Fourth Sunday of Easter

May 8, 2022

Acts 13 

Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga
and reached Antioch in Pisidia.
On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.
Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism
followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them
and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.

On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord.
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy
and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.
Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,
“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,
but since you reject it
and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us,
I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this
and glorified the word of the Lord.
All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread
through the whole region.
The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers
and the leading men of the city,
stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and expelled them from their territory.
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them,
and went to Iconium.
The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. 

John 10

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”

Knowing

We can read this chapter as an instruction to pastors to follow the example of the good shepherd. In this case knowing your sheep is essential, and that's a problem in large parishes. From this one can argue that pastoral groups must be small enough for some familiarity to exist between members and with the pastor. 

Another approach will take us into the mystery of "knowing" someone, and that's the opportunity that I want to take up in this reflection. The idea of "knowing" is all-important throughout the bible, from the familiarity of the early days when God walked with mankind in the garden in the cool of the evening to the threatening words of the Book of Revelations (Acts) where the judge says: 'I know your deeds.' 

If we stay with religion we have the chance to learn a lot about God and his current intervention in Christ, and about the church, but this is a meal of sawdust if we don't take it to the level of personal relationship, and that is the journey of the spirit. In some sense the Church as such is not a good shepherd because Mother Church does not treat her children individually as a mother would, each one a person with particular dreams, hopes, ambitions - and needs. Being a legal construct the Church governs according to the law as she must. The metanoia ahead for her is to break out of the shell of institution and become again a community of people who love being together,rubbing shoulders, caring for one another and sharing their spiritual journeys.


I  "Knowing" is a theme running right through the bible. (1)


(1) For some idea of 'knowing' in the NT we can look at Strong's Greek: 1097 ginosko,at https://biblehub.com/greek/1097.htm. Our word 'know' can be traced to an Indo-European root shared by Latin (g)noscere, Greek gignōskein, also by can and ken. 

γινώσκειν, ... a knowledge grounded in personal experience. 

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II The use of 'to know' as a euphemisim for sexual intimacy is found not only in Hebrew but also in Greek writings. I see it as more than a euphemism, It is  a metaphor rich in meaning and symbolism. As sexual intimacy involves a singularly deep knowing of the partner that surpasses all our other sense experiences, so the knowing in such statements as 'This is eternal life to know thee the one true  God and Jesus the Christ whom you have sent' is not just knowing about or knowing a lot of catechism or theology, but a knowing by experience. I 'know God' in the experience I have of being aware of a presence and being influenced in my life

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III 'I know my sheep and they know me.' As we read John's gospel we get a taste for the intimacy of this 'knowing'. 




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