And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. - Jn 10:16
I think this will be my last reflection on this passage.
This is a passage for which all Gentile Christians are grateful. We remember how harshly Jesus told the Canaanite woman that he had come only for the lost sheep of Israel (Mt 15:24). Now he tells us that he has come for us, too. (After all, my 1/4 Jewish heritage would have been lost to me when my grandfather married my Irish-German Catholic grandmother and converted!) Some Christians judge (imprudently) that Gentiles have heeded Jesus' voice better than his own people have. But all such judgment runs counter to this image of the Shepherd who has laid down his life to bring us all into his one flock.
Okay, there could probably be more in these last two verses about Jesus laying down his life and picking it back up again, and by no means do I suggest that I have given this passage maximum value through the course of the day.
But I am grateful to you, my Shepherd, for blessing me with the chance to spend this day getting to know you more through these wonderful verses, for being my Shepherd, for laying down your life for a sheep who has too often been more like a thief, and for helping me to heed your voice.
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