Untitled Sermon

The Door to Abundant Life

Theme: Jesus Is the Door

One word: Door

Summary/Proposition: Jesus is the only door to salvation. Everyone who enters through Him receives eternal life and so we must reject false entrances, recognize His voice, and trust Him as our only access to God.

Fallen Condition Focus: Because of sin, we lost access to God’s presence. It is only through Jesus that the curtain was torn and the separation no longer exists.

Passage: John 10:1-10“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Introduction:

Quick summary/transisiton between Chapter 9 to chapter 10:

1. Discern the Door

Exegesis (verse 1) - The thief and robber climbs in another way

Jesus begins our passage today saying John 10:1 ““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”

To help illustrate what’s going on here. In Jesus’ time, shepherding was a familiar part of life so they knew what a sheepfold was and the dangers of a thief and robber.

A sheepfold was basically an open courtyard or walled enclosure where sheep could be kept safe. The exact structure may vary but the important aspect of the sheepfold was that it had walls all around typically with thorns on the top and there was only one clear entrance. There was only one clear way in and out which was through the gate or the door.

So at night time, it was common practice to gather and bring multiple flocks from different shepherds all into this one enclosure and hire a gatekeeper. The gatekeeper would guard the door until morning making sure that nothing got in or out without him knowing.

Now if someone actually belonged there, he didn’t need to sneak in. The gatekeeper would recognize him and let him walk straight through the door. But a thief on the other hand doesn’t want to be recognized, so what would he do? He would climb over the wall because he wasn’t there to care for the sheep but rather there to take them.

Jesus starts with something everyone listening already knew instinctively. During that time, shepherding was a familiar part of life but even now, if you see someone climbing over a wall instead of walking through the door, you already know their intentions aren't good. Nobody sneaks in through the backdoor for a good reason. In fact if you see someone doing that, you call 911 and report the suspicious activity.

Add Illustration

The purpose of the door wasn’t just to make it look nice, but rather it was to control who got access to the sheep. The door, the entrance reveals who has a legitimate right to approach the sheep. The true shepherd doesn’t avoid the door and risk getting hurt by climbing the walls. The thief does.

Jesus describes the man as a thief and a robber. The thief works in secrecy or uses deception and the robber uses force or whatever it deems necessary to achieve it’s purpose. While the two words are slightly different, the purpose of the two is the same where both want to steal, where both want to get something out of their actions. They’re looking at the sheep and wanting them for their own personal gain.

I guarantee you that the thief and robber are not looking at the sheep, climbing over the walls and saying, let me love you and raise you up like my own.

The door protects the sheep from those who want access to them for the wrong reasons.

So if we take this into context of what’s happening here, right before our passage in John 9. The Pharisees were the people who were supposed to guard and care for God’s people. But what did we see? When the blind man would not accept their false conclusions about Jesus, they cast him out. They didn’t treat him like a sheep who needed care but rather as a threat.

Application

Danger doesn’t always look super dangerous like wolves to sheep all the time, sometimes it can look like another shepherd. False shepherds may sound or look convincing, compassionate or even spiritual like the Pharisees. They can have the right words, right vocabulary or even the authority. But the door forces the important question, by what authority are they approaching the sheep and what do they want from them? Did they go through the door or did they climb over the wall?

I’m not saying that we need to be suspicious of every single person that we meet but we do need to be careful. Especially if we are letting that person influence us. We live in a world where people and honestly it doesn’t even have to look like people but things of the world are constantly trying to gain access to our hearts. Movies, the songs that we listen to, social media, friends, teachers, the people around you. They all influence you and the question is are you allowing them through the door?

Only the shepherd walks through the door.

Exegesis (verse 2) - The Shepherd enters by the door

Jesus continues John 10:2 “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” A thief and a robber climbs in by another way, but the shepherd enters by the door. One hides and goes in secrecy while the other doesn’t.

The door not only keeps the wrong person out but it identifies and allows the right person in. The difference between the shepherd and the thief is not just about the physical route that they take but that the route reveals their authority and purpose. The thief sees the sheep as something he can use for personal gain whereas the shepherd sees the sheep as a flock entrusted to his care.

So Jesus is contrasting Himself with the Pharisees right in front of them.

We’ll see this in more detail next Sunday where Jesus says I am the good shepherd. Jesus came to fulfill God’s promises. He spoke the words of His father and performed miracles His Father gave him all for the purpose that they may believe that He is the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name.

The Pharisees had the religious titles, the right knowledge and the right training. They had the public respect, people looking up to them to guide them, but they didn’t love the people God has place under their care. When the man in John 9 didn’t give them the answer they wanted, they insulted him and threw him out. They were more concerned about protecting their power than helping a person see the truth.

We also see this scenario back in Ezekiel 34. God was confronting the false shepherds of Israel.

Ezekiel 34:2–5 ““Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;”

The false shepherds don’t strengthen the weak, don’t heal the sick, don’t bound up the injured, and don’t bring back the lost. Instead they just use them for personal gain, for themselves.

On the other hand, the one who walks through that door, the one who is the good shepherd cares for his sheep. In the same chapter where we see God confronting the false shepherds, we also see God making a promise.

Ezekiel 34:11 ““For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.”

and then He continues to go on on how he will seek them and rescue them from all places, and how he will bring them into good pastures and then in verse 16

Ezekiel 34:16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”

The door identifies the who the true shepherd is because the shepherd is willing to come under God’s authority. He doesn’t invent another entrance. He doesn’t treat the flock as his personal possession but remembers that the sheep belong to God.

The point that Jesus is making is that there is only one right way that you can come into the sheepfold and that is through the door. Who goes through the door? The Shepherd does and what does the the Shepherd do?

This brings us to point 2

2. Draw Near to His Voice

Exegesis (verse 3-4) - The Shepherd Calls and Leads

John 10:3–4 “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

As I mentioned earlier, the gatekeeper was someone that was hired to guard the door. He knew who who the shepherds were and as they came into view, the gatekeeper would open the door for them. But do you know who else knew who the shepherd was? The sheep also knew, they would recognize his voice because he already knows them and calls them out.

The sheepfold at times could have been a communal enclosure and so it was common back then if there were multiple flocks of sheep in the pen. And each shepherd would go a specific spot in the pen, probably the same place each day and call out to their sheep with their own unique call. It could have been a whistle or a specific tone of their call that their flocks have learned to recognize.

It was common practice for the shepherds to call out to his sheep and have the sheep gather. And while some shepherds may have named their sheep, it wasn’t common to call them out by name. This shepherd that Jesus is talking about, does something deeper than what is required. He calls his own sheep by name, one by one.

It’s subtle but throughout this figure of speech, Jesus was portraying a very intimate picture to the Pharisees. He says “his own sheep” and “brought out all his own.” He repeats “his own” twice and I don’t think he’s saying this in a way to show his possession but rather to demonstrate an intimate relationship that the shepherd has with his sheep. He calls his own sheep by name.

This phrase “by name” isn’t just “oh you memorized my name” and that’s it. This phrase goes back to the Old Testament in Exodus 33:17 “And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.””

and in Isaiah 43:1 “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

Being known by name, individually and personally was always a sign of God’s covenant love for His people. It was the names that were written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, the names of His people that were saved.

This shepherd not only calls his own sheep by name but also leads them out and goes before them.

If we think about shepherding today, we think of shepherds with sheep dogs. The purpose of the sheep dog is to drive the sheep a certain direction from behind. The shepherd gives directions from behind and sheep dogs listen and the sheep are the ones actually in the front.

On the flip side and in this case, the shepherd leads them out and goes before them, not behind. He goes ahead of them and leads from the front. This means that the shepherd has already walked the path himself, he’s not sending sheep somewhere he hasn’t gone but rather went first, scouted out danger and is guiding them in the safest way possible.

This means that if we can trust and follow the shepherd, we know that the path he’s leading us on will lead us to green pastures. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the path will be easy the whole way. The path can be rough and the terrains might not be as smooth as we want it to be, yet we know that it’s safe and it’s the right way to go because our shepherd went before us.

In the same way, Moses prays for a shepherd to lead the Israelites as his days are coming to an end in Numbers 27:17 “who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.””

And God answers Moses by appointing Joshua - expand more?

Joshua = Jesus explanation - EXPAND MORE HERE?

The very next verse tells us God's answer to that prayer was Joshua, whose name in Hebrew means “The Lord saves,” and which in Greek, the language John wrote in, is the exact same name as Jesus. The shepherd-leader Moses prayed for has finally arrived, and He's standing in front of the Pharisees making that very claim.

Jesus applying that same language such as using “by name” and “lead them out” was also hinting a clue to the Pharisees about who Jesus actually was. But we see that Pharisees did not understand what Jesus was saying.

If we don’t want to be like them, if we want to understand what Jesus is saying. We need to recognize the one who walks through the door. We need to recognize the shepherd. And how do we recognize the shepherd?

Exegesis/Application (verse 4-5) - The Sheep Respond

Jesus says John 10:4b–5 “...for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

This type of recognition where they know his voice only comes from a relationship. The sheep are not that smart, they’re not intelligent enough to differentiate voices. They know the shepherd’s voice because they’ve heard it every single day, they’ve followed it to the water, to the green pastures, and through danger. It’s through a life where the shepherd calls, leads, and goes before them repeatedly. This kind of familiarity isn’t built overnight.

Illustration? hearing voices of someone you’re familiar with vs stranger

This is the same for our spiritual life. You can’t expect to instantly recognize God’s voice in a moment of crisis or temptation if you haven’t been training your ear and heart to know him day after day beforehand.

In the same way, if we only open our Bibles once a week, or only pray when we're desperate, we're not going to easily recognize Christ's voice when a different idol shows up dressed up nicely, whether that's a false teaching, a toxic relationship disguised as love, or the constant noise of culture telling us what will satisfy us, that we need to live for ourselves.

So I want you to ask yourselves, do you know your shepherd’s voice? Do you truly know God’s voice?

It’s possible to hear the words of Jesus with your ears and never truly listen to Him. The Pharisees heard Jesus speak. They were standing right there but they didn’t receive what He was saying. The formerly blind man heard Jesus and believed. What about you? What voice are you most familiar with?

We live in a world full of stranger’s voices and some are obviously harmful, some are reasonable and some can even seem good because they sound Christian. Yet those voices pull you away from Christ.

Think about how much time you spend listening to different voices during the week. You’re listening to coworkers, your boss, social media, podcasts, tv, games, and friends. None of these can be bad, but every voice is teaching you something about what matters. What a good life should look like and who you should become.

Then compare that to how much time you spend listening to the words of Jesus. Are you spending hours each day allowing other things to consume you yet you only spend a couple of minutes each day dedicated to praying and reading the bible, whose voice do you think begins to sound most familiar with?

We need to make sure that we know and hear God’s voice. This means that we put to practice reading scripture, doing bible study, worshipping, and praying.

Now this isn’t about trying to earn God’s grace through our works. Jesus doesn’t say that the sheep needs to wash it’s hand, get a haircut, and be on it’s best behavior in order for the shepherd to call his name and lead him out. No, it’s actually the opposite, the shepherd calls and leads him out first despite the sheep not doing anything. The sheep responds and trusts.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

We should be familiar with God’s voice because if you are a believer, our salvation is a gift from God. God wants a relationship with his children, for his children to know the Father’s voice.

We need to be careful and have discernment because anything that comes into your life doesn’t mean that it came through the door, it could’ve came by climbing over the walls as a thief and robber.

If you hear the voice of a stranger, we need to run. Notice it doesn’t say if you hear the voice of a stranger, ignore the stranger, but rather it says to actively flee.

If you hear a voice that doesn’t bring you closer to God, it is pulling you away. It’s one or the other. If you hear a voice that tells you that you’re strong enough by yourself. That you need to solve the problems of the world upon your own shoulders. That lying this one time is ok. That this one sin isn’t that serious. You need to run. It’s not enough to ignore it.

Don’t try to see how close you can stand next to the fire without being burned. To stand close to temptation without failing. Because I guarantee you that you are going to get burnt and fail.

It’s having the conviction to walk away even when it seems appealing and when everyone else around you says its ok but you know it’s not.

You should know God’s voice intimately so that every other voice around you is basically a stranger’s voice that you flee from.

This is what the Pharisees failed to understand. John 10:6 “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

Live a life that hears God’s voice, a life that is abundant. And the good news is that we can enjoy such a life because of Jesus.

3. Discover Abundant Life

Exegesis (verse 7-8) - I am the door

John 10:7 “So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

Now in the book of John, Jesus makes seven “I am” statements. We’ve heard two already which were “I am the bread of life” in chapter 6, and “I am the light of the world” in chapter 8. Now He makes his third “I am” statement which is “I am the door.”

As you read through John, I encourage you to slow down when you come across these seven. Because each one is Jesus claiming something that only God could rightfully claim for Himself. We talked about how God’s name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 was “I AM”, he says “I AM WHO I AM.”, “say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” It is the fullness of who God is.

Jesus says “I am the door.”

What is the function of a door? I would argue that it’s function is to embarrass you when there’s people behind you and you push and you’re actually supposed to pull? Or pull on a push door? Or you walk into a glass door and hit your head. Both of which has unfortunately happened to me.

Besides the function to embarrass people, a door really acts as a way to connect two rooms with one another. It connects one room to another.

Jesus saying I am the door is going all the way back to the beginning of Genesis. From the beginning, our deepest problem has been a problem of access to God due to our sin.

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, enjoyed God’s presence. There was no guilt, no shame and ultimately no barrier between God and us. But all of that changed when they ate of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil that God commanded them not to. Because of this sin, they were cast out and access to God was lost. Sin separated us from the Holy presence of God.

And we see this problem throughout scripture. When God was dwelling in the tabernacle and temple for the Israelites, there was the innermost room called the most holy place which was separated by a thick curtain where God’s presence dwelt.

There was a separation between God’s presence and the Israelites and only the high priest could enter that innermost space and even that was limited. It was only once a year on the day of atonement only after an extensive process of sacrifice and purification.

The whole point was that sinful people cannot just enter into the presence of a Holy God whenever they want. There had to be a way in, a door. Access was never something that we could have created for ourselves and so when Jesus says I am the door, He is saying something amazing.

He’s saying that He is that access to the very presence of God that we’ve been separated from since the beginning.

This is why when Jesus dies on the cross, Matthew 27:51 says “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” God Himself tore open the barrier that once separated people from God’s presence because Jesus Himself became the very way in. He became the door.

So now what the holy priest back in the day could only do once a year and only after going through the process of sacrifice and purification, we can do it now with confidence because of Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19–20 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,”

There is only one door and that door is Jesus. Everyone else that came before Jesus, or didn’t point to Jesus were thieves and robbers.

John 10:8 “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.”

Jesus is bringing back the same illustration as earlier on with thieves and robbers but He isn’t saying that every leader in Israel’s history like Moses were thieves. We know Moses wasn’t a thief or robber since he was a faithful leader but Jesus is saying this about false leaders that promise help but don’t bring people to God and instead seek self gain such as the Pharisees.

Exegesis (verse 9) -

Jesus continues and doubles down on this I am statement in John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Jesus says I am the door. Period. Singular door. There is no other way to eternal life, to be saved except through Jesus Christ. Jesus isn’t just saying that salvation exists but also giving the very means to it.

Have you entered through the door? He says “If anyone enters by me”. Not “If anyone with a long resume of attending church, praying, giving to the poor enters, he will be saved” He just says “If anyone” and that means you, just as you are today.

If you are a believer and you have entered through the door, great. We are part of the same flock, the same family. But if you’re sitting there, hesitant, I encourage you to take a step of faith, to accept Christ into your lives today.

The beauty of this is that we don’t have to have a long resume of works and merits to walk through that door. Jesus Christ has already paid it all by dying on the cross for our sins and being resurrected so that we can be forgiven. So that we can have that access and all you have to do is accept Him and enter through the door.

Once you enter through the door, that is when you truly have life.

Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”

We have a life where we can go in and out and find pasture. And note the two sides of this promise. The door provides protection and access.

When the sheep are in the enclosure, the door protects them from what would steal and destroy, from the thieves and robbers. But the shepherd doesn’t just keep them there, he leads them out that same door toward pasture. The sheep aren’t just saved from danger but also saved for an abundant life under the shepherd’s care.

Exegesis (verse 10) - abundant life

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

I’ve heard of many people viewing Christianity as a life bound by rules and that turned them off. That we have to do what the bible tells us and also tells us not to do. It’s a list of rules on how to live your life and seems restricting.

But it’s not that at all. Notice the language here “will go in and out and find pasture.” It’s a language not of restriction but of freedom and provision.

Scripture does call us away from a life of sin but because sin destroys us but also brings us into the Father’s presence. He brings us into His family with a new identity, a new purpose and a new hope. That is grace.

The door that you enter, when you accept Jesus, it leads to an abundant life.

Abundant here means having a surplus, more than was is needed. Jesus isn’t promising just enough to get by in life, He’s promising overflow. It’s

● This doesn't mean life with Jesus will be free of hardship. In fact, many of His own followers faced tremendous suffering. But it means the life He gives has a depth, a purpose, and a security that circumstances can't take away, because it isn't rooted in circumstances to begin with, it's rooted in Him.

● This abundant life isn't about how much stuff you have or how comfortable your life looks on the outside. It's the life of actually knowing and being known by God, being fully forgiven, having real purpose, and having a hope that death itself can't take away.

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Conclusion: