What would you do if you had a certain amount of money, let’s say $5, to spend on a treat such as chocolate or lollies? Would you prefer to spend the money on a smaller amount of good quality confectionary or a larger quantity that wasn’t as good?
In other words, do you prefer better quality or greater quantity?
This kind of distinction between quality or quantity can be used in a wide variety of situations, from what confectionary, food or wine we might buy, to the clothes we purchase, or the holidays we take. Some people prefer to have less of something of a higher quality while others would prefer to have a greater quantity, even if it’s not quite as good.
But what would it be like to have both quality and quantity?
Today we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. This Sunday is given the special theme of Good Shepherd Sunday and focusses on Jesus as our Good Shepherd. This image of Jesus is rich with good news for us and others as we hear in the readings for today. As we listen to Jesus’ words in the gospel reading, there is one extravagant promise that he makes which is worth spending time reflecting on. In John 10:10, Jesus points to others whom he describes as ‘thieves and robbers’ (v8) who have some ‘to steal and kill and destroy’ (v10 NLT). In contrast, Jesus says that he has come to give those who follow him ‘a rich and satisfying life’ (NLT).
Central to the good news of Jesus is the gift of life that God gives us through faith in him. Have you ever wondered what this life is like? How is it different to the life we might already know and experience? What is it about the life Jesus offers us that would prompt us to leave our old lives behind to follow him in a similar way that sheep follow a shepherd?
The word which Jesus uses to describe the life he offers us in John 10:10 is translated in a few different ways, depending on the English version we might be reading. The New Living Translation describes it as ‘a rich and satisfying life.’ The New International Version describes it as ‘life to the full.’ The English Standard Version, a more literal translation of the Bible, uses the word ‘abundantly’ to describe the life Jesus came to give us. The Greek word John uses here gives the picture of something that is beyond what we anticipate, exceeding our expectations, or going past the expected limit. It’s a similar idea to what we hear in Psalm 23:5 where someone begins to pour a drink into a cup, but instead of stopping a safe distance from the top, they keep pouring until the cup is overflowing. This is the ‘abundant’ life Jesus is promising to all who follow him: a life that is full and overflowing.
But full and overflowing with what? Some people think that the abundant life Jesus promises us is all about the quantity of life, a life that never ends, and believe it just means going to heaven to live forever when we die. Others think this abundant life means the quality of our lives in this world and understand Jesus words as his promise that we will get everything we want, living an easy life with no problems and lots of material blessings.
Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle, that the abundant life Jesus came to give us is about both quantity and quality of life, as much about eternity as it is the here and now.
Jesus gives us an abundant quantity of life because he has risen from the grave and will never die again. The good news of Jesus’ resurrection means that we will also live forever through faith in him. Trusting in Jesus’ victory over death, we have been raised to new life with him, as we read in Colossians 3:1. When people close to us pass on from this life to the next and we mourn the death of people we love, as some in our parish are doing this week, we grieve their passing in the comfort and hope that Jesus’ resurrection gives us a life that is stronger than the grave and will never end. Thinking about the abundant life Jesus promises us as quantity of life means trusting that Jesus gives us so much life that this world cannot contain it and it overflows into eternity, lasting forever.
As we read the New Testament, we can also understand the abundant life Jesus gives us as quality of life. Faith in the good news of Jesus gives us a different kind of life to live here and now. We can see the differences that following Jesus made to the disciples and others in the stories and letters of the New Testament. A key text that describes this abundant quality of life which comes through following Jesus is Galatians 5:22,23. Paul explains that the fruit the Holy Spirit produces in our lives include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (NLT). These are qualities the Holy Spirit creates in us when we live as followers of Jesus in faith and grow into the abundant life he gives.
Jesus leads us into this life when we listen to his voice and follow him as his disciples, like sheep who follow their shepherd, learning from him a new way of living which is all about faith and love. Jesus’ teachings are summarized in various ways through the Bible, but they are essentially about learning to trust him and love others. When we learn to do this in all of life’s situations, both the good and bad, easy and challenging, Jesus leads us further into his life which is stronger than death, and which produces the Spirit’s fruit. Following Jesus doesn’t mean that life will be easy and we’ll never have any problems again. The abundant life Jesus leads us into as our Good Shepherd means a better quality of life, full to overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, and the other fruits of the Spirit, as well as a greater quantity of life which overflows from this world into eternity.
There are lots of situations in life where we can decide between quantity and quality, like having more chocolate that isn’t as good, or less of a better standard of chocolate. When Jesus promises us that he came to give us abundant life, he was talking about both quality and quantity: a life that never ends which is full to overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, and more. He doesn’t promise us an easy life without problems, but Jesus offers to lead us into a life where we can live in the reality of God’s loving grace, now and forever. God give us the faith to hear our Good Shepherd call our names, so we can follow him in faith and love into the abundant life he promises, and his goodness can overflow from us into the lives of the people around us.
More to think about or discuss:
- Would you rather have less quantity but better quality, or more quantity of a lower quality? Why? What do you think it would be like to have both?
- When you hear Jesus promise that he has come to give us life to the full in John 10:10, how have you usually understood his words? Do you hear Jesus talking about quantity or quality of life? Or do you hear these words in a different way?
- What might the abundant life Jesus promises look like in your life, here and now? How might following Jesus closer as your Good Shepherd help you find the life he is offering?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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