|
1. The Lord Jesus is speaking to His sheep to those already so,
and to those yet to become such who were then present; for in the place
where they were, there were those who were already His sheep, as well
as those who were afterwards to become so: and He likewise shows to
those then present and those to come, both to them and to us, and to
as many also after us as shall yet be His sheep, who it is that had
been sent to them. All, therefore, hear the voice of their Shepherd
saying, "I am the good Shepherd." He would not add "good,"
were there not bad shepherds. But the bad shepherds are those who are
thieves and robbers, or certainly hirelings at the best. For we ought
to examine into, to distinguish, and to know, all the characters whom
He has here depicted. The Lord has already unfolded two points,
which He had previously set forth in a kind of covert form: we already
know that He is Himself the door, and we know that He is Himself
the Shepherd. Who the thieves and robbers are, was made clear in
yesterday's lesson; and today we have heard of the hireling, as we
have heard also of the wolf. Yesterday the porter was also introduced
by name. Among the good, therefore, are the door, the doorkeeper,
the shepherd, and the sheep: among the bad, the thieves and robbers,
the hirelings, and the wolf.
2. We understand the Lord Christ as the door, and also as the
Shepherd; but who is to be understood as the doorkeeper? For the
former two, He has Himself explained: the doorkeeper He has left us
to search out for ourselves. And what doth He say of the doorkeeper?
"To him," He saith, "the porter [doorkeeper] openeth." To
whom cloth he open? To the Shepherd. What doth he open to the
Shepherd? The door. And who is also the door? The Shepherd
Himself. Now, if Christ the Lord had not Himself explained, had
not Himself said, "I am the Shepherd," and "I am the door,"
would any of us have ventured to say that Christ is Himself both the
Shepherd and the door? For had He said, "I am the Shepherd,"
and had not said, "I am the door," we should be setting ourselves
to inquire what was the door, and perhaps, mistaken in our views, be
still standing before the door. His grace and mercy have revealed to
us the Shepherd, by His calling Himself so; have revealed to us
also the door, when declared Himself such; but He hath left us to
search out the doorkeeper for ourselves. Whom, then, are we to call
the doorkeeper? Whomsoever we fix upon, we must take care not to
think of him as greater than the door itself; for in men's houses the
doorkeeper is greater than the door. The doorkeeper is placed before
the door, not the door before the doorkeeper; because the porter
keepeth the door, not the door the porter. I dare not say that any
one is greater than the door, for I have heard already what is the
door: that is no longer unknown to me, I am not left to my own
conjecture, and I have not got much room for mere human guess work:
God hath said it, the Truth hath said it, and we cannot change what
the Unchangeable hath uttered.
3. In respect, then, of the profound nature of this question, I
shall tell you what I think: let each one make the choice that pleases
him, but let him think of it reverently; as it is written, "Think
of the Lord with goodness, and in simplicity of heart seek Him."
Perhaps we ought to understand the Lord Himself as the doorkeeper:
for the shepherd and the door are in human respects as much different
from each other as the doorkeeper and the door; and yet the Lord has
called Himself both the Shepherd and the door. Why, then, may we
not understand Him also as the doorkeeper? For if we look at His
personal qualities, the Lord Christ is neither a shepherd, in the
way we are accustomed to know and to see shepherds; nor is He a door,
for no artisan made Him: but if, because of some point of
similarity, He is both the door and the Shepherd, I venture to
say, He is also a sheep. True, the sheep is under the shepherd;
yet He is both the Shepherd and a sheep. Where is He the
Shepherd?
Look, here thou hast it; read the Gospel: "I am the good
Shepherd." Where is He a sheep? Ask the prophet: "He was led
as a sheep to the slaughter." Ask the friend of the bridegroom:
"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world."
Moreover, I am going to say something of a still more wonderful
kind, in accordance with these points of similarity. For both the
lamb, and the sheep, and the shepherd are friendly with one another,
but from the lions as their foes the sheep are protected by their
shepherds: and yet of Christ, who is both sheep and Shepherd, we
have it said, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed."
All this, brethren, understand in connection with points of
similarity, not with personal qualities. It is a common thing to see
the shepherds sitting on a rock, and there guarding the cattle
committed to their care. Surely the shepherd is better than the rock
that he sits upon; and yet Christ is both the Shepherd and the rock.
All this by way of comparison. But if thou askest me for His
peculiar personal quality: "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God." If thou askest me for
the personal quality peculiarly His own: The only Son, from
everlasting to everlasting begotten of the Father, the equal of Him
that begat, the Maker of all things, unchangeable with the Father,
unchanged by the assuming of human form, man by incarnation, the Son
of man, and the Son of God. All this that I have said is not
figure, but reality.
4. Therefore, let us not, brethren, be disturbed in understanding
Him, in harmony with certain resemblances, as Himself the door, and
also the doorkeeper. For what is the door? The way of entrance.
Who is the doorkeeper?
He who opens it. Who, then, is He that opens Himself, but He
who unveils Himself to sight? See, when the Lord spoke at first of
the door, we did not understand: so long as we did not understand, it
was shut: He who opened it is Himself the doorkeeper. There is no
need, then, of seeking any other meaning, no need; but perhaps there
is the desire. If there is so, quit not the path, go not outside of
the Trinity. If thou art in quest of some other impersonation of the
doorkeeper, bethink thee of the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit
will not think it unmeet to be the doorkeeper, when the Son has
thought it meet to be Himself the door. Look at the doorkeeper as
perhaps the Holy Spirit: about Him the Lord saith to His
disciples, "He shall guide you into all truth." What is the door?
Christ. What is Christ? The Truth. Who, then, openeth the
door, but He who guideth into all truth?
5. But what are we to say of the hireling? He is not mentioned here
among the good. "The good Shepherd," He says, "giveth His life
for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the Shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the
sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep." The hireling does not here bear a good character, and yet in
some respects is useful; nor would he be called an hireling, did he
not receive hire from his employer. Who then is this hireling, that
is both blameworthy and needful? And here, brethren, let the Lord
Himself give us light, that we may know who the hirelings are, and be
not hirelings ourselves. Who then is the hireling? There are some in
office in the church, of whom the Apostle Paul saith, "Who seek
their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's." What means
that, "Who seek their own"? Who do not love Christ freely, who
do not seek after God for His own sake; who are pursuing after
temporal advantages, gaping for gain, coveting honors from men. When
such things are loved by an overseer, and for such things God is
served, whoever such an one may be, he is an hireling who cannot count
himself among the children. For of such also the Lord saith:
"Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward." Listen to what
the Apostle Paul says of St. Timothy: "But I trust in the Lord
Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good
comfort, when I know your circumstances; for I have no man
like-minded, who will naturally care for you. For all seek their
own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." The shepherd
mourned in the midst of hirelings. He sought some one who sincerely
loved the flock of Christ, and round about him, amongst those who
were with him at that time, he found not one. Not that there was no
one then in the Church of Christ but the Apostle Paul and Timothy,
who had a brother's concern for the flock; but it so happened at the
time of his sending Timothy, that he had none else of his sons about
him; only hirelings were with him, "who sought their own, not the
things which are Jesus Christ's." And yet he himself, with a
brother's anxiety for the flock, preferred sending his son, and
remaining himself amongst hirelings.
Hirelings are also found among ourselves, but the Lord alone
distinguisheth them. He that searcheth the heart, distinguisheth
them; and yet sometimes we know them ourselves. For it was not
without a purpose that the Lord Himself said also of the wolves:
"By their fruits ye shall know them." Temptations put many to the
question, and then their thoughts are made manifest; but many remain
undiscovered. The Lord's fold must have as overseers, both those
who are children and those who are hirelings. But the overseers, who
are sons, are the shepherds. If they are shepherds, how is there but
one Shepherd, save that all of them are members of the one Shepherd,
to whom the sheep belong? For they are also members of Himself as the
one sheep; because "as a sheep he was led to the slaughter."
6. But give heed to the fact that even the hirelings are needful.
For many indeed in the Church are following after earthly profit, and
yet preach Christ, and through them is heard the voice of Christ;
and the sheep follow, not the hireling, but the Shepherd's voice
speaking through the hireling. Hearken to the hirelings as pointed out
by the Lord Himself: "The scribes," He saith, "and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: do what they say; but do not what
they do." What else said He but, Listen to the Shepherd's voice
speaking through the hirelings? For sitting in Moses' seat, they
teach the law of God; therefore God teacheth by them. But if they
wish to teach their own things, hear them not, do them not. For
certainly such seek their own, not the things which are Jesus
Christ's; but no hireling has dared to say to Christ's people,
Seek your own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. For his
own evil conduct he does not preach from the seat of Christ: he does
injury by the evil that he does, not by the good that he says. Pluck
the grapes, beware of the thorn. It is well I see that you have
understood; but for the sake of those that are slower, I shall repeat
these words with greater plainness. How said I, Pluck the bunch of
grapes, beware of the thorn; when the Lord saith, "Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles"? That is quite true: and yet
what I said is also true, Pluck the bunch of grapes, beware of the
thorn. For sometimes the grape-cluster, springing from the root of
the vine, finds its support in a common hedge; its branch, grows,
becomes embedded among thorns, and the thorn bears other fruit than its
own. For the thorn has not been produced from the vine, but has
become the resting-place of its runner. Make thine inquiries only at
the roots. Seek for the thorn-root, thou wilt find it apart from the
vine: seek the origin of the grape, and from the root of the vine it
will be found to have sprung. And so, Moses' seat was the vine;
the morals of the Pharisees were the thorns. Sound doctrine cometh
through the wicked, as the vine-branch in a hedge, a bunch of grapes
among thorns. Gather care. fully, so as in seeking the fruit not to
tear thine hand; and while thou art to hear one speaking what is good,
imitate him not when doing what is evil. "What they tell you, do,"
gather the grapes; "but what they do, do not," beware of the
thorns. Even through hirelings listen to the voice of the Shepherd,
but be not hirelings yourselves, seeing ye are members of the
Shepherd. Yea, Paul himself, the holy apostle who said, "I have
no one who hath a brother's concern about you; for all seek their
own, not the things which l are Jesus Christ's," draws a
distinction in another place between hirelings and sons; and see what
he saith: "Some preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some
also of good will: some of love, knowing that I am set for the
defence of the gospel; but some also preach Christ of contention, not
sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds." These were
hirelings who disliked the Apostle Paul. And why such dislike, but
just because they were seeking after temporal things? But mark what he
adds: "What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence
or in truth, Christ is preached: and I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice." Christ is the truth: let the truth be preached in
pretense by hirelings, let it be preached in truth by the children:
the children are waiting patiently for the eternal inheritance of the
Father, the hirelings are longing for, and in a hurry to get, the
temporal pay of their employer. For my part let me be shorn of the
human glory, which I see such an object of envy to hirelings: and yet
by the tongues both of hirelings and of children let the divine glory of
Christ be published abroad, seeing that, "whether in pretense or in
truth, Christ is preached."
7. We have seen who the hireling is also. Who, but the devil, is
the wolf? And what was said of the hireling? "When he seeth the
wolf coming, he fleeth: but the sheep are not his own, and he careth
not for the sheep." Was the Apostle Paul such an one? Certainly
not. Was Peter such an one? Far from it. Was such the character
of the other apostles, save Judas, the son of perdition? Surely
not. Were they shepherds then? Certainly they were. And how is
there one Shepherd? I have already said they were shepherds, because
members of the Shepherd. In that head they rejoiced, under that head
they were in harmony together, with one spirit they lived in the bond
of one body; and therefore belonged all of them to the one Shepherd.
If, then, they were shepherds, and not hirelings, wherefore fled
they when suffering persecution? Explain it to us, O Lord. In an
epistle, I have seen paul fleeing: he was let down by the wall in a
basket, to escape the hands of his persecutor. Had he, then, no
care of the sheep, whom he thus abandoned at the approach of the wolf?
Clearly he had, but he commended them by his prayers to the Shepherd
who was sitting in heaven; and for their advantage he preserved himself
by flight, as he says in a certain place, "To abide in the flesh is
needful for you." For all had heard from the Shepherd Himself,
"If they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another." May the
Lord be pleased to explain to us this point! Lord, Thou saidst to
those whom Thou didst certainly wish to be faithful shepherds, and
whom Thou didst form into Thine own members, "If they persecute you
flee." Doest Thou, then, injustice to them, when Thou blamest
the hirelings who flee when they see the wolf coming! We ask Thee to
tell us what meaning lies hid in the depths of the question. Let us
knock, and the keeper of the door, which is Christ, will be here to
reveal Himself.
8. Who is the hireling that seeth the wolf coming, and fleeth? He
that seeketh his own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. He
is one that does not venture plainly to rebuke an offender. Look,
some one or other has sinned grievously sinned; he ought to be
rebuked, to be excommunicated: but once excommunicated, he will turn
into an enemy, hatch plots, and do all the injury he can. At
present, he who seeketh his own, not the things that are Jesus
Christ's, in order not to lose what he follows after, the advantages
of human friendship, and incur the annoyances of human enmity, keeps
quiet and does not administer rebuke. See, the wolf has caught a
sheep by the throat; the devil has enticed a believer into adultery:
thou holdest thy peace thou utterest no reproof. O hireling, thou
hast seen the wolf coming and hast fled! Perhaps he answers and says:
See, I am here; I have not fled. Thou hast fled, because thou
hast been silent; thou hast been silent, because thou hast been
afraid. The flight of the mind is fear. Thou stoodest with thy
body, thou fleddest in thy spirit, which was not the conduct of him
who said, "Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in
the spirit." For how did he flee in spirit, who, though absent in
the flesh, yet in his letters reproved the fornicators? Our
affections are the motions of our minds. Joy is expansion of the
mind; sorrow, contraction of the mind; desire, a forward movement of
the mind; and fear, the flight of the mind. For thou art expanded in
mind when thou art glad; contracted in mind when thou art in trouble;
thou movest forward in mind when thou hast an earnest desire; and thou
fleest in mind when thou art afraid. This, then, is how the hireling
is said to flee at the sight of the wolf. Why? "Because he careth
not for the sheep." Why "careth he not for the sheep"? "Because
he is an hireling." What is that, "he is an hireling"? He
seeketh a temporal reward, and shall not dwell in the house for ever.
There are still some things here to be inquired about and discussed
with you, but it is not prudent to burden you. For we are ministering
the Lord's food to our fellow-servants; we feed as sheep in the
Lord's pastures, and are fed together. And just as we must not
withhold what is needful, so our weak hearts are not to be overcharged
with the abundance of provisions. Let it not then annoy your Charity
that I do not take up today all that I think is still here to be
discussed; but the same lesson will, in the Lord's name, be read
over to us again on the preaching days, and be, with His help, more
carefully considered.
|
|