Happy Sunday to you.
John 10 is full of images of sheep, shepherds, and sheep pens. We’ll get back to the first image Jesus alludes to tomorrow (he as shepherd, voice). But today, let’s focus on the second paragraph and image—I am the gate.
(This third of seven main I AM image statements from Jesus in John.)
Archaeological findings suggest that certain sheep pens in Jesus’ time were made of stone walls, forming an enclosure with a single narrow opening. After the sheep had entered the pen to stay for the night, the shepherd would literally lay down in the opening, serving as the “gate.”
In this way, the shepherd-gate serves multiple functions: keeping the sheep in, keeping predators out, ensuring their safety, and being present with them at all times.
But perhaps most significantly, a sheep cannot enter except through the gate. Jesus makes it clear that discipleship requires going through him—he is not an option; he is the way.1
John 10:1-10
I assure you that whoever doesn’t enter into the sheep pen through the gate but climbs over the wall is a thief and an outlaw. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The guard at the gate opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger but will run away because they don’t know the stranger’s voice.” Those who heard Jesus use this analogy didn’t understand what he was saying.
So Jesus spoke again, “I assure you that I am the gate of the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and outlaws, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.
Psalm 95:6-7
Come, let’s worship and bow down! Let’s kneel before the Lord, our maker!
He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands.
If only you would listen to his voice right now!
Prayer
God,
You, in Christ, are both the shepherd and the gate—the one who leads and the way itself. You are the one who calls, and you are the path we must walk.
I confess that sometimes I want to enter another way, to take a shortcut or a route that feels easier. Sometimes I get caught up in the noise of voices that are not yours—voices of fear, ambition, self-interest, or distraction. But your voice is steady, calling me back to the way that leads to life.
Help me to listen. Help me to trust. And when I am tempted to build fences where you have placed an open gate, remind me that you alone decide who enters. Keep me from assumptions that are not mine to make, and let my faith be marked by humility and welcome.
Thank you for being near, for laying yourself down for our sake, for leading us toward what is good. May I follow you today, through the gate, into life abundant.
Be with your Church everywhere on this day of worship.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
We’ll see this in more detail when we come to John 14, verse 6 - No one comes to the Father except through me. But for now, know that many Christians take this notion of Jesus’ placement at the heart of salvation and discipleship in directions John did not mean. While Jesus alone determines who enters (who’s in and who’s out), we should be careful not to impose limits where he has not.