DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. John 10:1-9 (5/21) Gospel, Feast of the
Equals-to-the-Apostles Constantine & Helena
The Good Shepherd:
In the contemporary world, secularism,
neo-paganism, along with eastern spiritualities, abound in the market-place of
ideas, confusing many so that they neither hear nor heed the voice of the
Lord. On every side, we find those
who assert “This Man is not from God...” (Jn.
9:16), “this man is a sinner” (Jn. 9:24),
or “we do not know where He is from” (Jn.
9:29). Beloved of the Lord, let us
flee from such strange voices and follow Christ Who “calls His own sheep
by name and leads them out” (Jn. 10:3). His promise upheld
How may we confidently know the voice of the
Great Shepherd? He enters openly,
candidly, without deception, “by the door” (vs. 2). The doorkeeper, the Church with her Holy
Tradition, opens to Him (vs. 3).
The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice (vs. 4). The Lord Jesus comes openly and directly
to the sheep, to the People of God, unlike other teachers or authorities. Those climb “up some other
way” (vs. 1) - like thieves and robbers. Instead, the Lord calls upon Moses and
all the Prophets as His witnesses (Jn. 5:39; Lk. 16:31). He
rejects any approach to God that makes “the commandment of God of no
effect by” insinuating one’s own ideas or traditions into the plain
word of God (Mt. 15:6).
The true Shepherd commands all men to honor
God from the heart, and not to teach “as
doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt. 15:9). “Do not think that I came to
destroy the Law or the Prophets. I
did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17). The Lord is ever open and faithful. He never swerves from Divine precepts in
His teaching, nor does He honor outward compliance, but an inward response from
a pure heart: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You
shall not murder’....But I say to you that whoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Mt. 5:21,22). Let us
heed Him with our hearts.
Second, let us be confident that Jesus is the
true Shepherd for “to Him the doorkeeper opens” (Jn. 10:3). St.
John Chrysostom observes that “the door” alluded to in this
instance is the Holy Scriptures: “for they bring us to God, and open to
us the knowledge of God, they make the sheep, they
guard them, and suffer not the wolves to come in after them. For Scripture, like
some sure door barreth the passage against the
heretics, placing us in a state of safety as to all that we desire and not
allowing us to wander.”
In this vein,
Finally, as the Lord proves Himself to be the
Good Shepherd, “the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice” (vs.
4). They know that the One Who calls
them, leads them, as no other ever has or ever will, to true salvation, to
“find pasture” (vs. 9).
In others, one discerns the marks of rebellion and sin, those deadly
evils that infect the race of Adam; but in Christ is life!
Thou hast anointed my head with oil, and
Thy cup which filleth me, how excellent it is!