I am the Gate

Alright lets lean in here for a few moments as we discuss the Next I Am Statements of Jesus. As a review last week with the light of the world is Jesus. And we said when The Light, becomes your light you become a light to others. And we had candles and fire it was cool and all of that. Now why are the I am Statements important and why do they signify? Well when Jesus uses the “I am” phrase it is the same as when what? When God used it in Exodus when he said his name for the first time. So Jesus is making two claims here with these “I Am” statements. 1: I am God. 2: If you want to know what God is like look at me.

And as you have seen or will see, Jesus uses every day examples that everyone he is talking too would know exactly what he is saying and the meaning behind it. So today Jesus says, “I Am the Gate”

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

In the first century one of the most common type of work would be a shepherd. You have a flock of sheep or other animals that you take care of, protect, feed, treat well etc. They were your lively hood and they in a lot of instances were like an extension of your family because as a shepherd you would be with them alot. You might think that is weird to have sheep as a part of your family, however, how many of you have a dog, or another animal that is a pet? I would think most people do. (Ask their names, type of animal, are they viewed as apart of your family?) Most of you understand this.

So Shepherds would have all these animals. In Jesus' story there are four main characters. 1: The Shephard 2: The Sheep 3: The Enemy/Robbers 4: The Gate. So lets break this down, Jesus is the shephard, next week we will go into more detail about what that actually means because Jesus next I Am Statement is “I am the good shepherd.” But a Shepherd if they are any good, take care of their sheep. And it says that the sheep KNOWS their shepherd by his voice.

Have you ever been in a grocery store before and you got lost? You swear your mom or dad was right there two seconds ago, and now you have no idea where they are, so your heart begins to beat a little faster, your trying not to let the worry creep into your voice, have you ever been there? So you say, Mom? Quietly, don’t hear anything, mom a little louder, still nothing, and then you yell mom? And all you hear is a calm voice and she says “Over here” you instantly recognize her voice, she doesn’t have to yell or shout, she just has to speak, and you know its her because she is your mom. Jesus would say the same for you because in this story Jesus is explaining, anyone who is a Jesus follower is his sheep. You are the sheep that he leads, protects, loves and cares for.

He also says there is an enemy, who wants to rob and steal you. That would be Lucifer and his demons. Don’t ever forget students that there is a a real enemy who lives and is aware of you. The devil is not a fairy tale people made up to explain all the evilness in the world. He lurks waiting to catch you in sin, waiting and preying on you so that you would stay away from Jesus. Lucifer is just as real as you and me. Too many times in church us fear we talk so much about our disciple and not enough about the devils tactics. Paul would write that we are not in a battle against flesh and blood, but rather we are in a battle against the evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm. There is one fighting against you and then Jesus who is fighting for you. Jesus says that the enemy wants to snatch you away, to steal, kill and destroy. But those who follow the shepherd will not have that fate but will have life and life to the fullest.

Now to the gate, Jesus says, “I am the Gate” so how can he be the gate and the shepherd? This is a sheep pen. This would be located near every town, because sheep have to be parked somewhere. Especially at night, where real robbers would try to steal sheep. So there are these public sheep pens. But as you look at this picture what is missing? The gate…where is the gate? 2000 years ago they didn't have high tech cameras, security guards, or anything like that. What they had was themselves. The shepherd wouldn’t just drop off his animals and pick them up in the morning, no he would sit at the opening and he would become the gate.

This is the imagery that Jesus is using, he is saying that HE IS the gate. He is the shepherd and the gate. Don’t miss this he knows you by name, and you know him by his voice. And he stands in the gap and protects you. Only through Jesus do you have access to his pen, only through Jesus do you have the freedom to graze in the pastures. Only through Jesus can someone be saved from their sin.

This is what Jesus is trying to say with this imagery, that his is the gate, only through him can you as he says at the end of it all, can have life and life to the fullest. And in him you are protected and cared for. That doesn’t mean that your life will be perfect, but that you know the perfect one who gives you life. You still have an enemy out there who is fighting against you, sin is still in the world, but you can have assurance that Jesus is right by your side. Also know this, sometimes the hardships you are facing are consequences for your own actions, and not that Jesus isn’t protecting you, or the devil is inflicting you. You chose to do something and now you have to deal with it.

But I want to say this also, a lot of people, including myself, your coaches, your parents, and you also if you are a Jesus follower or not. We still sin, everyday in almost every way. So we choose to leave the safety and security of the “pen” with Jesus so what we actually do think about this, we exit the pen, meaning, we have to step over, or pass over Jesus, to get to the sin that we want. Whatever that might be, when you cuss, you are stepping over Jesus, when you lie, you are stepping over Jesus, when you lust you are stepping over Jesus, when you watch porn you are stepping over Jesus. When you dishonor your parents, you are stepping over Jesus. The list can go on and on.

But the great news is that even if you step over Jesus in your sin, Jesus will welcome you back, you can renter. Why? Because you are his. He will protect you, because listen, people don’t protect cheap things. People don’t lay down their life for cheap things. You are the most valuable thing to Jesus and his is the gate in which you have to walk through to be set free of sin, to be raised to life, and to have life and life to the fullest.

Pray