On the Back Porch
4th Sunday of Easter, Year B
What We Celebrate
Every 4th Sunday of Easter the gospel is taken from John 10 known as the “Good Shepherd” discoure, the last of the public speeches of Jesus in John’ gospel. Jesus specifically invokes the image of the shepherd which is no only pastoral but , in the minds of the 1st century listeners, also kingly. Jesus is fulfilling the promises made in Ezekiel 34 that after a history of kings who lead Israel into sin and away from God, that God himself would come to shepherd the people. And that is just the start of the meaning of this rich text.
Take a moment and go deeper from the comfort of your back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the4th Sunday of Easter Gospel
Image credit: Pexel with Canva | G Corrigan | CC-BY-NC
The Prophet Ezekiel
The gospel text for Good Shepherd Sunday, John 10, leans quite heavily on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, who lived during the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, witnessed the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, went into Exile, and yet offers the people a message of Hope of the Messiah to come who would be God Himself, truly, the Good Shepherd. Take some time to watch the short videos explaining the Book of Ezekiel.