Fourth Sunday of Easter, 26 April 2026: Acts 2:42-47;1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10; Psalm 23
This Sunday is often known as Good Shepherd Sunday, as we explore what it means to have a shepherd and what it means to be sheep. It’s worth starting with some basic facts. In Jesus’ time — and that of the psalmist — a shepherd was not a high status person. It was often a child: David was the youngest son, and he was off watching the sheep. Often it was also a woman. Shepherds were easily replaced, low status. So when Jesus claims to be the good shepherd, he is putting himself in a marginal position.
The other thing we need to remember is that sheep are not very bright. That’s why they need shepherds. But they are smart enough to know their shepherds, to recognize their voice. In some parts of Europe, all the sheep are pastured together in the summer, up in the hills. But when it comes time for them to come down to a more protected area, they know who they belong to.
Our readings today place us as people who need a shepherd. We need to be told what to do. We are often clueless. A pastor is a shepherd. Yet I want to take Psalm 23 seriously: The Lord is my shepherd. Years ago, I was asked to preach on Good Shepherd Sunday: our rector at that time was a couple who shared the job. It was their last Sunday, as their marriage had imploded rather spectacularly in Holy Week. They could not share the pulpit, and it was felt inappropriate for either one of them to preach. That was when it really hit me: as much as they meant to all of us in various ways, it was the Lord that was our shepherd. Our human shepherds are human, and as humans they will sometimes fail.
One of the reasons that Psalm 23 is read so often at funerals is that it provides a map of the care that the Lord provides in times of hardship. I shall fear no evil, for you are with me. Even more, You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me. We can think of the way the Lord served the person who has died, but also how the Lord is with us in our grief.
In the Gospel, Jesus presents himself as both the shepherd, as well as the gate to the sheepfold. We become his sheep by entering through the gate. And Jesus adds, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Abundant life: what an amazing promise. Is it any wonder that the early Christians would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need? The book of Acts tells us that they had glad and generous hearts!
If we believe that Jesus, our shepherd, has brought us abundant life, how do we recapture the sense of joy and gladness that the early followers of Jesus had? How can we show our glad and generous hearts?
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