Jesus is the Pasture

Today's Gospel on this "Good Shepherd Sunday" is taken from the beginning of the 10th chapter of John's Gospel. There Jesus calls himself the "Good Shepherd" as well as the "gate" for the sheep. The Good Shepherd leads the sheep through Himself in baptism out to the pasture where the sheep are nourished with food and refreshed with drink. Here we see that Jesus is not only the Shepherd leading us to pasture but also the pasture itself: He leads us to Himself and gives us Himself to eat and drink that we may be nourished and refreshed.