EASTER ii
CHRIST'S parable of the shepherd escapes us not by being
obscure, but by being so plain. The meaning is so familiar that we
overlook it. What does he say? A man cares naturally for his
own things. He does not have to make himself care. The shepherd
who has bought the ground and fenced the fold and tended the lambs, whose
own the sheep are to keep or to sell, cares for them. He would run
some risk, rather than see them mauled; if he had only a heavy stick in
his hand, he would beat off the wolf. Christ does not boast, as a
man among men, that he loves mankind more than any other man, through a
higher refinement of virtue. He says that he cares for us as no one
else can, because we are his. We do not belong to any other man;
we belong to him. His dying for us in this world is the natural effect
of his unique care. It is the act of our Creator.
