The problem is that we think John 10 is about punishing those who don’t follow Jesus. We get it completely wrong.
And why we misunderstand John
Easter 4C | John 10:22-30
Imagine if I walked in front of everyone and said “Larry Bird sucks.” And then proceded to tell you all that I am the greatest basketball player who has ever lived. Next to me, Bird, Magic, Hakeem, Russell, Wilt, LeBron, Stef Curry, these guys are a disgrace!
That’s the energy here. The energy in the text.
Now, let’s add another energy to it. A different energy. The energy of people who want to literally kill people who play basketball. Even though I just said I’m awesome at basketball, to defend me they will destroy all things basketball adjacent.
That is how people read this gospel story from John 10.
And here we are, reading it. In church. Like it’s no big deal.
Now, we could cut out the problematic bits. The lectionary people do like that approach. Or we could refuse to read it. That’s also an option. We could do our favorite tactic and avoid it all together. Preach on a different reading and we’ll all forget the anti-semitism.
Of course, I could always take the Sunday School approach and talk about it as if that part isn’t even there. Like this is just about what’s going on in our hearts.
Or we can read it. And name it. Naming what genuinely is problematic about this text. AND the terrible assumptions people of faith throughout history have jumped to for the sake of “protecting” the faith. The evil they have wrought assuming that is good.
So let’s go.
John 10 is…difficult.
In general, the best way to read John is by whole chapters. Anything less and we easily miss half (or more) of the story. John 10 is no exception.
This is the good shepherd chapter. And he is speaking to a mixed crowd of people. Followers and non-followers. He says a lot of round-about and conflicting things. That’s just how Jesus speaks in John’s gospel. Clarity and precision are not the name of the game here.
But if we were to try to distill what Jesus seems to be saying, we would first recognize that Jesus is trying to describe what is in and what is out. That there are boundaries. And there are benefits to being in and problems with being out.
But then he names two troubling ideas: that some of the faithful will be excluded and yet also some who aren’t counted among the faithful will be included. In other words, the lines aren’t where we paint them. The great sort isn’t about tribal identity.
We are likely to paint Jesus as the divine gatekeeper. Which is how he will paint himself later, in chapter 14. Except then he will talk about all the ways, he is the gate, and we must go through him. But he is also the minder of the gate and the gate is always open!
Our brains struggle to comprehend the paradoxes Jesus is describing because we want him to make a decision. We want him to pick a side. Team Inclusion or Team Exclusion.
And we inject the anti-semitism into the text.
Of course, John, the writer, sets up the soil, tills it, and hands us the seeds of anti-semitism. But we do all of the work. We plant them, water them, and watch them grow. And then when our neighbors harvest them, we go, that’s not what we meant!
This is a terrible text to preach on because none of us really wants to wrestle with what it is trying to say. Because I don’t think it is a fully-formed conclusion in and of itself. It’s part of a bigger conversation Jesus is having with his own people. He’s a reformer arguing for reform. And some of it is cringey.
But we also know that stoning him for saying what he said isn’t the right response.
And neither is gassing people 1900 years later.
Violence is not the only thing that connects those who sought to kill Jesus for blasphemy and the hundreds of millions of Christians who have sought to retaliate for millennia.
It’s the idea that Jesus cares who is in and who is out.
Jesus is trying to thread a needle.
And it is narrow.
He’s telling us that there are boundaries. There’s an in and there’s an out. And there are expectations.
And when we hear that, we take it and we run with it. Run all the way, as far as we can go until we run out of gas and realize…Wait? Where am I? We have no clue how we got here.
But Jesus wasn’t done speaking.
He says that yes, there are boundaries, and I’m the way to get there—
And then he put his hand on our shoulder because he knows we’re about to take off again. But he’s not done.
I am the way, but the gate is wide open.
So then we’re off and running again. Out to the middle of nowhere. Thinking Jesus is the way means Christianity is the way which means my church is the way… and then everything else is wrong and all of them are going to hell… and then we gotta make ‘em all like us to save them from hell!
So many assumptions!
Meanwhile, Jesus is back here at the start. Waiting to finish. And some of us come back, head down. Kind of ashamed. But really just confused. And we wait for Jesus to pick it back up.
And finally he starts up.
I’m telling you about the party. Not the one we throw when you die. The party going on right now. That’s why I’m talking about coming through the gate. Because inside, we’re having the time of our lives. And the more time you spend inside, the less living you’ll miss out on.
We’re not just reading this wrong. We read it in a way that literally kills people. And Jesus is trying to get us into the party right now.
When we are so eager to be right, we miss the very thing Jesus is trying to say.
Because we’re obsessed with the gate! With deciding who is in and who is out. What happens to those who are out. Making it all into some giant game of Risk except we have God on our side and the rest of the people can just die under our boots!
We’re not the bouncers! That isn’t our job. Our job is to join the party!
And guess what? The party’s here!
Sitting right over there are our two VIPs. And in a minute we are going to honor these adorable ones who are dressed for a party! Who have been a part of this party their whole lives! Who are here today because their parents answered that job description of “Party Goer” before them.
That’s the thing: they’re in the party already! God is working in them something beautiful. And where we come in is with the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
And what are Sacraments?
[Say it if you remember it! Because the more you say it, the more you’ll remember it!]
The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.
We are honoring the work Christ is doing in them already! And we get to celebrate that it is happening! And we can know it in the experience of it with one another.
This is what we do. Go to parties! Throw parties! Celebrate! Dance and sing! Make things! Create! Live!
All of it
Just a couple weeks ago, one of our siblings in Christ joined the saints. David Mier. He was a sweet, honorable man.
But what I witnessed in his blessed family was way more than honor or pride or the stuff we champion in life. What I saw was how much his love created life in that family.
And they all said the same things. The second one of his kids or grandkids sounded like they needed help, he was out the door. That’s how they put it! That they hadn’t even hung up the phone and he was knocking on their door. There in an instant. That’s how he showed his love. How he showed up in their lives. Living his life.
This is our life. All of it. A party we all get to be a part of. Every single day.