For the most part, King David did his best to stay close to the Lord. Psalm 23 reminds us that, as David’s shepherd, the Lord provides David with all he needs: I shall not want, David sings. He asks to be guided in right paths, that he might dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come. This is covenant relationship at its best: David trusts in the Lord, who is at his side, goodness and kindness incarnate; David allows God to work in him, shepherding him rightly.
In Jesus’ time, however, the Pharisees have closed their minds to Jesus, refusing to see him as the one God sent to bring salvation to all. Instead, the Pharisees hold to their traditional spiritual practices, based on careful observance of 613 laws that, over time, have come to stand between them and God. They are the thieves and robbers to whom Jesus refers in John’s Gospel, the strangers whom the sheep will not follow. Yet Jesus proclaims to all that access to God will be possible thanks to his passion, death and rising. It is his suffering, the First Letter of Peter tells us, that allows us to experience God’s forgiveness and love. Jesus himself is the gate for the sheep, the gate through which we must enter to stay close to God.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter clearly explains to the whole house of Israel that this Jesus whom they crucified was both Lord and Christ. Upon hearing this, the people are cut to the quick, and ready to repent and be baptized. Only by changing direction can they get close to the Lord, and allow him to work within them. They may have gone astray like sheep, but they must return to the shepherd, surrendering themselves to Christ, believing in him, and in the access to God that his suffering and death made possible. The Lord is our shepherd, so long as we allow ourselves to be guided in right paths, that we might follow in his footsteps and dwell forever in his presence.
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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