I AM the Door

Cultural Background

The Sheep-fold

A pen usually built close to town

Stone walls with sharp material at the top to deter thieves

One gate

Used at night when the shepherds bring their flocks in from pastures

Multiple flocks owned by multiple families would often times share one fold

They would then hire a porter to guard the gate during the night.

When the shepherds returned in the morning they would call out to their sheep with a unique call and only their sheep would follow them. Each shepherd would then in turn call their sheep.

All of Jesus’ listeners would have been familiar with this process.

Their familiarity is why Jesus would have chosen to use this particular place and process to illustrate the rich and deep theological truth that he was teaching about Himself. (v. 6)

What do the particular pieces of this illustration represent? (v.6)

The Sheep Fold (v. 1-5)

Suggestions (Incorrect)

Heaven

This suggestion doesn’t work because thieves and robbers cannot climb their way into heaven.

While heaven is in view in this illustration. It is the result of following the shepherd not the fold itself.

The church

This suggestion doesn’t seem to work because the shepherd leads his flock out of the fold.

Jesus was teaching this before the church age, and Jesus certainly doesn’t led people out of the church.

Proper Interpretation

It makes the most sense to see the sheep fold as Israel.

Jesus was born into Israel

Israel were and are God’s chosen people

It was to them that Jesus first presented Himself as the messiah and means of salvation.

However, this was not to the exclusion of the Gentiles, as verse 16 makes clear.

The Thieves and Robbers (v. 1, 5, 10a)

The true shepherds could enter the gate and the porter would let them through

The Nature of the thieves

They cannot enter through the gate so they must scale the wall. (v. 1) Illustration: climbing through a window of your house because you lost your keys.

They may try to call the sheep but the sheep will not respond to their voice. (v.5)

Their intent to steal and kill the sheep (v. 10a)

The Implications of the thieves

There is such a thing as a false shepherd

This is where we see the connection to chapter 9 where Jesus just finished rebuking the spiritually blind pharisees.

Those religious leaders are the ones climbing the walls and stealing sheep.

The pharisees are the latest in a long line of false shepherds

Isaiah 56:10-12 His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are dumb dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one. “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.

Jeremiah 23:1-2 “WOE to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 34:2-11“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?“You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.“Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.“And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.“My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill, and My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth; and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’” Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I shall demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I shall deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”’” For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

False Shepherds are still a problem today

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15).

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29).

“False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

The Final false shepherd, the antichrist Zechariah 11:16–17 “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. “Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered, And his right eye will be blind.”

How can we tell false shepherds from the true shepherd?

False shepherds don’t announce themselves.

False shepherds can be more than just false teachers or prophets.

A false shepherd is anyone or anything that turns you away from Jesus. Jesus the true shepherd is calling out and we allow other people and other things to retain our interest and attention.

The Door (v. 1, 2, 7-9)

After giving His illustration and observing the overall lack of understanding Jesus gives a clear interpretation of His illustration.

“I AM the Door”

Some point out the practice of shepherds where they would lay across the opening of the sheep fold and act as the gate.

While this undoubtedly did happen this is probably not what Jesus has in view here as His illustration included a separate individual called the porter who retained that position.

To my interpretation Jesus is saying that in this illustration He is represented by the physical gate or door of the sheep fold.

Anyone who came before me calling the sheep was a thief and a robber.

What truth is Jesus expressing about Himself?

The Exclusivity of Christ

There is only one door in the sheep fold

A prominent theme in John

Culminates in John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

The Universal Offer of Salvation

“if anyone enters through Me he will be saved” (v. 9)

God’s call to salvation through His Son Jesus Christ is universally offered to all men, but effectual only for those who believe.

Some see a conflict between verse nine and passages such as John 6:44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

It is important to remember that God is the one who initiated our redemption. No one seeks after God on their own initiative. Romans 3:11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

John 6:44 looks at the matter from the Godward side and declares, rightly, that no man ever made the first move toward God. Men come to God only because God draws them.

On the other hand, as our text from John 10 shows, God does not respect persons; therefore, any man, regardless of who he is or where he comes from, may be among that number. Let me put it this way: the call of God is not restricted by anything we can imagine. It is not restricted on the basis of race, education, social position, wealth, achievements, good deeds, or anything else. Therefore, there is no reason why you (whoever you are) should not be among the number of those whom God draws to Jesus. - James Montgomery Boice

The Universal Requirement of Salvation

Jesus is the door and anyone who enters through Him will be saved.

This single act is described with different images throughout Scripture

Eating or drinking Jesus

coming to Jesus

believing in Jesus

calling on Jesus

receiving Jesus

Three Benefits of Being in Christ’s Flock

Saved

Safe - you are free to go in and out, sheep are penned up at night for their own safety but those in Christ’s flock are always safe

Satisfied - find pasture

Final Contrast

False shepherds come to kill and destroy

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly

Abundantly describes something that goes beyond what is necessary

That is certainly a way to describe eternal life.