THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Happy Easter to all. 

To understand the meaning and message of Jesus’ words in today’s gospel, it’s important to consider the context in which he spoke. He is in the temple, walking along the Portico of Solomon on the eastern side of the esplanade. Under this portico, the rabbis gather to explain their interpretations of the Torah to those with legal questions. When the religious leaders see Jesus, they approach him and try to find any statement they can use to accuse him of blasphemy, because they have already decided to put an end to him. 

It is the celebration of Dedication. In Hebrew: HANUKÁ. It’s the feast of lights. During the time of Jesus, as today, this feast lasted 8 days and commemorated the purification of the temple, completed in 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabee after he freed his people from the yoke of the Seleucids, who had desecrated the temple. This celebration was, and still is, the feast of lights. 

Also on this day, throughout the week, the city of Jerusalem is lit by the nine-armed candelabrum. It is not the seven-armed one we are used to seeing, which symbolizes the Torah, light, and the people of Israel. This one has nine arms because it recalls a miracle that occurred during the celebration of the temple’s purification. This is the context in which the leaders approach Jesus and ask him: “How long will you keep us in uncertainty? If you are the Christ, tell us.” The question is subtle; it is malicious because the feast actually celebrates the liberation of Israel. Liberated from pagan laws, Israel is now under the control of other pagans—the Romans. 

What do these people expect? They hope the promised Messiah will free them from pagan rule. The Messiah could be Jesus, but if Jesus declared himself the Messiah, he would be immediately accused of blasphemy, because no one proclaims himself the Messiah. The religious leaders are the ones who would recognize the promised Messiah as David’s son. 

In fact, Jesus abruptly ends this discourse and tells them: ‘You have no part in the new world project that I am proclaiming. You do not belong to my flock.’ Jesus speaks harshly to religious leaders, calling them thieves, assailants, mercenaries, and wolves. They were certainly not the angels of the new world Jesus was beginning. Instead, they represented the old world—a world where relationships with people are driven by competition; the strongest dominate the weakest. 

This exists at the level of nations, peoples, tribes, and families. The one who commands holds more power over others, and the others must submit. This is the law of the ancient world. It is the world described by the prophet Daniel in chapter 7, where he depicts the kingdoms of this world succeeding one another in order of strength. When the current ruler’s power diminishes, a stronger one rises and takes over. It is the realm of beasts. This is not the world God desires. 

And this old world is symbolized by a famous obelisk built by Salmanazar III, housed in the British Museum in London. The obelisk depicts five scenes in which Salmanazar defeats five kings and forces them to bow before him. Among these scenes, I have chosen the one in which Hosea, the king of Israel, bows down to Salmanazar. Not only Salmanazar, but all ancient kings wanted to display their power, strength, and violence, and to share their victories with future generations. 

Let’s ask ourselves, who is a person in this ancient world? How much does a person matter, and what is that worth? The prophet Amos says it is worth less than a pair of sandals. In the Gospel, Jesus says that sometimes a person is worth less than a sheep because if one is not strong, they risk being crushed. According to the promises of the prophets, Israel expected a Messiah to change the world and bring in the kingdom of God. 

But how did they understand this kingdom? As a ruler in the style of those who had come before him. The only difference would be that they would be the leaders, guided by this son of David. This is why they asked Jesus: ‘Are you the messiah?’ Jesus immediately shifts the focus to the concrete. The messiah they have in mind bears no resemblance to the messianism Jesus embodied. 

The new kingdom Jesus aims to establish in the world is quite different from what they expect. It`s the opposite. It is the kingdom of beasts turned completely upside down. In the kingdom Jesus is beginning to build, who will be at the top? Who will be honored? It will not be the Salmanazar; rather, it will be the poor people who must be served. This is the new kingdom, with Jesus as the shepherd who leads and guides those who accept his offer of a new world. 

In the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation, this Shepherd is shown leading those who accept his offer of a new world. He is called the Lamb. The Shepherd who guides these lambs is himself the Lamb. The religious leaders do not follow this Lamb; they follow other shepherds who adhere to the standards of the old world. Jesus immediately made it clear that they do not belong to his flock. Now, let us listen to what this Shepherd expects from those who choose to belong to his flock. 

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” The religious and political leaders do not belong to the flock of this Lamb, the Lamb who gives his life. But what do those who accept his offer of a new world do? What relationship do they have with this shepherd? Three verbs define the relationship between the Good Shepherd and his sheep. Today is the feast of the Good Shepherd, the Beautiful Shepherd—because he is a “beautiful” person, we see him shine in Jesus of Nazareth. The Salmanazar I mentioned earlier was not a ‘beautiful’ person; he was still a beast that devoured people; he was not yet a man, not an authentic man. 

An authentic person is someone who loves, and this is what defines their character. Jesus came to present a new world, which can be embraced or met with resistance, as by the religious leaders who trapped him and clung to the old world. Jesus described his relationship with his followers using three verbs that we will examine: The first is “His sheep listen and recognize his voice.” The verb ‘to listen’ is very important in Israel’s religious tradition. 

The prayer that the devout Israelite recited three times daily, even in Jesus’ time, was the Shema Israel — רָאֵל Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. According to the Bible, the relationship between God and Israel is not based on visions or ecstasy, as was common in the Greek world, but on listening to the word of the Lord. The God of Israel is different from other gods; Zeus did not speak to his people, nor did he involve himself in the lives of those who worshiped him. 

The God of Israel is involved: he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—connected with people and desiring their happiness. With his word, he shows the way of life. The God of Israel is a speaking God, and Israel is always called to listen. In the book of Deuteronomy, the verb ‘shema’ (listening) appears a hundred times. In Deuteronomy, chapter 4, Moses tells the people at Sinai: “You have heard his word. They did not see any figure, only a voice.” Listening, then, defines Israel’s relationship with the Lord. And Jesus was raised with this spirituality. 

‘Listening’ in the biblical sense does not mean merely hearing with your ears, but rather giving personal adherence to the words the Lord speaks to you, trusting Him, who desires your joy and freedom. The Father addresses His son and daughter—whom He loves and wants to be happy—through His invitation to ‘listen,’ to pay attention to Him, and to do what He says. He shows His concern. Notice that God asks us to listen… He speaks, but He does not impose. Ask for the ability to listen and adhere to His ten words. To listen to Him is to choose life; closing your ears is choosing the paths that lead to death. 

Who belongs to the flock of this Lamb? What should you do? Hear His voice. This is the first characteristic. We emphasize: ‘Listen’ not to any voice, but to His, the voice of the Lamb. How does one distinguish this voice from other voices? It is necessary to learn, because many overlapping voices lead us to consider things very different from the Lamb’s. They interfere; they try to silence it. Here comes the discernment that arises from the internal witness of the Spirit. We are well made, and if we do not corrupt our hearts, when we hear a word from the Lamb, the Spirit within us tells us: ‘He is right; listen to it because they are words of life.’ 

We have a blessing reserved for those with a pure heart, as we remember: “Blessed are the pure in heart because they will see God.” We could paraphrase it like this: ‘Happy are those with a pure heart because they will know how to recognize the voice of the Lamb.’ It is a voice that bears witness to the truth and offers us a light far from the artificial lights of the earth, as heaven is far from our world. It carries within it the love, the goodness, and the truth of God, and we must learn to recognize this voice and distinguish it from others. Then, to listen to it in a biblical sense—that is, to adhere to the Lamb’s proposal. In this way, we will belong to the new world. 

The second verb: ‘I know them.’ The verb ‘to know’ must be understood in the biblical sense. It is not merely intellectual knowledge. In the biblical sense, ‘to know’ implies a relationship. It indicates the communion of life between a husband and wife, those who share the same dreams and projects. They truly know each other. In this context, ‘knowing’ refers to an intimate exchange of love, a gift of oneself to the other; it’s a form of communication. Without this, it’s not a genuine human relationship. It becomes merely a mutual discovery. Jesus uses the verb ‘to know’ to illustrate the full communion of life that exists between him, the Lamb, and the sheep who accept his invitation. I would say it’s a sign of Christ’s infatuation. 

Sometimes we hear people say, “I am a Christian, a disciple of Christ… but I am not a practitioner.” This is not possible. Either someone is in love with Christ, and therefore we know him and he knows us, and there is this spousal encounter, this communion of life with him; or we cannot say that we are believers. The third verb: ‘follow him.’ Where is this Lamb headed? It has a goal: the total gift of oneself, the donation of life. To follow it means to accompany him, to choose never to retreat from oneself, but to always consider the joy and good of the brother, of the sister. It is to donate life. 

The direction indicated by the Lamb is clearly marked. It is necessary to belong to His flock to receive what He promises us. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” We have seen three verbs that describe the relationship between the sheep and the Shepherd, the Lamb… that precede them and show the way of life. And now we have three verbs that express the promises the Good Shepherd makes to those who follow Him. 

The first promise: “I give you eternal life.” What does this gift entail? The word used here isn’t ‘bios,’ which refers to biological life. We have received this from the material creation, but if we had not been given a different kind of life, at the end of biological life—which shares the same fate as animals and plants—we would return to nothingness. What does Jesus promise those who follow Him? Eternal life = ζωὴν αἰώνιον (‘Zoé aiónion’). No ‘bios.’ ‘Zoe.’ Eternal life isn’t a life that lasts forever in the sense of endless duration for our current life. No, this life ends. Jesus came to give us the life of the Eternal One. And this life is not a future reward. 

In our view, this life, which eventually ends, is made eternal by a gift from the good God. NO. Jesus says: ‘Today, I give the life of the Eternal to those who accept my proposal.’ Therefore, it is a gift we already possess. We have two lives: one that ends after a certain number of years, and the eternal life that develops and grows like a seed. It grows when we live out the eternal life, when we respond to the impulses that come from within our identity as children of God… This life grows, and when biological life ends, this life that we already have today, because we are already sons and daughters of God, then it manifests fully. It bursts forth from this life, like a fetus leaving the womb and entering a completely new state of existence. 

The pagan gods were jealous. They refused to grant eternal life. Ancient myths confirm this. Immortality belongs to the gods; we are destined to die. In fact, pagan gods were jealous of glory and life itself. Prometheus, who sought to bring fire and wisdom from Athena to Earth—meaning science and technology—was chained to a rock, and a crow ate his liver. The biblical God involves humans in His eternal life. He created us to share His own life; otherwise, His creation would lack meaning. It would make no sense for Him to treat us as fools… A God who dialogues with us, loves us, and asks us to enter into a relationship of knowledge and love… and then ultimately destroys us—such a God cannot exist. 

If there is a God, said Dostoevsky, ‘I am immortal.’ Second verb. After Jesus said he has come to bring us this gift, that he should make us jump for joy because it gives meaning to this poor biological life… now the second verb: ‘We cannot perish in any way’ – “they will never perish” – εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ‘eiston aiona.’ They will never perish… what does it mean? It means that not a bit of love will be lost. 

What is our fear? It is that, as we watch this life unfold, we cannot hold it back. So what are we trying to do? Enjoy every moment because we see it slipping away. How can we make sense of this? How can we preserve this life that is bound to disappear? Jesus says: share it, give it for love, and in that way, you will keep it. That is, if you give your whole life for love, you will nurture the son or daughter of God within you. Not a single drop of love will be lost. We are afraid to love because we must let go of ourselves, consider the needs of our brothers, forget ourselves, and be a child of God who loves without expecting anything, gratuitously. 

And this scares us because our instinct is to keep life to ourselves. But if we do so, we lose it. Jesus assures us: You made a proposal of life that is a gift; and he who follows me must not be afraid; nothing will perish from the loved one has built. The third verb: “No one shall take them out of my hand.” In this life, there are dangers. Jesus said and this because there are thieves, bandits, and wolves. The danger is that there are times when the Good Shepherd is not followed, but instead one is seduced by bad shepherds, who are always on the lookout. 

The promise Jesus makes to those who follow him, to those who listen to his voice, is that they will not be snatched away by wolves or attackers. There may be moral flaws, weaknesses, or poor choices… but nothing can overcome the love of Christ. Let us acknowledge our weaknesses, but remember that even if our hearts disapprove, God is greater than our hearts. If we have committed ourselves to this Beautiful Shepherd, we are secure. And Jesus continues: “My Father …” Therefore, we are in the hands of this Shepherd who does not abandon us. We are already safe. But Jesus also says that the Father is the greatest of all, and that no one can take anything from the hands of my Father. 

Therefore, not only does Jesus prevent his sheep from being kidnapped, but the Father also holds his plan of salvation for humanity, and no one can snatch them from the Father’s hands. The indestructible life we have received will not be fully revealed; we will always remain vulnerable to straying from the path and to forgetting the way the Lamb has shown us. Even perhaps losing contact with the voice of the Good Shepherd, we will not be abandoned. He will not lose sight of his sheep and will lead this flock into the arms of the Father, because that is why He came. 

The idea that any sheep following Christ could be lost suggests that Jesus is not capable of saving all his flock. Jesus concludes by saying, “The Father and I are one,” signifying complete and perfect unity of purpose. The Son understands and fully reflects the Father’s single plan of love. Jesus is in perfect harmony with Him. Therefore, the message of this Sunday, these words of the Good Shepherd, is that we are part of a great love, and this is the reason for our joy. 

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter and a wonderful week.