Tuesday May 9
The sheepfold was a simple enclosure in which sheep belonging to various shepherds were kept by night, with a guardian at the gate. “I am the gate of the sheepfold,” Jesus said. It doesn’t seem at first a very personal image: a gate. But for someone seeking a way out of slavery or imprisonment, or seeking entry to a place of well-being, there is nothing of greater interest. There are several similar images in the New Testament: the door, the doorkeeper, the In the context of the celebration of the consecration of the Temple of Jerusalem during the time of Judas Maccabeus (165 BC), Jesus responds to a provocation by the Jews. They hypocritically expect an explicit statement of his messianic status so they can accuse him. Christ returns to the discourse on the Good Shepherd, from the perspective of the disciple who listens and follows his teacher and shepherd unlike the rebel and the outsider. Those who are with Jesus are with the Father because the Father and he are one. In this way, the disciple can have full communion with God..
It was the Festival of Lights, otherwise called the Festival of the Dedication, a week-long celebration commemorating the consecration of the Temple after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes about two centuries before Christ. Its culmination was (and still is) on the 25th day of the Jewish month called Chislev, which corresponds to December. It was a joyful feast, and everywhere was full of lights. Yet, “It was winter,” says John - unnecessarily, it might seem (he had already given the exact date). But scholars say the phrase has the same significance as “It was night” at the Last Supper (13:30). ‘Winter’ is a word that evokes bleakness and darkness. The dark shadows are gathering. Against this backdrop Jesus stands out as Light of the World and the Consecrated One. He is the new Temple. “I am the light of the world” (8:12), “I have come into the world as light” (12:44). They quiz him: “If you are the Messiah [= the Anointed One], tell us plainly.” Yes, the Father has consecrated him and sent him into the world (10:36). He is the new Temple, the new Place of Meeting. We can think of the mind of Jesus, the ‘Christ-mind’ (see Phil 2:5), as a vast lighted Temple, a Tent of Meeting with God.
keys, the way. All of these have this in common: that they are perfectly ambiguous. You can travel in two different directions along a way. A gate or door can lock you in or out, include or exclude you. And even inclusion is ambiguous: it can be protection or imprisonment. Keys symbolize power, but it can be power for or against you. In the mind and heart of Jesus, these are benign images; the sheep are reassured by the presence of the Good Shepherd. But in other minds and hearts – because of sin – these images can be interpreted the other way, and then God help the sheep!
