The image of the Shepherd is an old one, and perhaps one that’s not terribly relevant to our modern age when the nearest most of us gets to a sheep is leg of lamb with mint source. But the image is a powerful one still – and it was one Jesus made full use of – and it’s hard to beat on a day like today when we have a baptism.
“If a dead man is raised to life, all men spring up in astonishment. Yet every day one that had no being is born, and no man wonders, though it is plain to all, without doubt, that it is a greater thing for that to be created which was without being than for that which had being to be restored. Because the dry rod of Aaron budded, all men were in astonishment; every day a tree is produced from the dry earth, … and no man wonders … Five thousand men were filled with five loaves; every day the grains of seed that are sown are multiplied in a fullness of ears, and no man wonders.
We are soon to celebrate the gift of the Spirit. The birthday of the church. The church follows the order of things as given by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles and places the coming of the Holy Spirit 49 days after the Resurrection.
Easter is about conversion – one thing becoming another – or if you prefer, transformation. A tomb with a body becomes empty; women coming in sadness leave in awe and wonder, the language is just that of the transfiguration, when the true nature of Jesus was revealed; women not allowed to speak in public become the vital messengers of new life; a frightened, defeated community of disciples become the body of Christ sharing their resurrection faith with the while world; and, of course, the most central of all transformations, Jesus dead now Jesus risen.
We heard this morning Mark’s account of what has become known as the Ttriumphal Entry into Jerusalem. In it we hear that Jesus rode into Jerusalem after giving his disciples detailed instructions on where to find a colt for him to use. This arrival into Jerusalem is to be no casual affair, Jesus has been walking to Jerusalem ever since his transfiguration on the mountain to the north of Israel.
It is General Election time!! Exaggerations and half truths abound. Political parties promise a better world, as well as criticising their opponents.
