The Good Shepherd, Twice Considered

 

The image of the Good Shepherd that we encounter in today’s reading from the Gospel of John – “one who lays down his life for his sheep”- is one that has inspired, comforted, and challenged the Christian community for ages. 

In the catacombs of Rome, for example, art historians note that the image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most common of the symbolic representations of Christ used by the early church.  Found in frescoes that pre-date the legalization of Christianity in the year 313, the image of an anonymous young man carrying a lamb round his neck found resonance among the faithful as they gathered in the shadows on the edges of the empire. Even as persecution waned in the handful of centuries that followed, the gaunt image of the Good Shepherd continued to be prominent in the artwork and stories our predecessors in the faith left behind.

The early images of the Good Shepherd from the Catacombs of Rome contrast sharply with the more recent soft-focused, pastel-colored scenes that I grew up with. Beginning in the 5th Century, as Christianity began to align with Empire, depictions of the Good Shepherd shifted as well. They began to take on a more ‘conventional’ Christ-like appearance. 

And by conventional, here, what people really mean is more Western or European… dark skin tones whitewashed, tattered Roman-era garb turned into flowing robes, a youthful face now graced with a flowing golden-brown beard, often capped with a halo on top. Over the shoulders of one, there is a scrawny sheep while cradled in the arms of the other is an incredibly fluffy lamb...  

In my take, one image of the Good Shepherd is the epitome of all things warm and fuzzy and pastoral, the latter has a scrappier quality, having been seasoned and tested in the field… Like someone who has been to hell and back.

The beauty (and challenge) of metaphors and images like Jesus as “the Good Shepherd” is that they meet us and reflect where we are at. Even as I flag the differences between these dueling images and encourage you to do the same, the catch that we must remember is that they depict One and the Same. Not either/or, Jesus the Christ embodies both the compassion of the one and the strength of the other…

If asked to pick which image “speaks” to me or “resonates” with me, most of the time I’d say it is the ‘softer,’ more recent of the two… It might be because that is the image I’ve seen time and time again. It might also be that what I’ve needed is a caretaker to comfort me.

Now, however, in this time and this place… in the wake of the Chauvin Trial and the murder of George Floyd, as community members keep vigil for Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, concertina wire surrounds government buildings, and the national guard remains stationed in the parking lot of my local Lunds & Byerlys, just outside of a Noodles & Co and across from a Caribou, it is the earlier and scrappier image that rings true… 

Acutely aware of the brokenness in the world around me, the Shepherd I need is the one who was marked on underground walls during a period of duress… One who clearly will go whatever distance is required to save his wayward sheep – even to the grave… even from themselves...

Part of a Message, originally delivered at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, MN on 25 April 2021. Video recording available here.