“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly”
Sick, we truly stand in need of the Saviour; having wandered, of one to guide us; thirsty, of the fountain of life; dead, we need life; sheep, we need a shepherd; we who are children need a tutor, while all of humanity stands in need of Jesus...
You may learn, if you will, the crowning wisdom of the all-holy shepherd and tutor, who is all-mighty and the Word of the Father, when he presents himself using the image of the Shepherd of the sheep. He is also the tutor of little children. He says therefore through Ezekiel, in his discourse to our forefathers, setting before them a description of his solicitude: "The lame I will bind up, and those who are sick I will heal, and those that have wandered I will bring back; and I will feed them in the pastures on my holy mountain." (Ez 34:16).... Master, lead us to your own pastures of righteousness; you who are our tutor, feed us in the pastures on your holy mountain, the Church, which towers aloft above the clouds, which touches heaven. "And I will be their Shepherd and remain among them” he says, (Ez 34:12)... He wishes to save my flesh by enveloping it in the robe of immortality... "They shall call me," he says, "and I will say, here I am." (Is 58:9)...
Such is our tutor, good and righteous. He says, " I did not come to be served but to serve " (Mt 20:28). That is why he is shown in the Gospel to be "wearied," (Jn 4:5) because he toils for us, and promises "to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mt 20:28) And he says that only the good shepherd acts in this way. Generous, therefore, is he who gives for us the greatest of all gifts, his own life; generous, and loving; when he might have been Lord, he wished to be our brother; and so good was he that he died for us.