The Gate This week the Gospel lesson was Jesus describing himself as the Gate, the shepherd, and the gate-keeper. I was struck by the idea that this passage can be used to promote Christian Exclusivity, and yet it is one of the images of Christ promoted by the Center for Progressive Christianity, a group that has decidedly denied Christian Exclusivity.
Another problem I ran into is that as a modern day city dweller, what do I know about sheep? In fact, what does Jesus know about sheep? He was a carpenter who lived in a city. Presumably his mother and sisters went out each day to collect food and bring it home to prepare while Jesus, with his father and brothers, worked. The only thing I can think of is that cities were much smaller and still connected to the land. It is possible that the city dwellers in the middle east 2,000 years ago knew more about where their food came from than we do now.
The apostles who won the title of "most important" were fishermen, and Paul was reportedly a tent maker (although why a tent-maker would be sent out to prosecute Christians is beyond me).
So where did the sheep metaphor come from? I'm willing to accept that it is from the voice of the community more than the voice of Jesus, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I don't know anything about sheep. I have heard that sheep are stupid and will do anything to kill themselves. I have also heard that sheep recognize familiar sheep by their faces, and they know their shepherds voice.
These facts make some sort of sense as metaphors. Human beings do stupid things: we smoke, drink to excess, drive to fast, commit suicide by fast food. We are afraid of the Other, and we flock to anything that promises to lead with certainty.
I have to let this ruminate a bit more.  ¶ 8:12 AM