ABSTRACT Following the Good Shepherd: the Patristic and Medieval Exegesis of John 10 and Luke 15 Christine Mcintire Director: D
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ABSTRACT Following the Good Shepherd: The Patristic and Medieval Exegesis of John 10 and Luke 15 Christine McIntire Director: Daniel Nodes, Ph.D. This thesis presents an analysis of the exegetical tradition surrounding the Biblical image of sheep and shepherds. It focuses specifically on two parables given by Christ: The Parable of the Good Shepherd as recorded in John 10 and the Parable of the Lost Sheep as recorded in Luke 15. First, the Patristic and Medieval interpretations of each parable are addressed individually, identifying the ontological focus of the John 10 interpretations and the economical focus of the Luke 15 interpretations, noting a consistency of interpretations between the time periods. Finally, the thesis turns to Patristic and Medieval poetry, discovering them to blend the interpretations of each parable. This blend therefore provides an occasion for expressing the unified tradition of the sheep and shepherd image as a message of salvation. APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS: ______________________________________________ Dr. Daniel Nodes, Department of Classics APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM: ______________________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Corey, Director DATE: ________________________ FOLLOWING THE GOOD SHEPHERD: THE PATRISTIC AND MEDIEVAL EXEGESIS OF JOHN 10 AND LUKE 15 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Baylor University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program By Christine McIntire Waco, Texas May 2019 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements . iii Chapter One: Introduction . 1 Chapter Two: Prose Interpretations of John 10 . 10 2.1 Patristic Sources . 13 2.2 Medieval Sources . 22 Chapter Three: Prose Interpretations of Luke 15 . 31 3.1 Patristic Sources . 32 3.2 Medieval Sources . 36 Chapter Four: Exegesis in Art and Poetry . 45 Visual Art . 46 Patristic Sources . 49 Medieval Sources . 63 Chapter Five: Conclusion . 69 Bibliography . 74 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who deserve the utmost thanks and gratitude for their role in the completion of this thesis. First, to the members of my committee; thank you to Dr. Joseph DiLuzio, for not only teaching me Latin and introducing me to the research world, but for your invaluable mentorship; to Dr. William Weaver, thank you for all of the class discussions and writing practices that have helped me grow in analyzing and responding to literature; and of course, thank you to my advisor, Dr. Daniel Nodes. Thank you for your guidance and feedback throughout the thesis writing process for the past two years, and for sharing your wisdom that “writing a thesis is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you will make the whole journey that way.” It has certainly been a worthwhile journey. Next, I would like to express my deep appreciation and love to my family. Thank you for your endless love and encouragement, without which I could not be where I am today. Thank you for supporting my studies and for being there for me every step of the way. Thank you also to my friends, for your support and care and for the tremendous impact you have had on my life. To my fellow seniors, thank you for the accountability and comradery as we worked countless hours together in the common room while sharing encouragement and conversation with one another. Finally, thank you to the Honors Residential College, for showing me what true community looks like and for exemplifying how to live a life devoted to the love of God, love of neighbor, and love of learning. iii CHAPTER ONE Introduction From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture makes hundreds of references to sheep and shepherds.1 Some of these references seem at first to only be basic historical facts, such as Abel offering up a sheep to God (Genesis 4), Moses being hired by his father-in-law to shepherd his flock (Exodus 2), or David taking up the customary duty of the youngest son to watch the sheep (1 Samuel 16). On their own, these details may seem to be just that: details based on the fact that shepherding was a ubiquitous practice for the time and place. However, when taken with the rest of Scripture in combination with the other references, the mention of sheep and shepherds takes on a new purpose and becomes an image full of rich theological meaning and significance. When Christ calls Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), for example, He establishes this image as holy, requiring one to acknowledge the deeper theological implications and understanding surrounding the image of sheep and shepherd. The interwoven Scriptural tradition of the image conveys central themes of Christianity that not only provide moral guidance but shape our theological understanding and the way in which we view God. The references to sheep and shepherds in Scripture come in various contexts. The first context, as mentioned above, describes a literal use, giving narrative details about people or events, but which later can also be interpreted allegorically, giving them a deeper meaning. Other instances include explicit metaphorical use; for example, the prophesy 1 James Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Cincinnati, Ohio: Jennings & Graham, 1890), s.vv. “sheep,” “shepherd.” 1 recorded in Ezekiel 34 is addressed against the “shepherds of Israel” for not caring for their sheep.2 This is clearly a rebuke against the spiritual leaders at the time for not caring for the people entrusted to them and is not addressed to the literal shepherds in the fields. Jeremiah identifies the metaphor when the LORD says, “My people have been lost sheep” (Jeremiah 50:6). The Psalms record poetic uses of the image, such as the well-known Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” which uses references to sheepherding techniques to affirm the Lord’s provision, protection, and guidance. Jesus also tells several parables using the image of sheep and shepherd which have a metaphorical use, such as the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Good Shepherd, and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. Each of these parables uses the symbolism of sheep and shepherd to convey Christ’s message in a way so that the meaning would be hidden from those who rejected Him but would be made clear to those seeking Him (Matthew 13:10-17). Christ also commissions Peter to “feed my sheep” in John 21 and warns His disciples that He is sending them as “sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16), echoed in Acts 20:28-30 when Paul advises the Ephesian elders to “pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock” and to guard against the “wolves” who would come attempting to twist the word. The benediction of Hebrews 13:20 calling Christ the “great shepherd of the sheep” alludes to the Good Shepherd parable, and Revelation 7:17 describes how “the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” These verses represent only a few of the references found in the Bible, but together create a strong body of connections and show 2 All Biblical quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the English Standard Version 2 how the image of sheep and shepherd is used in a variety of contexts as a sign of a purposeful deeper meaning. As we see from the more metaphorical passages, allusions and imagery rely on association and connections in order to give meaning to the object. In his work De Doctrina Christiana, St. Augustine of Hippo provides a discussion on things and signs. He defines a sign as “a thing which of itself makes some other thing come to mind.”3 It is itself a thing, in the fact that it exists, but it also points to something else that is not itself. For example, the sheep Abraham sacrifices in substitution for Isaac (Genesis 22:13) is a thing, as the sheep exists, but it is also a sign signifying Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice. Some signs are literal, such as a word being the literal signal of a thing, but most that we will discuss in this thesis are metaphorical signs which point to a meaning other than the thing that it is. Many of the Biblical references to sheep and shepherds are either read as metaphorical signs, such as Abraham’s sheep, or are initially given as metaphorical signs, such as the lost sheep in the Luke 15 parable. While the sign carries significance within its specific context, it also interacts with the other uses of the sign which in turn contribute to its meaning. For example, a familiarity with the Good Shepherd parable (John 10) would cause a reader to quickly identify the shepherd in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15) as Christ, who calls Himself the Good Shepherd in the John passage. These signs thus carry with them the weight of all the things they point to or are associated with.