"I am the Gate"

Who Jesus is

Not a thief or robber.

The first thing we should notice about the identity of Jesus in these verses is that He is not a thief or robber (verse 8). Now, perhaps you never thought of Jesus as a thief or robber and so you’re surprised at why he’s bringing this issue up. Well, let’s take a look at the context to understand what Jesus means.

In , Jesus heals a blind man and the Pharisees (the religious leaders of the day) investigate the healing. Except it’s not a proper investigation because they have a vested interest in discrediting Jesus’ identity—they don't want Him to be God’s prophet (even though the evidence is very clear that He has just performed a miracle of which it was prophesied the Messiah would perform). The ironic thing in the chapter is that the blind man doesn't just see Jesus clearly, he also sees the spiritual pretensions of the Pharisees! The blind man sees that the Pharisees are phonies, an assessment Jesus agrees with. And so in we have various contrasts Jesus makes between the true gate or the true shepherd and false alternatives. The implication is that the Pharisees are considered to be thieves and robbers. But not just the Pharisees—any spiritual leader who draws someone away from Christ. Take a look again at verse 8: All who have come before me are thieves and robbers.

So there is such a thing as a spiritual thief—a person who claims to bring you to God but actually leads you away from God. Jesus says the same thing in , “if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” And false messiahs, false prophets, and false teachers have been a feature of church history and continue to be a feature of the modern world. Now, of course, this is very politically incorrect: it’s seen as extremely rude to say that there are spiritual thieves and robbers out there. But Jesus brings up this issue and repeats it in verse 10a (read). So how can you identify a spiritual thief or robber? Let me give two criteria: what is this person or community’s view of the Bible? And what is this person or community’s view of Jesus and salvation?

Let’s apply this to a very large movement which describes itself as Christian: Jehovah Witnesses. Firstly, apply the Bible test: Although JW’s will read various translations, they produced a translation of their own called the New World Translation. Since the release of the NT translation in 1950, this version has been criticized for changing the meaning and words of the text to fit JW doctrine. A prime example is . Both the ESV and NIV translate that verse as, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The NWT version translates the passage as “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” The addition of the indefinite article “a” is added to avoid the conclusion that Jesus is God. Secondly, let’s ask what JW’s believe about Jesus: JWs claim that Jesus was not divine and that the Holy Spirit is an “active force” and not a person. Of course, this means that they also reject the doctrine of the Trinity. So although JW’s claim to be Christian, in reality they cannot be because their beliefs clash with orthodox views of both the Bible and God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

Now, of course this doesn't mean that we don't treat JW’s (or people from other religions) with disrespect. We must be courteous and respectful to all people, regardless of their faith commitments. But genuine tolerance actually presupposes genuine disagreement; we respect one another despite our different perspectives. And in these verses Jesus is highlighting the fact that there are major differences between who he is, and who many other religious leaders are. So Jesus is not a thief or a robber. Who is he then? He tells us: take a look at verse 7 (read).

The Gate.

So Jesus isn't a thief or a robber—He is the gate/door for the sheep. What does this mean? When Jesus says that He is the gate for the sheep, what he means is that he is the sole means by which the sheep may enter. He means that he alone is the only way to receive the Father. The idea is similar to where Jesus says, “I am the way and truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”

What Jesus brings

How we can enter