Everyone loves the image of the good shepherd. However, in the time of Jesus, this image was a little jarring. Being a shepherd was not the best job. Besides being demanding and dangerous, a shepherd could not remain ritually clean. A shepherd was not a member of polite society. The idea of a good shepherd was unusual to say the least. In true Jesus fashion, he uses the image to catch people's attention. And it works. There is something about a good shepherd that is reassuring, particularly for us as sheep. There is also something powerful about the image that Jesus, as the good shepherd, will not let us go. Once we are his, we are his always.
If the image of the good shepherd got us talking this week, so did our conversation about eternal life. Jesus came to bring life and bring it abundantly. Within Judaism, the promise of abundant life was in the here and now. An abundant life was a true gift from God. Who could ask for more? Life beyond death was to be experienced through your children and your children's children. As Christians, we live with a different sense of eternal life. We live with the promise of life beyond death.
Of course, this led to a conversation about what that life beyond death will be. Most of the images we have i.e. clouds, halos, and harps, come from our culture and not scripture. The scripture speaks of banquets, praise, and no more tears. The same thing can be said for the other side of the equation. The images of hell again come from our culture. The scriptures speak of being separated from God. To help describe what that is like, the scriptures made a comparison to the trash heap outside of Jerusalem, Gehenna. There you would find fire and worms, but the image is metaphorical. In contemporary terms, what is hell, it is being completely alone. God is all about connections. Being apart from God is to be disconnected. The work of God in this world is reconnecting people to each other, the world, and God.
Once again, our conversation was rich and meaningful. Join us on Wednesday at the CEB at noon or follow along on the blog.
Pastor Summer
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