I Am The Gate
Notes
Transcript
Let’s start by reading our verses for today.
“Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
Let’s pray
One day, a sheep lost a bet with a goat and had to wear a silly hat through the sheep gate. Instead of shying away, he strutted in proudly! That silly hat didn’t stop him from enjoying the green pastures. Following Jesus, our gate, allows us to embrace our quirks and be welcomed!
In this chapter, Jesus speaks about two kinds of sheep pens and gates
The first is a communal pen.
In the villages there were communal sheep pens where all the village flocks were sheltered when they returned home at night. These folds were protected by a strong door of which only the watchman had the key. It was to this kind of sheep pens that Jesus referred in verses 1-3.
John 10:1–3 ““Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
What is cool about these communal sheep pens, even though they are all together, the sheep would know the sound of their master’s voice.
Here, Jesus spoke of the fact that the true Messiah would arrive in the way foretold by prophecy - He would come in the proper way. Jesus is the true shepherd of the sheep . The gatekeeper represents John the Baptist, who opened the way for the Messiah (v. 3). The thieves and robbers are all who had falsely claimed to be the messiah or religious leaders that lead them astray.
In other words, Jesus was saying that the way His ministry began, with John preparing the way, was evidence that He was, indeed, the Messiah foretold by prophetic Scripture and promised by God.
In our passage for today, we find Jesus speaking about another type of sheep pen.
The wilderness pen.
When the sheep were out on the hills in the warm season and did not return at night to the village, they were gathered into the sheep pens on the hillsides.
These hillside sheep pens were circular walls or natural out croppings with only one opening. What happened was that the shepherd himself would lay across the opening at night and thus protect the sheep from harm by preventing any from leaving or any predator from entering. This is what Jesus was speaking of here when He said, “I am the gate.”
What our Lord is telling us here is essentially the same thing Paul said about Christ in Ephesians 2:18.
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Jesus is the gate through whom alone entrance to God is possible, and when one does come to God through Jesus Christ, his life is truly transformed. Jesus tells us here that if one enters through the gate to salvation, he will live . . .
1. In Security
John 10:9 “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
The words “be saved” in Greek in sozo. It can be translated “kept safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.”
The point is that just as the sheep are kept safe under the watchful eye of the shepherd, those who come to God through Christ are kept safe and sound, rescued from the danger and destruction of death and the grave.
Jesus uses a well-known Hebrew phrase to describe the security that is ours in our relationship to God when we come to Him through Christ. He says that we will, “come in and go out.”
To be able to come and go in security was the Jewish way of describing a life that is absolutely abundant. When a man can go in and out without fear, he is at peace and enjoys life to the full. When Moses asked God who his successor should be, he prayed:
“May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all, appoint a man over the community who will go out before them and come back in before them, and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s community won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”
When the psalmist spoke of God’s loving care, he said:
The Lord will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.
Moses said that the blessings of God are such that:
You will be blessed when you come in
and blessed when you go out.
When one comes to God through Christ, He is eternally secure.
David McFadden once told this story in his message about this I Am statement.
Several years ago when one of the astronauts who walked on the moon was asked what went through his mind when he stood on the moon and looked back at the earth. He replied, “I thought about how our spacecraft had been built by the lowest bidder.”
This statement highlights a common concern that when cost-cutting is prioritized, quality and safety might be compromised. This is particularly unsettling in situations with potentially dire consequences, like space travel. But even more so when It comes to our souls.
When it comes to our salvation, however, the work didn’t go to the lowest bidder.
There is no deficiency to be found in the work Christ did on our behalf to provide for our salvation.
When one comes to God through Christ, he can live securely in the knowledge that though his fellowship with God may change because of his imperfections, his relationship with God will never change because of Christ’s perfection. He has been accepted by God on the basis of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
And being able to live life securely means that one can enjoy life . . .
2. Abundantly
John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
Satan only wants to kill, steal or destroy. If we let him, he will steal our passion, kill our joy, and destroy our lives. If He cannot take us to hell with him, he will work to make our lives a living hell.
You might say, “He can’t do that. I am a child of God. I am His.”
This is Satan’s greatest deception.
Though he cannot hope to change our eternal salvation, he hopes to change our attitude and fellowship toward our eternal Savior, and he is ever working to achieve that end.
In the Old Testament, Satan’s one goal was to destroy “the seed of woman”. To destroy the line of Jesus.
In the New Testament, his one goal is to destroy the bride of Christ. The church!
If I decide I no longer need to look to Christ to lead me (come in and go out) and feed me (find pasture); and if I wander off from the flock, then I leave myself prey to the evil one.
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
But it’s good to remember the parable of the ninety and nine.
“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,
How do you think the sheep gets lost from the fold? It WANDERS AWAY. It quits looking to the shepherd to lead and feed it; and it wanders away from the flock.
The world becomes more enticing than what is taught to us in the bible.
Imagine a group of sheep grazing happily; yet, one gets curious and wanders off, chasing after a butterfly. When it realizes it’s lost, panic sets in. Thankfully, the sheep gate appears, a clear boundary with God’s love and protection, guiding it back home. It’s funny how we think adventure waits outside the gate, not realizing that true joy and safety are just inside, where our Shepherd calls us back in love!
The gate is our security and our safety.
It symbolizes an abundant life that awaits us now and for all eternity.
