GOSPEL FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. ST. JOHN X. 11-16. 11 JESUS said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd 12 layeth down 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 13 wolf seizeth them, and scattereth—because1 he is an hireling, 14 and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I 15 know my own (sheep), and my own know me, even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father; and I lay 16 down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall become one flock, one shepherd. 1 According to the reading here adopted, the word "because" depends upon "leaveth the sheep and fleeth" in verse 12; the clause "and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth" being regarded as parenthetical. The words "the hireling fleeth," with which the 13th verse begins in some manuscripts and in the Authorized Version, were probably added to explain the sense. SERMON XVIII. ONE FLOCK, ONE SHEPHERD. ST. JOHN X. 16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd. XVIII. THE Epistle for the day, considered this morning, SERMON spoke of a return to the Shepherd of our souls. The Gospel, reserved for this evening, tells us more of this Shepherd, in His own words; and, familiar as the subject is to all of us, I know not that it can ever be superfluous to dwell upon it with prayer and praise. The few verses read as the Gospel are taken from a much longer passage on the same general topic. But the difficulty is rather to choose than to find. material for thought, when we dwell upon the character of Christ as the Good Shepherd. And therefore I will confine myself strictly to the six verses which form the Gospel for the day. Jesus said—for so is the Gospel prefaced-I am the Verse 11. Verse 12. SERMON good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life XVIII. 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 (so that) the wolf catcheth them, and scatterethVerse 13. because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the Verse 16. sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd. Verse 14. Verse 15. I know not that it is necessary to say more than one word upon the imagery here employed. In Palestine, we are told-to quote the substance of a few sentences from the account of a recent traveller-there is a sight often to be seen in the near neighbourhood of Jerusalem, that of the shepherds leading over the hills their flocks of sheep and goats, the white sheep and the black goats intermingled on the mountain-side, yet by their colour at once distinguishable from each other. The shepherds, we Luke ii. 8. know, abode with their flocks, at the time of the Gospel history, at least within a few miles of Jerusalem: it is possible that such a flock may have wandered up the sides of the Mount of Olives, and suggested to Him who was sitting there with Mark xiii.3. His disciples over against the temple, the scene |