the good pendeta
Noel K. Anderson
First Presbyterian Church of Upland
John 10: 11-21 New Revised Standard
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” 19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” †
shepherds
All the way back to Eden
There’s a lot about sheep and shepherds in the Bible. How far back does it go? To Abel and Cain, at least. Remember their offerings? Cain, the bad one, offered vegetables; Abel, the good one, offered sheep. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. This is more than the story of two brothers; it is the story of God’s favor for Israel over and above the rest of the world.
The beginning of Deuteronomy 26:5:
“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father….
Abraham and his people were shepherds. They were wanderers because they had to feed their sheep, which means they had to stay on the move to find pasture. Abel, like Abraham, represents the shepherding people. In contrast, Cain represents the people tied to the ground—the farmers—all the non-wondering peoples of Mesopotamia. These tended toward idolatry, especially as they sought to influence the crops, the seasons of the year, the rain, and the annual rhythms of Mother Earth.
God accepts Abel’s sacrifice because Abel represents the shepherds whom he would call out to follow him. Abram was a shepherd, and once they made their way down to Egypt, they were still shepherds:
Genesis 47:3:
Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”
As God delivers them from slavery, they are to sacrifice a lamb, and the spirit of death passes over them yet spares them.
Israel is called out of Egypt, just as God, like a shepherd, calls them out to lead them as they wander in the wilderness. God is a shepherd.
When the time comes for Israel to have a king appointed by God, Samuel goes to Jesse. Samuel rejects the older brothers in favor of the youngest, who was—where?—out tending sheep in the field. David becomes the shepherd of Israel.
David famously wrote:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters; he restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, and yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou are with me. Thy rod and thy staff—they comfort me!”
Once the people arrive in the promised land, they continue to sacrifice lambs as part of their worship, notably at Passover.
Israel constantly thinks of themselves as the flock of the Lord and sees that their propensity to wander—like sheep—needs God to rescue them and return them to “right paths.”
When the time comes to announce that Jesus, the Messiah, has been born, to whom do the angels go? That’s right: to the shepherds. Shepherds are the first in Israel to hear the good news and the first to take it out to others.
About sheep
And also ducks
What do sheep do? What is their main relationship with the shepherd? Very simple: sheep follow. Now sheep are not known for their intelligence, so even today, we speak negatively of sheep when we refer to unthinking people, mindlessly following the herd, as sheep.
To be like sheep is to be gullible, unthinking, and easily led. It’s too bad that it’s used that way because it is rather remarkable how sheep quickly learn their shepherd’s voice and follow. It’s impressive. Shepherds have their own call—it might be a shout, a whistle, or just a noise they make, but when their sheep hear it, they come a-runnin’.
Just a side thought: How might you translate this information about sheep and shepherds—germane to the biblical story—to cultures with no sheep or shepherds? When I went to Indonesia in 1999, the people referred to me as pendeta. It is their word for priest or pastor. One of the churches there gave me a canvas that I keep in my office. I didn’t understand it when they gave it to me because it is of a guy sitting in an Indonesian sunset with some ducks. That’s nice, I thought.
Later, one of the elders explained to me that Indonesia—before western influence—had no sheep. Early translators of Scripture scratched their heads over how to talk about Cain, Abram, David, Passover and the other sacrifices, and especially Jesus, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world—when they had no sheep and no shepherds. But they did have their pendeta.
Pendeta are those who take care of ducks. They imprint them when young and bring them into the rice fields each day. The ducks eat insects and fertilize the rice paddies—win/win. It looks like this: [run clip of pendeta with ducks]. So their Bibles initially talked about Jesus as the Good Pendeta, and the local pastors were called pendeta rather than pastors or shepherds.
While sheep followed their shepherd, they could be kept in larger flocks—they mixed well with other sheep and even goats—so it was not unusual for shepherds to put their flocks together for travel, especially at night. At night, they kept them all in walled enclosures. You might have the sheep from five or six shepherds crowded in together, and one shepherd had to sit in the doorway to keep sheep from getting out and otherwise watch for wolves and bandits, which are likely the same thing. One guy sits in the door, and he is called “the door” or “the gate.” While he watches, the other shepherds are free to nap, talk by the fire, or visit the pub.
When all the shepherds return to gather their flocks in the morning, the separation is easy. The shepherd calls—his shout, whistle, or click of the tongue—and all his sheep come out from the others to him, and they are on their way. Verse 14:
I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me
And in verse 27 (just outside of our text):
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
This brings us to the idea of our calling.
called to faith
Called by Him, to Him, and for Him
Jesus is the good shepherd who calls to his sheep, and they come out from the rest of the world to follow him. Who follows? Those that are his own—the ones who belong to him—they hear his call, recognize his voice, and follow. Who are his sheep? Is it just Israel? Is it all of Israel? Verse 16:
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
The “other sheep” from another fold indicated Gentiles. We are the others who listen to his voice.
Please notice this: Jesus does not say he needs to make them his own; he says they already are his own. They are his sheep already, and they belong to him; he merely has to call them, and they will recognize his voice and follow. The primary work of the Church is to extend that call out to the lost sheep of the world so that those who are his—who already belong to him—may hear his voice and come following.
Here is where the Indonesian church has a one-up on us. Sheep follow, but ducks imprint. Can’t we think of the real work of discipleship as being imprinted onto Christ? That is the effect. Once we hear his voice and follow, we bond to him and find our joy in following him. He is the Good Shepherd, the Good Pendeta, and he lays down his life for his sheep.
In the Old Testament, the shepherds sacrificed their sheep to be made at one with God. But in Christ, the Shepherd sacrifices himself for the sheep.
He gives life
No one takes it from Him
One final note: notice verse 18:
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
Jesus lays down his own life in complete control. The Jews or even the Romans did not kill him—and I hesitate to think of all the harm caused by Christians through the centuries as they blamed others for Jesus’ self-initiated sacrifice!—he willfully volunteered for the mission.
That is why, when we say the Apostles’ Creed (which we will do as we come to the Table), we put the comma where it belongs and say:
…he suffered; under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, dead, and buried…
Jesus did not “suffer under Pontius Pilate” as though Pilate were responsible. Jesus lays down his own life. No one takes it from him. We do say, “under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, dead, and buried” to locate Jesus in real history. It all happened under the Pilate administration, datable and otherwise well-documented—historical.
And here is where we transition to the Table. It all happened in space, time, and world history. Jesus laid down his life and is raised to eternal life. His voice calls out; his sheep follow because they know his voice. He knows them, and they know him. That is why we are here.
We come to the Table to eat a simple shepherd’s meal—bread and wine—but we do not eat to satisfy the body but the soul. Jesus promises to be with his sheep always. He gives us his Holy Spirit that we may hear his voice in our hearts and follow, daily imprinting upon him and staying in the right paths in which he leads us.
Coming to the Table is how we respond to his call. He draws his own and says, “Take! Eat!” This table is for all who hear him calling and can’t help but follow. †
Questions
- How does Jesus begin this parable and to whom is he speaking?
- Jesus speaks of the good shepherd, how would you describe the good shepherd?
- He contrasts the good shepherd to the hired hand, why will the sheep not follow the hired hand?
- How can we as Jesus’ sheep be more aware of his voice and less deceived by those who would harm the sheep?
- How can we as Jesus’ sheep “know” Jesus as Jesus knows his Father?
- What does Jesus mean by other sheep?
- How do you see the kingdom of God with others (sheep) who are different?
- Jesus speaks the phrase “lay down my life” three times. What does he mean by each and how does it apply to his listeners?
- What is the reaction of the crowd to this parable? How does this relate to the earlier stories in John?
- How does Jesus’ desire to open wide the sheepfold for all who would hear his voice challenge some of our “ways of doing church” today?