by Fr. Tommy Lane
It is good that we have
four Gospels and not just one because that gives us four portraits
of Jesus instead of just one.
Each evangelist gives us information
about Jesus that is only in his Gospel. Today’s Gospel passage (John
1:35-42) is only in the Gospel of John. In it, Jesus tells us he is
the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus
tells us he lays down his life in order to take it up again. Jesus
laid down his life for us above all in his self-sacrifice on Calvary
to atone for our sins and took it up again when he rose on Easter
Sunday. So although religious and civil leaders had Jesus crucified,
they did so because Jesus submitted to them. Jesus was really in
control all the time, all the time consciously making an act of
self-sacrifice for our sins. He had the power to lay down his life
and the power to take it up again. That is why John’s Gospel gives
us a unique picture of Jesus during his passion and death. In the
account of Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew (27:46) and Mark (15:34),
Jesus exclaims, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” but not
in John. In John (19:30), since Jesus has the power to lay down his
life and is consciously making an act of self-sacrifice for our
sins, on the cross Jesus says as he dies, “It is finished,” showing
his total control over the entire situation.
This power that Jesus has
over the entire situation in John’s Gospel is something he wishes
for us also. He wishes that we also have supremacy over our lives,
and we have supremacy over our lives by living with Jesus in the
correct place in our lives. We see an example of Jesus’ supremacy in
our first reading, where we heard Peter telling the Sanhedrin how a
crippled man was healed when Peter commanded the cripple in the name
of Jesus to get up and walk. Peter told them that it was in the name
of Jesus that the cripple was healed (Acts 4:10). Peter concluded
his words saying
There is no salvation
through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
There is no
salvation through anyone else and no other name by which we can be
saved. There is salvation only in Jesus. Jesus had total control
over everything even as he was crucified, and Jesus is the only one
to have supremacy over our lives also because he is our only Savior.
Just as the crippled man
experienced this supremacy and freedom in Jesus, many who lost
control of their lives through dependence on or addiction to a
substance or certain type of behavior also discovered freedom in
Jesus and his power over their lives. Fr. Pat Collins has devoted a
chapter of one of his books (Claiming the Promises and Release of
Blessing) to those recovering from addiction using the
twelve-step program of the AA which like all twelve-step programs
relies on the power of God to give the strength to overcome
addiction. The spirituality of the Bible is the real source of the
AA as it was founded, and of all twelve step programs. The third
step involves making a decision to turn one’s life over to God.
There are many Scripture passages in the background to this
spirituality but some that come to mind are these:
your love is better than wine (Song of Songs 1:2)
My grace is sufficient for you, for [my] power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9)
I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me (Phil 4:13) or another translation (RSV) of the same verse, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-24)
This is part of a
prayer written by Dr. Bob Smith one of the founders of the AA:
Dear God, I am sorry
for the mess I’ve made of my life. I want to turn away from all the
wrong things I’ve ever done and all the wrong things I’ve ever been.
Please forgive me for it all. I know you have the power to change my
life and can turn me into a winner. Thank you, God, for getting my
attention long enough to interest me in trying it your way. God,
please take over the management of my life and everything about me.
I am making this conscious decision to turn my will and my life over
to your care and am asking you to please take over all parts of my
life. Please, God, move into my heart. (Collins Claiming the
Promises and Release of Blessing p127 quoting Big Book
2005 p37)
Jesus is our Good Shepherd
because laid down his life and for us and took it up again. He had
total control over the entire situation even as others crucified him
because he consciously and actively sacrificed himself in atonement
for our sins. He also wants us to have supremacy over our lives and
freedom in him just as the crippled man:
There is no salvation
through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved. (Acts 4:12)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Fourth Sunday of Easter Year B
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down his life for us 2021
Jesus the Good Shepherd carries us on his shoulder and lays down his life for us 2006
Related Homilies: Gospel: Jesus laying down his life: Gethsemane and crucifixion
Good Shepherds laying down their lives: St. Damien of Molokai and St. Patrick
Second Reading Related: Love of God for us 2009