I AM The Gate

Opening:

Beginning with John 1:1-14-

Verses 1-4- The people had been searching for hundreds of years, the “light” Messiah that they had been looking for had entered the world

John begins to testify to that light

Verses 9-14- That light is coming and in fact has already come, yet the world didn’t recognize him. This is the same world that has been so desperately looking for him

1500 years from Genesis 3

800 years from Micah’s prophesy about Bethlehem being the location

700 years from Isaiah prophecy

It seem that even John didn’t know who was looking for. John relied on the spirits revelation

John 1:32–34 ESV

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

They were BLIND- the whole world was blind, even John until Holy Spirit starts opening eyes

Eyes are being opened:

A whole group of peoples eyes where opened through Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4:39-42

John 4:39–42 ESV

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

At first they believed because of the women's testimony but then they heard and believed for themselves- that is a sermon for another day

You can see eyes being opened to who Jesus is as you continue to read through John’s gospel

Emerging Themes in the I AM’s

Who Jesus is- He is the son of the Father

What He is about- John 6:38-40

John 6:38–40 ESV

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life-

I AM- Life

Bread of Life

Light of Life

The Gate that leads to Life

John 9 Gives us the Context

To understand and interpret correctly what Jesus is saying in this I AM statement- I AM the Gate- we need to know the things that are happening in this moment.

We are going to read John 9 for context

Remember there is this BLINDNESS to Jesus but Holy Spirit is opening eyes

Highlights on the way to chapter 10:

Who sinned? The response John 9:3

John 9:3 ESV

Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The testimony of this mans life is John 9:25

John 9:25 ESV

He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

This man’s life was to be a living testimony to the works of God- his blindness, his weakness, his pain, etc. was intend by God to be a testimony about God.

What is your testimony?

The testimony of the blind man verses the testimony of the Pharisees- John 9:41

John 9:41 ESV

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Two testimonies-

I was blind but now I can see, because Jesus touched my eyes and removed my blindness

OR

Look how I can see

What is your testimony? I would submit to you that all of us should have a testimony like that of the blind man- regardless of where you were born, how you were raised, when and when and how Jesus came into your life- the testimony is look what Jesus is, I may not know everything about him but what I do know is I was blind but now I see.

That thought flows into John 10

Read John 10:1-10

Unpack the image- in the middle of the screen you have a nice green pasture, surrounding that pasture is a nice solid well built fence and the their is one gate to get into and out of this pasture, we see a few sheep in this nice pasture grazing peacefully- outside of that pasture is a vast wilderness, in this wilderness you might have patches of green grass, mountains, valleys, cliffs, desert, thorns, and predators, in this vast wilderness we see many sheep wandering

In the inner pasture there is life, peace, security- its controlled by a gate- that gate or gatekeeper is Jesus.

Anyone who tries to enter this pasture any other way is not pursuing the peace, life and security that this pasture offers but instead their intent is to steal, kill and destroy.

The Pharisees saw themselves as the Gatekeepers

They kept the gate based on the law-

John 9:28 “And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.”

Jesus exposes this truth about them in John 5:39-40

John 5:39–40 ESV

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

You think the scriptures or the law contain eternal life, but its me the one that the scriptures speak about and who you refuse to acknowledge that gives life

Not only is Jesus communicating to the Pharisees that they are not the gatekeepers, he is also exposing them as the thieves and robbers-

We see it played out right here- here is a man that was blind but now can see, physically and spiritually, has come through the gate into this pasture of life and what are the pharisees trying to do- destroy him

John 9:27–34 ESV

He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

That’s the testimony!

“You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” This reveals the second flaw in the hearts and thinking of the Pharisees

The Pharisees thought they could see

Here is the reality of this image- this nice pasture protected by the one gate and gatekeeper that grants access is the pasture of sight

In all this other space there is blindness

Here is the truth that the pharisees refused to accept and we need to acknowledge about ourselves- we are not born into this pasture- no one is- we are all born out there in the wilderness of blindness.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

The pharisees thought they could see- everyone else was blind obviously but not them- that as the gate keepers sight came through an understanding of and strict adherence to the law

But entrance into this pasture of light and life doesn’t come through the law it comes through Jesus, and He doesn’t just heal physical blindness but he heals spiritual blindness and he is the only one who can.

What are the chances that a blind sheep wandering around in this wilderness will find its own way to this gate, not likely, that in its self is a work of Holy Spirit, the other good news here is that there is a Shepherd and we’ll talk about him next week

If we like the Pharisees think we can see then we are in danger John 9:41

John 9:41 ESV

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

The invitation here is a personal invitation to invite Holy Spirit to begin working in your heart removing that spiritual blindness, much like John the Baptist, show me Jesus- he is the only gate into this pasture of life

For those of you who have entered through the gate already, I would say this if it is a work of Holy Spirit to get us to the gate then it is also a work of Holy Spirit to keep us in the pasture- “prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”- I know this personally- daily the prayer is Holy Spirit keep me