Fourth Sunday of Easter Yr A 2026

Title

I am come so that they might have life

Outline

I went to a deanery meeting this week and heard the stories of what was going on in the lives of pastors in this corner of the diocese. I thought of those stories as I reflected on our readings.

We have many models of Messiah’s in our world

There are political Messiah’s on the right and on the left and economic Messiah’s, and health and wellness Messiah’s, some stressing medical interventions and others diet. There are also religious Messiah’s, some a book (the Guru Granth Sahib) or a particular view of a book (some Reformed and Fundamentalist views of the Bible), others teachers (the Buddha and Chinese teachers) or prophets (Mohammed) or warriors (as the hidden Caliph or we might say the eschatological Caliph of Shia Islam). Then there is Jesus.

Jesus called for allegiance but based on his death

Peter says “Repent and be baptized . . . in the name of Jesus Christ” an act of allegiance which in which he sacramentally purifies us from our sins in his death and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit that is life.

Jesus gave us a model of leadership built on his suffering

As 1 Peter says, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps . . . when he was insulted he returned no insult; when he suffered he did not threaten . . . He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross . . . By his wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus loved, seeking our good not his own

We were sheep going astray, says Peter, but Jesus gathered us into his sheepfold, says Jesus. He is the gate in that he is the protection during the night. He is our shepherd in that he leads us out to pasture while he watches over us.

Christians have been criticized for their exclusivism, but Jesus is unique

“I am the gate,” says Jesus repeatedly. I am the one who calls my sheep by name. “All who came before me [and those who will come after him] are thieves and robbers.” Strong language, but true. “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy,” the thief comes seeking their own good or the good of their system. “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus laid down his life, his good, for the good of the sheep.

And that is the mark of Messiahship and true leadership

They are people who are modeled on Jesus, for whom Jesus is the ultimate leader. They are people not seeking their own good, but giving up their very lives if necessary for the good of others - we think of the martyrs. They are people whose aim in life is that of Jesus, i.e. that the sheep might have life and might have it more abundantly even if to do this they must like Jesus lay down their lives.