Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34 It was a joyous occasion. Every
member of the family and a host of special friends had gathered on the lawns of the
bungalow to celebrate the parents’ wedding anniversary. As would be expected, the
mother had brought out her best crockery, reserved only for occasions such as these.
There was a tray full of used tea-cups, made of fine china with exquisite designs
on them, lying on a side table. The mother signalled one of her daughters and requested
her to carry it over to the kitchen. The daughter immediately obliged, but in her
hurry to get the job done, she missed a step while entering the house. The crockery
spilled over the tray and crashed on the floor. The girl was stunned. Her mother would
kill her now, she thought, shaking with nervousness. There were tears in her eyes
as she quickly collected the broken bits into the tray and went to the kitchen. Though
terrified, she decided that she had to tell her mother. Putting on a brave front she
went up to her mother and confessed how she had broken the treasured crockery. To
her utter surprise her mother remained calm. With a reassuring smile on her face she
simply asked, “Are you hurt?” When she replied she wasn’t, the mother said, “Then
I’m not worried, dear. I can replace the crockery, but I can’t replace you!”
The
Holy Bible constantly reminds us of the loving unbroken care of God towards human
persons. He created everything for man and for his wellbeing. He sent his messengers
constantly to look after his people. He is our Father, care taker and protector.
The image of God as the shepherd of his people has a long tradition in the history
of God’s people. This image of the shepherd which appears several times in the New
Testament shows us the care and concern of God in Jesus. We have the popular images
of Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep over his shoulders, or we have a smiling
Jesus sitting under a tree, with a little lamb on his lap. This image of the shepherd
appeals to us because it shows the tenderness of Jesus and his compassion. A shepherd
generally walked ahead of the sheep seeking out a safe path taking them to the pastures,
water and shelter. The sheep followed him, because they recognized his voice, and
they trusted him. An image of Jesus as a Good Shepherd is reassuring us that he is
always our support on our journey through life. When we encounter difficulties in
our life’s path and face serious problems the presence of Jesus the Good Shepherd
reassures us that we are not abandoned, that Jesus is supporting and holding us up.
In the Gospel of today Jesus takes pity on the people and feels that they are like
the sheep without Shepherd, indicating their helplessness. In the first reading the
Prophet indicates that Judah is about to be punished and much of the blame is attributed
to the leaders and kings. But God will raise up one who will be their true king. The
second reading tells us that Christ by his death has brought unity and peace.
In
the First Reading of today Prophet Jeremiah has strong words for shepherds or the
leaders who had been irresponsible and who let their flocks be scattered and destroyed.
In the ancient world kings often accepted the title shepherd and the subjects were
sheep under their care. Jeremiah was addressing the religious leaders of his own time
and telling them that their first responsibility was to lead the people closer to
God. The Prophet warns the leaders that if they did not change their policies the
sheep would be scattered. However, because God has continued to be the true King
and Shepherd of the people, even the ruling king Zedekiah’s misguided policies cannot
destroy the kingdom entirely. God promises to gather the remnant of his flock out
of all the lands and to raise shepherds over them to protect them. Disappointed with
the priestly branch of the Levites who were called to be the shepherds, God promised
through the prophet that he himself would gather the remnant of his flock out of all
the lands where he had driven them into exile and he would bring them back to the
land flowing with milk and honey. At that time God will appoint for them a new king,
a descendant of David who will rule by the standards of heaven. Unlike Zedekiah the
new king will serve God first.
In the Second Reading Paul reminds the Ephesian
converts that Jesus brought unity of brotherhood between the Jews and the Gentiles
to form them into one family. Under the old dispensation a Jew could not associate
with a Gentile. Now Christ has brought peace to all Jews and Gentiles who accept him
as their master. He broke down the barrier that divided them, a barrier symbolized
by a wall in the Temple. In fact, the Temple was a building of many walls, each one
marking off limits beyond which certain people could not go. There was a wall for
Gentiles, beyond that a wall for women, a wall for men, and a wall for priests. There
was even a barrier into the Holy of Holies into which only the High Priest could go
once a year. By his dying and shedding his blood on the cross for the entire mankind,
Jesus broke down hatred and divisiveness and created a New Person and a new family
not based on blood, race, nationality, gender, or class but on the love of God. Those
Gentiles are no longer outsiders but they belong to God’s family. He has invited
all to belong to one family, his family, with just one Father, where all are truly
brothers and sisters. This is the healing which we most need to bring – to break down
the walls of prejudice and help all to become one family. It is necessary that in
the church there are Good shepherds, good pastors, all for the unity of the community.
They are to remove all discord and division in communities.
In today’s Gospel
Mark very strongly brings out the compassion and human understanding of Jesus for
man. The Gospel tells us that the disciples had just returned from a missionary journey.
Jesus had sent them on a mission and they had been doing the same work as their Master.
The Apostles had been busy carrying out their mission and ministry of healing and
proclaiming the message of repentance. They had gone to proclaim the kingdom of God
and had been inviting people to change their lives and prepare to enter the Kingdom.
They were liberating people from the power of the evil one and did the healing by
anointing people with oil. They did with authority of their master, what Jesus had
been doing over the past two years. Now, obviously with some pride, they report back
to Jesus all they had done. They would have told him all their activities, the miracles
they worked, healing they did and the message they had taught. Here, we see their
accountability, where the apostles render complete report to Jesus who had sent them
with trust. From the tone of the passage one could conclude that they have been very
successful in their mission. This is an ironic contrast to the experience of Jesus
who had just been rejected by the people of his hometown, Nazareth. Nevertheless,
the ministry was a challenging one and Jesus realizes the need for the Apostles to
step out of the mainstream for a moment and rest. They were happy and probably at
the same time tired and Jesus recognizes this easily. Jesus and the disciples were
surrounded by crowds of people so that they did not even have time to eat. People
came to them to listen to Jesus and receive his healing touch. Mark wants the readers
to know how hungry the people were for the Word of God and its proclamation.
Mark
tells us that Jesus showed great consideration towards the Apostles and suggested
that they all go off to a quiet place to be by themselves alone. He invited them
to retire to a desert place which in Mark indicates the symbolism of this place was
both challenge and grace. One goes to the desert to rest and to be purified. Jesus
would have done this withdrawal purposely, to give them some quiet time to reflect
and pray on what they had experienced. It is something every person needs to do from
time to time. They had worked hard and they deserved total rest to re-energize themselves.
Jesus certainly felt they needed to be separated for a while to reflect on what they
were really doing and where their ‘power’ really came from. He was so protective of
them and so caring for them. No one had more important and urgent mission than Jesus.
Yet he knew that important things cannot be accomplished without peace of mind. Jesus
too would have needed that rest for in the absence of the Apostles he was working
all alone. He himself was used to spend his time in quiet. The Gospels tell us that
early mornings he went to pray and sometimes he spent the whole night in prayers.
He wanted his friends also to have the same experience. While their attempt to escape
to a desert place by boat was well intended, people are portrayed as those who wanted
to follow them wherever they went.
The Gospels indicate that people all the
time refused to leave them alone and they followed them. Maybe the disciples were
highly disappointed as their day of rest had disappeared due to the crowds. Jesus
now consoled the disciples and indicated that he too wanted to be with them. Perhaps
Jesus, too, was disappointed as it was he who brought the disciples out. After all,
the idea of getting away was his. But, seeing the huge crowd, he was filled with compassion
for them. When in the Scriptures we see Jesus often surrounded by crowds, we are not
fully surprised as he was always a crowd puller, a person so attractive. The crowds
and their over enthusiasm are characteristic of Mark’s story telling style. The irony
throughout the Gospel is that those closest to Jesus do not understand and accept
him while the common people and outsiders do. The climax of the passage is when Jesus
disembarks from the boat and sees the huge crowd assembled there at the place of landing.
When Jesus observes the people awaiting them he sees them in a very profound way.
He saw the crowds as helpless like sheep without a shepherd, people without direction,
without guidance, hungry for words of light and meaning in their lives. They had no
one to take care of them or protect them. Even though he was tired, Jesus immediately
sat down and began to teach them. He was not worried of his personal welfare but cared
more for the people. People were eager to listen to him. He spoke to them with an
intensity and power that they had never before experienced.
Thus the desire
of the crowds to see Jesus and hear him speak upset their plans. They had reached
the place even before they arrived by boat. He could have sent them away but again
his human compassion took over. Seeing their eagerness to hear the word of God he
lets them stay. The imagery used here is very popular in the Bible namely the imagery
of Shepherd. Mark tells of the observation made by Jesus that they were like the
sheep without the shepherd. They were the persons who needed someone to take care
of them, someone to teach them about God’s love and concern. This imagery of shepherd
in the Old Testament referred to the Leader of the people. The ancient Hebrews applied
the metaphor of the shepherd also to God. God the creator in his love continues to
reach out to his people to care for them like the good shepherd. He is there to protect
them, lead them to good pastures and be there in their needs. The very reason why
Jesus came to the earth was to establish the Kingdom of God and assume the Leadership.
Jesus showed that he was moved with pity and compassion on these people wandering
aimlessly like the people of ancient Israel in the desert. God had promised to take
over the duties of the shepherd and now through the life and ministry of Jesus that
promise was being fulfilled.
Today’s Gospel picture gives joy to anyone who
considers the measure of leadership to be popularity. Generally a leader is considered
as one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. In the ordinary world, the
type of leadership varies depending on the situation, be it political, military, institutional
or sports. In Jesus we have a leader of unique type. He was a person who was people
oriented with the human concern at the same time with divine understanding. He leads
people by being with them and at the same time shows the way through his care and
concern. Mark tells us that people were going and coming constantly and they had
no time for anything even to eat. For Jesus the religious leader’s life is a series
of goings from the presence of people to the presence of God and back again. But
he knew that there are dangers in each of the alternatives. One can spend too much
time in the activities of people and thus gradually lose the vision of God. On the
other hand one can go to God to escape the companionship of people. A good religious
leader knows the middle way, being refreshed by God to offer something concrete to
people and loving people enough to help them with their lives.
No matter what
idea we have about a good leader we will see the total application of it in Jesus.
To bring together people he gave his life on the cross and he asked his disciples
to sacrifice self just like he did. By dying on the cross he broke all barriers and
divisions in the world and opened a new way for the church. Today the church is called
upon to live this call to leadership and proclaim the message of love and service
to all. Hence Jesus told his disciples that with him the leadership is combined with
service and he washed the feet of his disciples to prove the type of leadership he
practiced. We need to pray that our Church today that it may be truly effective, responsible
and compassionate to all and show the leadership like Jesus. At the same time we
need also to pray for other leaders in the world, including parents and teachers who
are in many ways responsible for influencing the lives of others. There are the political
leaders who have the responsibility to lead the people to achieve greater good. The
Lord is our Good Shepherd who wishes to lead us in the right path. To follow the Lord
we must be able to listen to him. From time to time at least we have to deliberately,
sift the noise and distractions from our life and listen to the voice of the shepherd.
Then we have no fear in our life in the face of any danger. We ask the Good Shepherd
to care for us and ask for the grace that we may be his shepherds to carry out his
mission.