Image of God

Images of God

When you say the word God different images will enter each person’s mind. We know that we cannot totally understand who God is and explain him with our feeble human language, but the “desire for God is written in the human heart” which calls us to continue to try (CCC 27). We as Christians see God as a mystery not to be solved but to be beheld. God is not to be figured out but we are to sit “face to face with the Incomprehensible” and to construct our belief in based on faith (Rahner 2). When I think about my image of God the initial image that comes to my mind is that of the Good Shepherd, while this is an image that has been with me from a very young age, as I have grown older the depth and richness of my understanding has grown.

My initial understanding of God came to me through the person of Jesus. This is a uniquely Christian perspective because Jesus is not just a prophet, for Christians “God is communicated in the very person of Christ” (McBrien 1). The image of the Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John Jesus tells us he is “the Good Shepherd, I know mine and mine know me” (10:14). The comfort of this image, of a shepherd who knows his flock who would lay down his life for the sheep was my initial entry point into a relationship with God.

This initial image of the good shepherd then led me to the parable of the ninety-nine sheep. Would not a shepherd who knows all the names of his sheep go and find the lost and welcome them back with open arms, even carrying them on his shoulders. This image of unconditional love was for me as a young Catholic the entry point to my relationship with God. I desired to run to a God who would forgive and seek me when I was lost. A God who would love me regardless of my failings.

As I came to know God more I have found that the image of the Good Shepherd has become even more personal for me especially in my study of the Old Testament and understanding the cultural importance of a name for the Jewish people. I came to understand that for the Jewish people “great significance was attached to personal names, for they for they revealed character and identity and signified existence” (Names of God, Harper Collins Bible Dictionary). This became even more important as I was older and revisiting the image of the Good Shepherd in Scripture because I came to understand that not only was God as the shepherd for me but also Father. Jesus leads us into the idea of the Trinity in this image as well as he not only declares himself as the Shepherd but gives us the Father and challenges us to know God the Father as well “as I know the Father and the Father knows me” (John 10:15).

This image for me reveals not only the theological depth of who God is in the trinity but also the human characteristics we try to assign to God. God is a God of love. The Good Shepherd loves his sheep and is loved by the Father who commands him. It is out of this love that the Good Shepherd lays down his life to protect the sheep from the wolf. I also find in this image that I am called to see Christ in others. He tells us that he is “the gate, whoever enters through [him] will be saved” (John 10:9). This is a challenge of recognizing that we must be in relationship with God in order to find salvation.

My understanding of this image also shows the love for those who are not currently believers, that God still cares for them and desires for them to be united with him. The free will of the Shepherd and unyielding devotion unlike that of a paid hireling reveals the unchanging and unceasing desire of God to have all of his children united to him.

What I really enjoy about this image is that while Jesus was man and calls God Father in this passage, the idea of the Good Shepherd who loves so deeply and cares so intimately for his sheep conjures up the image of Mother. A mother who gives all of herself for the benefit of her children and yet calls them to herself.

The image of the Good Shepherd has many levels and much depth for me. Everytime I grow in my understanding of the mystery of the person of God, I find myself returning to this image and finding greater understanding of the parable. While we can use many images to try to explain our understanding of God “at the same time these images conceal a great deal” (Coll 133). We as humans will never completely understand the mystery of God and are not meant to, what we are called to do is to “put out into the deep” (Luke 5:4). We are called to ever deeper understanding and love for God as our Father, Good Shepherd and Savior.

Bibliography
The Catholic Study Bible, Donald Senior, John J. Collins, Mary Ann Getty, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2011.

Coll, Regina. “God as Friend”, PACE (16). Winona, MN: St. Mary’s Press, 1986.

“Names of God in the New Testament” & “Names of God in the Old Testament” in
Achtemeier, Paul J. (Gen. Ed.): The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (Revised Ed.) New York, NY: Harper San Francisco, 2000.

McBrien, Richard P. “Catholicism: The Christian Understanding of God”, PACE (11).
Winona, MN: St. Mary’s Press, 1981.

Rahner, Karl, S.J.: Belief Today New York, NY: Sheed & Ward, 1968. 108-116.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition) .Washington D.C.: USCC,
2000. nn26-49.

Bibliography: The Catholic Study Bible, Donald Senior, John J. Collins, Mary Ann Getty, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Coll, Regina. “God as Friend”, PACE (16). Winona, MN: St. Mary’s Press, 1986. “Names of God in the New Testament” & “Names of God in the Old Testament” in Achtemeier, Paul J. (Gen. Ed.): The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (Revised Ed.) New York, NY: Harper San Francisco, 2000. McBrien, Richard P. “Catholicism: The Christian Understanding of God”, PACE (11). Winona, MN: St. Mary’s Press, 1981. Rahner, Karl, S.J.: Belief Today New York, NY: Sheed & Ward, 1968. 108-116. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition) .Washington D.C.: USCC, 2000. nn26-49.