy. The people of Israel will
not listen to them because they do not recognize their voices. Jesus is the
good shepherd and the gate for the people to come in and out safely. People
listen to him because they recognize his voice. His mission is to give life
abundantly to those who believe in him.
B. Pastoral
Implication
1.
Liturgical Context
This
Fourth Sunday of Easter is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It is also called
“The Good Shepherd Sunday” because, in all three Liturgical Calendars, we read the
“Good Shepherd Discourse” in chap. 10 of the Gospel of John (Year A: vv. 1-10;
Year B: vv. 11-18; and Year C: vv. 27-30). Today's Gospel reminds us that we simultaneously
are Jesus’ sheep and shepherds for our brothers and sisters. We should then
know our mission as Jesus’ sheep and as good shepherds for others. As Jesus’
sheep, when we suffer and are treated unjustly, Peter, in our second reading,
calls us to imitate Christ, who returned no insult when insulted and did not
threaten when he suffered. Our mission as good shepherds consists of calling our
brothers and sisters to repentance and teaching them to believe in Jesus as the
Lord and Messiah, as Peter did in our first reading.
2. What
the Church Teaches us Today
Today’s
liturgy teaches us to know our mission as Jesus’ sheep and the shepherds for
our brothers and sisters. First, as Jesus’ sheep, the Gospel teaches us to do
three things: hear the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, recognize his voice,
and follow him. (1) We are called to hear Jesus when he speaks to us in the Scriptures,
the Church teachings, our hearts, and through our brothers and sisters. To hear
Jesus means to obey him.
(2)
We are called to recognize his voice. Many voices of the “bad shepherds”
deceive us in this world. Jesus identifies them as “strangers, “thieves,” and
“robbers.” To recognize Jesus’ voice, among many others, we need to hear him
regularly when he speaks to us and become familiar with him. Attending Mass
regularly, praying outside of Mass, and reading the Bible are essential for becoming
familiar with Jesus’ voice.
(3)
The Gospel asks us to follow Jesus. Being a Christian is being Jesus’ follower.
The author of our second reading teaches us what it means to follow Jesus. For
him, following Jesus, which is our calling, goes together with suffering and
the grace of God. “If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God. For to this, you have been called…” (v. 20b-21). He
exhorts us to be patient and imitate the example of Jesus (v. 21b). To follow
Jesus means to follow in his footsteps, doing what he did. Our second reading
gives us some things that Jesus did that we need to imitate. He says, “He
committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When insulted, he
returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed
himself over to the one who judges justly.” (vv. 22-23). So, to follow Jesus is
to do what he did in all circumstances. Let us always hear Jesus whenever he
speaks to us, become capable of recognizing his voice, and finally be his
followers.
Second,
in addition to being Jesus’ sheep, we are also called to be the “Gate” and
“Good Shepherds” for our brothers and sisters, as Jesus is the “Gate” and “Good
Shepherd” for us. Jesus declares that he is the gate for the sheep, and whoever
enters through him will be saved and come in and go out and find pasture (see vv.
7-9). Jesus is the gate that protects the sheep from the “false shepherds” and the
gate that leads them to salvation. As the “gates” and “good shepherds,” our
mission in this Church, our families, and wherever we live is to protect our
brothers and sisters and ensure they are in good relationships with God and one
another. Also, the way we all must pass through Jesus, the gate that leads to
eternal salvation, is the same way that Jesus exhorts us to be the “gate” for
others so that through us they may know him and be saved. Let us be the “gate” that
protects and leads our brothers and sisters to Jesus.
To
accomplish this mission of being the “gate-protector” and the “gate leader”
(the Good Shepherd), we need to be spiritually strong. A protector is supposed
to be stronger than the enemy who attacks, and a leader is supposed to know
very well the road to which he leads others. Because sin weakens and blinds us
spiritually, we cannot protect and lead people to Jesus unless we use the
sacrament of confession regularly. In our first reading, Peter calls us to repent
whenever we commit sins. He tells us that when we repent, we receive the
forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit (v.38). Therefore, repentance
strengthens us and enables us to be the “gate-protector” and the “gate-leader”
for our brothers and sisters.
On
this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, let us pray for the religious priests,
brothers, and sisters that God fill them with all the graces they need to
continue to be the good shepherds of the people they serve. We also pray for
the men and women in the religious formation training for the priesthood,
brotherhood, and sisterhood that the Holy Spirit guides them in this crucial stage
of the discernment of their lives. Let us also pray for our youth, asking God
to inspire them so that they become familiar with Jesus’ voice, hear him when
he calls them to the religious life, and decide to follow him as religious
priests, brothers, and sisters. Finally, we pray for all of us, laypersons and clerics,
to be the obedient sheep of God and good shepherds for our brothers and
sisters. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Church in Jackson, MS &
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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