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FROM A READING FOR APRIL 29, FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
'This Jesus is "the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone." There is salvation in no one else.' - Acts 4:11-12


One of German theologian Rudolph Bultmann's best-known quotes is, "After Jesus' death and resurrection, the preacher became the preached." There's an example of this process in Sunday's Gospel (John 10:11-18).

Accustomed to picturing Jesus as the "Good Shepherd," it's easy to forget He originally didn't apply that image to Himself. Matthew and Luke note that He first employed shepherd metaphors to defend His concern for sinners: "If you shepherds can be preoccupied with one lost sheep, why can't I be preoccupied with sinners?"

He was a carpenter, not a shepherd. But, by the time John writes in the mid-90s, Jesus is the shepherd. What He once preached, He has become. "I am the good shepherd," He proclaims. "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father."

Jesus has become more than just a preacher of faith; He's now at the center of faith.

We see that same process at work in Sunday's other two readings (Acts 4:8-12; I John 3:1-2). Notice, in the Acts passage, how Jesus Himself - not just His preaching - is at the center of Peter's defense. The man He cured was made whole "in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Preaching Jesus
The preachers in Acts are preaching Jesus, not just the message Jesus preached.

The author of I John asks us to go one step further. Not only is Jesus important; those who imitate Him share in that importance. We, like Him, have become "children of God" - and that importance gets better in the future.

"What we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as He is," the author writes. One day, we also shall be preached!

Yet there are certain things which have to be accomplished before that day. Jesus refers to one of those things: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd."

Accomplishing unity among Christians is a daunting task. Though the divisions which originated in the Reformation are still fresh in our historical minds and evident in the day-to-day living of our Christian faith, there never has been a period in our 2,000-year history in which all followers of Jesus have been completely one.

Uniting Christians
Many of Paul's letters highlight the mid-first-century divisions between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and the late-first-century letters of John presume huge theological chasms are separating some Christian communities from others. As regards unity, our Church has never had any "good old days" about which we can reminisce and imitate. There have always been those "other sheep."

That's why John always puts Jesus at the center of our faith. Nothing or no one else can unite us. It's Jesus whom we imitate, Jesus whom we preach.

Though many Christian churches can boast of a long tradition of heroic actions and deep faith, if our faith and actions aren't rooted in the risen Jesus among us, it will lead to more divisions among us.[[In-content Ad]]

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