The Shepherd and the Judge
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· 15 viewsJesus, the Good Shepherd and Great King or Judge in the Gospel cares deeply for the entire flock. When one of the flock bullies the weak: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and in prison, a good shepherd must judge and ultimately destroy the bully. This judgement is not a harsh, hard, unmerciful application of “the rules.” It is an act of love for the entire flock. Of course, the shepherd wishes he wouldn’t have to do this. But that is “rightly” shepherding the flock, acting mercifully for the whole.
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Homily 133 - SSPP - Matthew 25 31-46 - 26 November 2023
By Deacon Mark Mueller
In religious art, icons are prominent. They are different than normal artistic renderings. The artist does not paint an icon as much as he or she prays it into existence. The icon once complete, becomes a door through which we enter the mystery that it conveys. One does not look at an icon, it is read. Every brush stroke, each detail, brings us closer to both understanding and mystery; that which we can understand but never fully comprehend. Sacred Scripture gives us similar images, icons, to help us understand the mystery of our Triune God. Though these icons are words, vice images, they are nonetheless divinely inspired, prayed into existence by the author, and intended to serve as a door to a mysterious encounter with God.
The readings today give us two meaningful icons for God. The first is a good shepherd. The second is a judge. We tend to view one in an overly sweet and sentimental way, the other as a practitioner of a harsh and unmerciful application of, “the rules.”
The icon of God, Christ, the Good Shepherd, often conjures images of rolling green pastures (as in the 23rdPsalm) and Jesus bearing a hurt or lost lamb on His shoulders. In this we see Christ the nurturer, who looks after, tends, and pastures His flock, us. He protects it from danger, actively seeks every sheep which has wandered from the flock, and heals every wound. This is not just an icon of comfort; it is an on-going reality. Jesus nurtures His flock, the Church, even now in the Eucharist. At Holy Mass, Jesus feeds us with Himself, being both Priest and Sacrifice, with His precious body and blood. Through Christ the Good Shepherd, we mysteriously become what we eat.
It is mysterious because it is far different than when you eat a hamburger. When you eat that big quarter pound of juicy beef, you do not become a cow. Although, if you eat enough of them, over time, you may outweigh the cow.
Becoming what we consume in the Eucharist is mysterious. In consuming the bread and wine that has been miraculously changed substantially, no longer bread, no longer wine, into Christ’s living presence, means that the Good Shepherd fully alive abides in us and we in him. He never leaves us. Jesus tells us in John chapter 6,
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. (John 6:56–57 NRSVE)
That word, “abide,” in Greek is mĕnō. It means that Christ not only dwells in us but becomes one with us such that we cannot distinguish one from another. Filled with His presence, we, wounded and lost sheep, are made whole again, as the prophet Isaiah writes, “by his wounds we [are] healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 NABRE)
It is at the very end of the first reading that this icon of the Good Shepherd connects us to the Gospel reading, and the icon of Christ the Judge. Ezekiel writes of the Good Shepherd that,
…the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly. As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. (Ezekiel 34:16–17 NAB)
When I served in Iraq, because of the nature of my mission, I spent a lot of time with shepherds along the Iraq-Iranian border. They were very wary of the “sleek and strong sheep,” the rams and the goats, as they will often bully the weaker sheep away from the best grass or feed such that the weak eventually starve to death or die from sickness. As one shepherd told me, the sleek and strong are the sheep you eatfirst, for if you are not careful, their bullying will sicken the entire herd.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd and Great King or Judge in the Gospel cares deeply for the entire flock. When one of the flock bullies the weak: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and in prison, a good shepherd must judge and ultimately destroy the bully. This judgement is not a harsh, hard, unmerciful application of “the rules.” It is an act of love for the entire flock. Of course, the shepherd wishes he wouldn’t have to do this. But that is “rightly” shepherding the flock, acting mercifully for the whole.
Every human on earth is uniquely created by God and precious to Him. Christ, the King of the Universe, and so a judge, is also the Good Shepherd, with an enormous flock. In every member of the flock, all of humanity, He either abides in His sheep through the Eucharist, such that Christ and our brother or sister are inseparable, what we do, or do not do, to our brother or sister we do to Him; or He seeks the healing of the lost sheep such that, “everyone [is] saved and [comes] to knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) God, in mercy, cannot abide those who act without mercy for the other, without love! The great mystic and Doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross said, “In the evening of our lives we will be judged on our love.” God does not desire the loss of any one of His sheep, yet, compelled by love, he will protect His flock from the “sleek and strong” who act without mercy. God is very clear in the first reading, “I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.”
These two great icons of the Good Shepherd and the Judge are not in conflict. Both are an image of the depth of love that God has for every one of us. I will leave you with one last image, an icon if you will, imprinted on your body. The next time you see one of Christ’s own; hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, ill, or in prison, look at your fingers (I hope you all have five on each hand). As you consider walking away from acting in love, look at your left hand and count each finger with the words, "You did this to me." Then, look at your right hand and count each finger with the words, “you did this for me.” Judge, are my hands furthering an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace? Or, are my hands serving only myself and my wants. Our faith is dead unless it be expressed in works of love (James 2:20). We cannot say we truly love God, whom we cannot see, if we don’t love our neighbor, whom we can (1 John 4:20). Now, how will you judge? LEFT or RIGHT?
Knowing the truths of these two icons, Christ the good shepherd and the judge, Jesus King of the Universe; how will He judge YOU?