Festival of St. Athanasius, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor
Posted on May 2, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. John 10:1-11 (NKJV)
10:1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Devotion
In today’s text Jesus speaks of two ways to tend sheep. In the villages and towns there were communal sheepfolds where all the village flocks were sheltered for the night. These folds were protected by a strong door, and only the guardian of the door, the gatekeeper, held the key. It was to that kind of fold that Jesus refers in verses 1-3.
But when the sheep were out on the hills during the warm season and didn’t return at night to the village, they were herded into folds on the hillside. These sheepfolds were simply open spaces enclosed by a wall. There was an opening by which the sheep came in and went out. But there was no door of any kind. Instead, at night, the shepherd lay down across the opening so that no sheep (or anything else) could get in or out, except over his own body. And so, in the most literal sense, the shepherd himself was the door.
That is the image Jesus meant when He said, “I am the door.” Through Him alone man has access to God. Without Jesus, God would be at best a stranger, and at worst an enemy. But through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we are shown God’s grace. We see His merciful nature in His loving sacrifice, even to death on a cross. And through faith in that redeeming sacrifice He becomes the very door of our salvation.
Prayer: God, Who, by the humiliation of Thy Son, didst raise up the fallen world: Grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, do Thou make partakers of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor
O God, who didst give Saint Athanasius as a faithful teacher of the saving truth in a time of great trial, grant to Thy people zeal for Thy Word and faithful teachers for Thy Church, that they may stand steadfast against all error, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
