Scripture Reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Year B, Lectionary 50
As the Good Shepherd, Jesus leads us to the Father. Because Jesus is connected and in relationship to the Father, we are invited to join in this Trinitarian love. We approach God more closely by serving others and caring for others like Christ has done for us.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Belong • Care • Church • Communication • Community • Connection • Conversion • Creed • Cross • Disciple • Divinity • Evangelize • Happiness • Hope • Lead • Listen • Metaphor • Mission • Participate • Peace • Presence • Recognize • Relationship • Religion • Sacrifice • Salvation • Sheep • Shepherd • Sight • Stone • Temple • Thankful • Transfiguration • Unity • Vision • Vocation •
“every one of us is irreplaceable because only you can do that for which God has created you, no one else can and no one else will”
“Peter is addressing this speech to Annas and Caiaphas and the members of the high priestly family, the very men who handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified”
“it’s the vision of God that we most long for”
“True love does not turn inwards to satisfy its own desires, it is the ability to turn outwards towards others”
“Where did we get that love from? It's Christ's love. Christ loved us first that way. He loved his own in the world and he loved us to the end.”
“Church, how do you get to know the Shepherd? By listening to him.”
“God's hand is not a hand that tries to crush or possess us. Instead God's hand is that of a mother or a father, one that soothes, nurtures and empowers us forward only to lift us high upon the shoulders of love and Easter peace.”
“When Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd of you, he's saying ‘I know your name and I call you by your name, you're not just another one of my creation, you are my special creation that I call you by name.’ He knows your name. More than that he knows your wounds.”
“He's trying to use the knowledge of a shepherd for his sheep and of a, of the sheep for the shepherd to reveal the mystery of the intimate knowledge that he not only has with the Father but that he desires his disciples to have with him”
“our Lord not only envisioned a unified church but as we'll see in John chapter 17, it's going to be one of the last things he prays for before he lays down his life”
“How much investment do we make when it comes to the formation of our children to get used to the voice of the Good Shepherd?”
“Salvation is not just a fancy word for big tent and fire, hell and brimstone. No, people of God, it's about opportunities that are awaiting you and I. It's about gifts being released and given.”
“That power to heal and be healed is a gift rooted in faith and trust in the powerful name of Jesus, our ultimate healing being, our salvation and our redemption”
“We are called to be followers of Jesus, not just admirers of Jesus”
“you are being strengthened for a reason, that pasture is verdant green and lush for a reason, so not just that you may eat but that you may draw others to where they can live in peace, in justice, in unity”
“No one is able to secure our security, to guarantee our safety as God does”
“Our life circumstances may persist but our responses to these circumstances change when we know that we do not face life's challenges alone. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will never abandon us and that makes all the difference in the world.”
