"I Am the Door"

When you begin to understand the parable of the Good Shepherd that Jesus told in John 10 you will see that there is layer after layer of meaning and implication, which is why I want to take two weeks to cover this passage.

Focussing more this week on the image of Jesus as the Gate or Door to the Sheepfold and next week more on the image of Jesus as the Shepherd.

Scene 1 In John 10:1-5 Jesus tells a parable.

He takes a very common picture in his culture of a middle eastern shepherd.

In that culture a shepherd spent most of their time actually with the sheep.

They hand raised the lambs, and as they grew the sheep would only respond to the voice of their shepherd.

There was a very good reason for this close relationship.

There were no fences as we have today.

Sheep were grazed outside of the settlements.

Much of Israel was wilderness and without a shepherd to guide them the sheep would do what sheep do and wander off and would soon be lost and fall victim to predators.

So a Shepherd went to great lengths to make sure that the sheep would respond to their call.

At night time the Shepherd would lead the sheep into a pen.

When they had been grazing their flock a long way from the village they would assemble a pen from bushes and timber in a sheltered place out in the fields.

But when they were near to home they made use of a more permanent structure.

A sheepfold; often it had a stone wall and a gate.

And so that the shepherds could get some rest and have time with family a gate keeper was employed to sit at the gate all night.

Because of the expense of employing a gate keeper a number of shepherds would share the sheepfold.

In the morning the shepherd would simply call out his sheep and because they recognised his voice each flock would quickly get sorted out and would head off for the days grazing.

So the parable Jesus tells is a typical picture of his day, everyone understood the picture.

But why did Jesus start the parable by telling about a thief who climbs into the sheepfold instead of entering through the gate?

Scene 2 In Jewish thought the Lord was often presented as a Shepherd and Israel as his Sheep.

Psalm 23 is the classic example.

Verse 1 to 4 are typical pictures of a shepherd leading his flock.

There is protection, there is comfort, there is provision of food and there is guidance through dangerous places.

Psalm 80 has a similar theme of the Lord as Israel’s shepherd; in this case it calls upon the Sovereign Lord to restore the nation.

In Isaiah 53 we come across the famous suffering servant passage, a passage which the disciples understood to point towards Jesus’ crucifixion.

Verse 6 says; All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. (NLT)

Jesus’ picture deliberately points back to some OT complaints that God had against the leaders of the people.

Zechariah 10 speaks of Israel wandering as lost sheep without a shepherd.

It speaks of the Lord’s anger at the leaders of Israel for being bad shepherds of leaving the people in danger instead of protecting them

Ezekiel 34 is a prolonged complaint of God against the leaders of Israel because they have not cared for the nation as they should.

Ezekiel 34:1–24 NLT

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? 3 You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. 4 You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. 5 So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. 6 They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them. 7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. 9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey. 11 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13 I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. 14 Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice! 17 “And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats. 18 Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled? 20 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. 21 For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands. 22 So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another. 23 And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!

In effect Jesus is saying to his hearers, the leaders of the nation that they are the bad shepherds, they are the thief.

They are robbing Israel of her opportunity to enter into the promise of the Messiah.

This concern for their own wellbeing at the expense of those they were responsible to care for, is evident in the immediate context of John chapter 9.

In this chapter Jesus heals a man who was born blind.

The leaders don’t like this and in John 9:39 Jesus tells them that he will show them that they who think they can see, are in fact spiritually blind.

This is why Jesus tells this parable.

If they had spiritual sight they would understand.

They knew the Scriptures inside out.

Yet they missed what the Lord really required from them.

And when Jesus tells this parable, they are in fact the thief who climbs in over the wall.

They are a bad shepherd.

Every complaint that God revealed through their own prophets about the leaders being bad shepherds is true of them.

The people are lost and in need of a true shepherd and the leaders have instead looked to their own interests.

Verse 6 tells us that they are so blind to the truth that they don’t even see it.

Spiritual blindness is a terrible thing.

I remember some very powerful examples of this from our time at Woodford.

Some of our people had been sharing their faith, having discussion with people who were genuinely searching.

In two cases that come to mind, the person they were seeking to witness too has looked at Jesus.

One honestly admitted that it all made sense.

And when challenged, as to why he wouldn’t take that final step of faith this man admitted that he knew what he would have to give up.

So his answer was no.

Honest self centeredness at least.

Total surrender to Christ was a step to far for this man.

In the other case, the exclusivity of Jesus being the only way was a stumbling block.

Last I heard this man had still not made a decision; he is still searching for an easier alternative.

You can pray for both these retired men.

It is rare, but happening more often that men of baby boomer retirement age consider faith.

Now is there spiritual blindness in these cases?

Yes, and you may wonder at why these men and everyone else don’t just run to Christ when they hear his message.

But note that both men are genuinely searching, they might ultimately accept or reject the truth of Christ but they are searching.

People who are already religious, like the leaders of Jesus’ day; and so many Christians today make the opposite mistake.

They think they have it all worked out.

Their spiritual blindness is pride, a lack of grace; being so sure that they have everything right.

Anyone who is different, anyone who simply doesn’t fit the box that the spiritually proud person wants to put them in is immediately suspect.

You see we have to be careful with this passage in John 10.

Jesus might be talking about us!

Scene 3 In contrast to the bad shepherds; Jesus points to himself as the door to salvation, the means of salvation; he knows his sheep and they know him.

In verse 7-10 Jesus makes the first I am statement of this passage.

He says, I am the door.

Shepherds or the door keeper would lay down across the entry of the sheepfold at night to sleep.

Wild beasts would be discouraged from entering, and sheep would not exit.

Thus the shepherd was also the door.

The thieves and robbers were the Pharisees and Religious teachers of the day (v. 1).

Jesus, the shepherd, gives spiritual life and access to spiritual food.

Salvation from destruction and safety are found only by entering in through the door, it is a picture of the gift of eternal life in Christ.

But note in verse 10. There is far more than just eternity, there is this life as well.

The thieves take life; the shepherd gives it.

Abundant life includes salvation, nourishment, healing (v. 9), and much more.

Life here refers to eternal life, God’s life.

It speaks not only of endlessness, but of quality of life.

With Christ, life on earth can reach much higher quality, and then in heaven it will be complete and perfect.[1]

Then we come to the second I am phrase in this passage.

I am the good shepherd in v 11.

Jesus is the good shepherd who gives His life for the sheep (3:16; 1 John 3:16), as opposed to the wicked thief who takes their lives.

While life in v. 10 refers to eternal life, life here refers to physical life.

Jesus laid down His physical life in order to give us eternal life.

The hired hand is literally a hired worker, a mercenary, who tends the flock for his own interest.

When a hired shepherd sees a wolf coming he flees, not caring about the sheep.[2]

Once again Jesus presents a contrast between a true spiritual shepherd and those standing in front of him.

Their interest being for themselves and their positions of power and privilege; not the lost sheep of Israel.

The same can happen in religious organisations and is particularly true of cults.

The third I am statement is in verse 14.

Jesus says again I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd has an intimate knowledge of His sheep, and His own know Him.

This interaction between Christ and His followers is something like the fellowship between the Father and His Son.

The other sheep were not Jews in heathen lands, but Gentiles.

In John 7:35 the Jewish people had asked if Jesus would go and teach the Gentiles.

Jesus now declared that He had sheep among the despised heathen.

One flock anticipates the salvation of the Gentiles and the formation of the church, in which converted Jews and Gentiles would form one spiritual body (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:16).

As the good shepherd, Jesus had the power—that is, the authority—not only to voluntarily lay down His life for the sheep, but also to take it up again.

No one but God can do that.

Scene 4: After Jesus’ analogy of the good shepherd, the editorial comment by John is fitting in verses 19-21.

In the analogy, Jesus was the good shepherd whose sheep hear His voice, implying that there are sheep who do not hear His voice.

John’s comment, true to the purpose of his Gospel, indicates that some believe and others do not.

This is the same division that occurred in 9:16.

People who look at the same evidence and hear the same testimony don’t necessarily come to the same conclusions (12:9–11).

The challenge for us is simple.

What conclusion do we come to about the Good Shepherd?

And who dies he consider us to be?

Are we his sheep, are we some of his sheep waiting to be brought into the flock?

Or are we a thief and a robber, looking out for our own interests at the expense of the sheep?

[1] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Jn 10:7–10). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers. [2] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Jn 10:11–13). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

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