The Door of Peace

Introduction: The Power of a Door

Illustration: Imagine being locked out of your home on a cold night. You knock, hoping someone will open the door. That door represents warmth, safety, and belonging. In the same way, Jesus is the door to the home our souls long for—eternal life with God.

Think Correctly About the Door of Peace

Theologians hold that chapters 9 and 10 are one unit. In chapter 9 Jesus heals a blind man and there is a lot of dialogue between the Jewish religious leaders and Jesus.

After the man is healed of his blindness at the pool of Siloam, the religious leader interrogate him and his parents. They asked him to repeat the story and to verify, they ask the parents to testify to the blindness of the son and to the healing by Jesus.

Seems legit.

Jesus makes some very direct accusatory statements at the end of chapter 9

John 9:39 HCSB

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”

They’re confounded and ask him, we aren’t blind too, are we?

Blind to what is the key to understanding how we enter and engage with chapter 10. They, the Pharisees are actually blind to the truth that Jesus is the Christ who came down from heaven and was greater than Moses.

They equate themselves with the blind man Jesus healed - that they can see (John 9:41).

Sin constantly deceives people so they live in falsehood.

They are arrogant and prideful, believing they possessed spiritual perception, but in fact didn’t, and they simultaneously claim leadership responsibilities

Two holds - one in the city and one in the country. The one in the city was a public sheepfold large enough to hold several flocks of sheep. It was left in the hands of a porter or doorkeeper whose duty it was to guard the door to the sheep during the night and admit the shepherds in the morning. The shepherds would call their sheep and they’d recognize the voice, and they would go tot the pasture. When the shepherd wanted to enter they used the door.

The thieves would jump the wall.

John 10:7 HCSB

So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep.

The Personal Door to Peace

See, Jesus had been trying hard to get these spiritually blind religious elites and leaders to see Him for who He was. Jesus even describes for them the ideal Shepherd, who leads and care for the sheep.

But this bit about Jesus being the door.

In most, if not all sheepfolds, there isn’t really a door. It’s just an opening with maybe a sheet.

When we think doors, we think security, fire protection, etc. It’s a structure that separates one side from another, and this analogy is true with the understanding of Jesus as the door.

But at another lever, there is purpose in response.

The second kind of sheep pen was in the countryside where shepherds would keep their sheep in good weather. this is the structure where the shepherd would drive the sheep at night and they would be the ones who would guard the sheep. in this case, they literally became the door of the sheep.

Jesus paints a picture of a sheepfold—a place of security - but it is reliant upon the person at the door.

Jesus is the door of salvation.

Jesus is the only legitimate way into the fold.

The word often used is saved - sozo - in Greek and it means, delivered, protected, healed, and made whole. In The Salvation Army

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

This means that as the Door, Jesus welcomes us into His presence to receive the spiritual nourishment necessary for the work of making disciples.

Through Him, we find salvation and spiritual nourishment.

The Promise of Abundant Life Through the Door

Jesus’s day was rife with a pervasive spirit of messianism. During this time, it was not uncommon for certain Jewish figures to rise up, claim to be the Messiah, gather a group of followers, and lead a revolt against Rome. Most of these uprisings were quickly quashed by the Romans, who were on high alert against disturbances to public order and peace. Jesus saw these counterfeit messiahs as false prophets (Matthew 24:5). False prophets, however, are not just a thing of the past; they are a problem in our day as well. In fact, thanks to social media and the Information Age, they might be more prevalent today than ever!

The standard of truly abundant life for all humanity is to be wholly sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the door that one enters to experience abundant life. All other doors ultimately lead away from God, away from life, away from goodness and fulfillment. One of the most common alternatives to the way of Jesus is the way of hedonism. This alternative path is full of irony, for instead of leading to pleasure, it leads away from it. It is the moral life that leads to the good life. Holiness leads to happiness. Sin, the path away from God, is pleasurable for a season (Hebrews 11:25), but over time, it bears the rotten fruit of discontentment and emptiness. In contrast, the doorway of Christ leads to pleasure and a fulfillment that never fade away, the pleasure of knowing that one is in right relationship with the living God—the God of abundant life, the God of all that is good and true and wondrous and beautiful.

Cross-reference: John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”

The thief (Satan, false teachers) seeks to destroy.

Jesus offers life—full, rich, and eternal.

V. Application: How Do We Enter Through the Door?

Faith in Christ – Trusting in His finished work.

Repentance – Turning from sin and self.

Following His Voice – Daily obedience.

Illustration: A famous painting shows Jesus standing at a door and knocking (Revelation 3:20). Interestingly, there’s no handle on the outside—it must be opened from within. Jesus invites, but we must respond.

VI. Conclusion: The Invitation

The door is open—but it won’t stay open forever.

Jesus invites all to enter and receive life.

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy—false teachers, sin, and the enemy.

Jesus offers life—not just existence, but abundance.

Eternal life begins now—a life of purpose, joy, and relationship with God.

Will you walk through the Door today?

Call to Action: Will you walk through the Door today? Will you trust the Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep?