I AM THE GATE
JOHN 10 VERSES 1-10
I don’t know about you but I cannot tell one sheep from another. If I look at a flock of sheep all I see are sheep. But the shepherd when he looks sees not a flock but individual sheep. Each one is different to him, distinct. Each one he will tell you has a different temperament and apparently a different gait. This morning in our reading from John 10 we encounter Jesus using the imagery of sheep, a shepherd and the sheep fold to teach His listeners about Himself.
CONTEXT
As I always do let me set the context for you. Jesus has had an entanglement with the Pharisees after He healed the man born blind. He tells the Pharisees that they remain guilty of sin because they claim to know the truth and yet deny who He is – 9 verse 41 READ. He then proceeds in chapter 10 to speak about Himself. So the background setting these words are an attack on the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees who claim to be the shepherds of God’s people.
Verses 1-6 The sheep know the Shepherd’s voice.
In these verses Jesus is clearly the Shepherd and the flock are those who hear His voice and obey His call to follow. The sheep fold of Christ’s day was very simple. It consisted of four walls of stone or mud bricks and in one wall was an opening for the sheep to go in and out of. Hence Christ’s assertion in verse 1 that anyone who does not enter via the gate (or door) is not a true shepherd but a ‘thief and a robber.’ It is interesting how Christ describes these people who climb into the sheep fold and don’t enter via the door. A ‘thief’ is one who uses subtlety and trickery whereas a ‘robber’ uses violence and plunders. The purpose of both is exploitation. Christ is here saying to the Pharisees – your purpose is to exploit the people because you have entered the sheep fold not by the door but by climbing over the wall. In contrast (verse 2) the shepherd enters via the door, the rightful means of entry and exit. The shepherd has no need to climb over the walls of the sheep fold – he, and he alone, has the right to go in through the door to ‘his sheep.’ Did you notice that? ‘His sheep.’ They are his, they belong to him and he has the right to go into them via the door. This shepherd, whom Christ wants His hearers to understand as Himself, goes into the sheep fold and calls each sheep out by name. Most of the commentators say that what is being alluded to hear is the common sheep fold of a city where many flocks would have been kept securely overnight, hence the watchman (hired). The next morning each shepherd would go into the fold and call his own flock and they would follow him out of the pen. Each flock new the distinctive call of their shepherd. I want to linger here for just a moment. Think about the significance of these words – READ verse 3. The sheep listen for the shepherd’s voice. They listen to his voice because it has become familiar to them and from experience they know it means protection and nourishment. Protection in that this voice has kept them from danger, rescued them when they were in difficulties and nourishment because this same voice has led them to green pastures and still cool waters to refresh them. So they listen for the voice. The application is quite simple is it not? Do you and I know the voice of God? Is it a voice we are familiar with? Do we actively listen for it? Where do you listen for it? The answer to that is right here in front of you – the Bible. This is the voice of God – it is God’s word to us. It is from these pages that I hear God speak. I listen by reading His word, praying His word, thinking upon His word and testing everything according to His word. Let us move on in the text – look what Jesus says next – verse 3 – this shepherd knows each sheep by name. How awesome is that to ponder? You know that sentence helps explain the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. The reason the shepherd knew there was one missing was because each night as they went into the sheep fold he would stand across the doorway and call them in. As each sheep passed he would inspect it for injuries and anoint with oil and cuts or grazes. He knew each sheep individually and so he knew one was missing. Christ was saying to His hearers- God knows you as an individual. You are not just an anonymous face in a crowd. You are John, Mary, Jane – you are known by God. When the shepherd has called them by name what does he do? He leads them. He does not drive them out but he leads them out. The shepherd went before them and because they know his voice, and by experience know he will lead them to pastures green and still waters, the sheep follow. Friends we are not a driven people. When Christ calls us by name into His flock he goes before us to lead us out to pastures green and waters still. Note will you that until the shepherd called the sheep remain safe and secure in the fold. It is only when he calls and he leads that they go out. There is a spiritual lesson for us to learn. Then in verses 5-6 READ Christ points out how the sheep will not follow a stranger’s voice because they can recognise that it is not the shepherd’s voice. How important it is to know the shepherd’s voice.
When my nieces and nephew were tiny babies they would sometimes point to photos of me and their dad (you know I am an identical twin)and say ‘daddy and more daddy.’ We looked identical in the photos but you know they never mixed us up when we entered a room or when one of us spoke. If they were crying as little babies and I lifted them they would quieten down but as soon as they heard their father’s voice the arms would go out for him. They recognised their father’s voice. I looked like him, had some of his mannerisms but I didn’t have his voice and that was the key.
How often we are deceived by the voices of false shepherds because we do not know the Shepherd’s voice. Learn to recognise the Shepherd’s voice.
VERSES 7-10 I AM THE GATE.
In these verses the imagery shifts from a sheep fold in the city, where there would be several flocks to one out in the countryside where there would be only one flock. In verses 7 and 9 Jesus twice refers to Himself as the Gate or the Door into the sheep fold. The imagery is of Access and Protection. At night in the open countryside the sheep would be exposed to all sorts of dangers – both from robbers and wild animals. The entrance to the sheep fold would not have a gate or door and so the shepherd lay down across the entrance – so that no sheep could leave without his knowledge and nothing could enter without him being disturbed. It is a wonderful picture of the protection of the sheep by the shepherd. But look at verse 9 – here Christ goes further than just the statement of ‘I Am the Gate.’ Here He speaks of being the means whereby the sheep come into the fold and go out from the fold (when He calls and He leads as verse 4 indicates). READ verse 9. Do you understand what Christ is talking about here?
‘I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved.’ What does that actually mean? Saved from what? How do we enter through this gate, through Christ? Let me answer those two questions.
What are we saved from? The simple answer is the ‘wrath of God’ (Romans 5 verse 9 READ). God’s wrath will one day be poured out against sin – but Christ Jesus has paid the penalty of sin for those who have come to Him in repentance and faith. So we are saved from God’s wrath and from the wages of sin = death (Romans 3 v23).
How are we saved? By entering the sheep fold through the only gate provided = Christ Jesus. Think upon the imagery used here by Christ Jesus. He says ‘I am the door.’ When I read that in connection with the sheep and the sheep fold my mind was cast back to the Passover and how the blood of the slain lamb was painted on the doorposts of the houses so that those inside would be saved from the angel of death that passed over Egypt that night. I don’t think it is stretching it too far to apply that to this passage. The death of Christ on the cross, the shedding of His blood, is the means by which we are saved. Physically the sheep had to go through the shepherd to get out – he would stand across the entrance and they could not enter or exit unless he allowed them to. Christ stands between us and God and without Him access is denied. Access is gained through repentance of sin and faith in Him.
Did you notice the second part of verse 9? There is not only salvation but nourishment. The sheep (that is the Christian) will go in and out through Christ and in Christ find pasture (food for the soul). In Christ alone is there spiritual food, nourishment for the Christian believer.
Verse 10 – once again Christ warns about the false shepherds whose purpose is the exploitation of the sheep. They have no concern for the wellbeing of the sheep. In contrast His purpose is ‘fullness of life.’ I think that is important for us all to hear this morning. The King James version says this ‘I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.’ Sometimes I hear people talk about the Christian life and it sounds so boring, so mundane. Yet Christ says He came to bring us ‘abundant life.’ He came to bring us life as it was meant to be. Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. I am not saying life as a Christian will, or should, be all happy etc, but neither should it be like a walk through the Slough of Despond in Pilgrim’s Progress. Christ came that through Him life might be lived in its fullness.
APPLICATION
Well this morning I think the application is quite simple. In Christ alone is there salvation. Christ tells us that He alone is the gate and we can only enter through Him. When we enter through Him we are saved from the wrath of God and called into ‘abundant life.’
Can you see how proximity to the Shepherd and knowledge of the Shepherd’s voice provides the sheep with protection, guidance and nourishment? The same is true for us spiritually. Proximity to Christ provides salvation, protections, guidance and nourishment for the all who would come through Him into the sheep fold.
Finally I want to ask you: Do you know the Shepherd’s voice? Have you come through Christ into the fold? Whilst there is great comfort in these verses there is also a warning which we must heed. Amen.
