The Gate

John 10

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Yes, it’s true, we disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying to us. Don’t forget: we were fishermen and laborers, simple men, uneducated and not versed in what you call theology. I’m sure that’s why Jesus used earthy words like “sheep” and “gate.” But I have to say that even his simple words could carry meanings that went well beyond our capacity to understand.

However, after some reflection, these sayings of Jesus have become more clear. And so, little by little, we began to grasp what Jesus was trying to tell us. Of course, it was easy to see him as a shepherd, even if we bristled a bit at the notion of calling ourselves “sheep.” After all, we did follow Jesus, and after all, he was our unquestioned leader. He always knew where he was going, and we seldom did. So, we had no choice but to follow. And speaking for myself as one of his disciples, I would have it no other way. I mean, I never had any thought of replacing Jesus as our leader, and I am quite sure that none of the rest of us did as well.

And of course, Jesus wasn’t just our shepherd, he was the “good” shepherd. And not just ours. We began to understand that his flock of sheep would extend well beyond us, as he would later tell us, to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1).

Third century depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd

And where did Jesus lead us? Where indeed!

You might have thought that Jesus would lead us straight to Jerusalem to take on the dreaded Romans. Many were sure he’d do this, but he did not. Some thought he would take us into the synagogues across the province of Galilee and establish himself as an outstanding local rabbi, maybe even winning recognition as a prophet. But he didn’t do that either.

Eventually, we began to realize that Jesus was more of a leader of the heart, not of the battlefield or of the hierarchy of our religion. It began to dawn on us that his only ambition was to bring us closer to the Father, using his words and his very life as the tools of his leadership.

I have to say that some never understood this. But for those of us who did understand, it made all the difference in the world!

But here’s another question: if Jesus was the good shepherd, how could he also be the gate for the sheepfold?

This one is hard. I can share my thoughts on this with you, but you should remember that I am just a simple, uneducated fisherman.

The sheep, you see, are safe in the sheepfold. But really, it’s nothing more than a pen to hold them. Though safe, it’s confining. Life, true life, is outside, in the green pasture. And so, the sheep must pass out of the fold to reach it. That means going through the gate, following the shepherd.

The pasture is where the sheep “may have life and have it abundantly,” as Jesus said. And Jesus is the only way out of the fold and into the pasture. As he told us, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also.”

Why do we even need a shepherd? Because life outside the safety of the fold, even though abundant as Jesus said, is also fraught with danger. My friend Peter said it best (1 Peter 5):

“Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.”

I suppose I should also confess that we need a shepherd because, after all, we truly are nothing more than sheep! And like sheep, we are prone to wander off and into danger. As Jesus said, outside the fold on our own, we might run into a wolf! And he talked about searching for the one sheep who goes astray, leaving the ninety-nine behind.

So, yes, Jesus is the good shepherd who leads us to the Father. And yes, even at the same time, Jesus is the gate through which we leave the fenced-in, confining places of our lives and enter the freedom and abundance of the pasture.

And there is one more thing. One more, perhaps even deeper meaning from these words of Jesus. It’s about death, our death, our passage from this life into an eternal life with Jesus.

You see, Jesus is both our shepherd into that life and he is also the gate through which we must pass to reach it. We look forward to that final passage, following him through his gate and into the pasture of eternal life with him. When we make that passage, through the gate of death, we will never again be confined in a pen!

Jesus himself passed through the gate. He was killed. Dead and buried. Yet he lives! He passed through the gate, going on before us! And now, he lives in the abundance of the green pasture, and he calls us to follow him there.

So, as our shepherd, Jesus leads us where he has already gone before. He went through the gate of this life into the “abundant” life, and he yearns for us to join him there.

And when our day comes to pass through the gate of this life, we can do so in the confidence that he will lead us. Where? To the Father, of course!

And finally, you may ask, how do we know Jesus, the Good Shepherd? Aren’t there other fake shepherds who try to trick us into following them?

Yes, of course, there are. And sometimes we mistakenly follow them. But Jesus is different. How? Jesus is different because we can know him by his voice. He calls us “by name!” His voice resonates as we read his words. His voice reaches us deeply in prayer. His voice is unmistakable. Our hearts are literally primed to hear his voice, and only his voice. And so we can follow him in complete trust.

The Good Shepherd.