The Gate

Who is Jesus?   •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:05
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Connection to the Sabbath and to the healing of the blind man.
Say hi for 5 minutes?
Steve Jordan?
Intro
Good morning, Gateway Chapel!
If you’re joining us for the first time, we are currently in a year-long series we’re called “The Year of Biblical Exploration.” We’re looking at the beautiful mosaic that is the biblical story from a 30,000 foot level, touching down at key points in the story.
And we’ve been asking, “What is the Bible?” Is it a divine rule book, handed down by God to help us be good people who go to the good place when we die?
No, it’s so much more. We’ve had a working definition of the Bible, let’s read it out loud together.
The Bible is a library of texts - both divine and human - with a unified story that leads to knowing Jesus and growing in Jesus.
And we’ve walked through Genesis all the way through the prophets, specifically Jonah last month, and now we’ve arrived in the New Testament and instead of asking, “What is the Bible?” we’re asking, “Who is Jesus?”
Who is Jesus? The most important question anyone will ever ask. Human beings since the dawn of time have been asking, “Why am I here? What’s the point of all this? Is there more than this? Is there a God? If so, what’s he like?” The Bible says that Jesus came to reveal the Father, and so to answer those existential questions that all of us ask, we must answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
But the question of “Who is Jesus?” is enormous! How do we even start?
Fortunately for us, Jesus tells us who he is. In John’s gospel, Jesus says, “I am ____________” seven different ways. It’s like Jesus wearing a name tag.
He says I am
The bread of life
The light of the world
The gate for the sheep
The good shepherd
The way, the truth, and the life
The resurrection and the life
The true vine
We’ve already looked at the bread of life how Jesus satisfies and was broken for us on the cross so we could have eternal life.
Fletcher preached last week on Jesus as the light of the world, he is life itself, he is greater than the darkness, and he comes to save all mankind.
And this week we’re in John 10, where Jesus says I am the door for the sheep, but can also be translated, the gate for the sheep.
Our church name is Gateway Chapel. This text is where we get our name! The Chapel part I think our planting pastor chose just to be different or cool.
At the compassion clinic last week they said, “Is anyone here from Gateway Community?” And we raised our hands like, “Yeah it’s close enough.”
But it’s the Gateway part that’s important. If this is our name, what does that even mean? If someone asked you, “Why is your church called Gateway?” What would you say? We like doors? We like keeping people out?
What does Jesus mean when he says, “I am the gate.”
That’s what we’re going to look at in John 10:1-10, who is Jesus?
Pray
We’re in the book of John together, it’s the 44th book of the Bible, and the 4th of the New Testament.
John is really clear on his purpose for writing the book.
If you asked me most of the things I do, “Chris, why do you do it that way?” I often would say, “I have no idea, I brush my teeth very aggressively.”
John is very clear.
John 20:30–31 ESV
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Everything we read in John is for this purpose. That we would respond in belief.
So it’s with that context that we read John 10:1-5.
John 10:1–5 ESV
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. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
John wants us to believe that Jesus is the one sent by God to save us from death. And he shares this teaching from Jesus.
This moment is in the context of a miracle that just happened in John 9.
Jesus really ticks off the religious leaders of the day not by swearing, or smoking on church grounds, or voting for Joe Biden, or failing to pray before a meal....he heals somebody. Why is that bad? He did it on the Sabbath. For the Pharisees, if you do anything on the Sabbath, you are a sinner. You’re against God.
But this man who was born blind can now see, and they have this horrendous inquisition on the man. They try to force him to denounce Jesus. They bring in his parents to testify against Jesus. And the underlying threat with these questions is that if they side with Jesus (who, again, healed this man!) they could be kicked out of the synagogue which was the social livelihood of the Jewish community.
So this poor guy who for his whole life could never even see a sunrise, or see a woman he loved, or see his own feet, constantly tripping into people…is healed by Jesus. And the religious leaders POUNCE and corner him and his family.
And Jesus responds with some words about sheep.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know the last time I saw a sheep in the flesh. I’ve never met a shepherd. I’ve seen goats in sumner!
I’ve grown up in the church, reading Psalm 23, very familiar with the imagery, but to be honest, it’s very foreign to my way of life.
Jesus is contrasting his leadership with the leadership of the Pharisees who just religiously abused a man who did nothing but get healed on the wrong day of the week.
So why does Jesus talk about sheep?
One reason is sheep farming was a staple of the economy. The pen Jesus refers to was a large enclosure that would have several flocks of sheep staying in it during the night. During the night a watchman would guard the entrance to the pen, and in the morning the shepherds would come and call their sheep with unique calls. Robbers could only get in by scaling the wall because the entrance to the sheep was guarded.
The second reason is shepherding and sheep was a key imagery of God and his people in the Old Testament. Jesus always had Ezekiel on his mind, and in this case he was pulling right from Ezekiel 34.
Last year we did a sermon series on Ezekiel and it was super fun, if you’re from Gospel Life and you’re like, “They did a series on what?” Yeah we’re that intense.
Ezekiel 34:1–3 ESV
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “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? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
Ezekiel 34:15 ESV
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 34:23 ESV
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
So God will be the shepherd of Israel, saving them from poor leadership that only wants to take from them. But God will also set up a leader from the line of David…so God and David will be the shepherd?
And along comes Jesus. So good.
So Jesus after healing a man born blind, witnessing the religious leaders fail to celebrate with the man and give credit to Jesus, expertly uses the cultural and Biblical imagery of sheep and shepherd to say, “You Pharisees are like thieves and robbers who do not have the best interest of others in mind. I am a different kind of leader.”
How do the people respond to this?
John 10:6 ESV
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
They don’t get it. “What about sheep..?” John cleverly shows that the Pharisees are not his true sheep because they don’t hear his voice.
Rather than simply rolling his eyes and leaving, Jesus explains further.
John 10:7–10 ESV
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The very next verse Jesus will say, “I am the good shepherd.” As you might be able to tell, the good shepherd imagery and the gate imagery are intertwined. But we’re going to look at them individually, and this Sunday focus on what does it mean that Jesus says, “I am the door or the gate.”
Three things that it means that Jesus is the gate for the sheep.

Jesus is the entrance to salvation.

John 10:9 (ESV)
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved...
In ancient sheep pens, there wasn’t an actual gate, there was just an opening. And the shepherd would often sleep in the opening to guard the way to the sheep. Also, sheep are not agile creatures, so they can’t scale the wall guarding the pen, so they needed to go through the gate.
Jesus is saying, I am the entrance to salvation.
In Acts, right after Peter and James heal a crippled man, the religious leaders get riled up again. And Peter says this
Acts 4:12 ESV
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
In 2022, this verse isn’t popular. Roughly 85% of Americans believe in “God” but how many would say “Jesus is the only way to be saved.”
Can’t you hear your non-Christian coworkers, family, neighbors say, “You seriously think that you’re the ONLY ONE who’s right about all this? If there is only one way, how are there so many religions? And somehow you just managed to be right?”
The Bible says life is not about having the right answer, but about trusting the right person.
We’re like the blind man, groping around in the dark our whole lives trying to find the right entrance.
We’re like sheep, clueless to find food, shelter, water, anything.
But in the brokennes and chaos of the world, the creator of all there is promised to send someone to save us. And Jesus came and claimed to be that person. And he died for our brokenness and then was raised to life and appeared to many people to prove that he was the promised Shepherd.
And this entrance through Jesus to salvation is the least exclusive path there is. You don’t get in by being a good person. You don’t get in by being a certain ethnicity. You don’t have to obey the Sabbath perfectly. You don’t have to do anything. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, with any past can get in. How? Belief.
We’re not better than people of other beliefs, and it’s not about being right or wrong it’s about making sure people know there is no more important question than “Who is Jesus?”
The second thing about Jesus being the gate is that

Jesus is our security.

John 10:9 ESV
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
The image of going in and out and finding pasture is one of security, care, protection. How can the sheep know they’re safe? Because they’re close to him. He’s on guard. If some bad actor tries to scale the wall, Jesus is ready. If a wolf comes to prey upon the sheep, Jesus will fight if off. They don’t have to worry about finding enough food, they’ll find what they need when they stay close to him.
Sheep are living, eating, breathing, pooping, pillows. They have no defense system. They need a protector.
Did you know we have a security team? Every Sunday someone is standing at the back of the building just to be aware.
But our new location here means people can just walk in.
An Acts 29 church with a similar location shared a story that one day someone just walked in with a trench coat. Slowly walked all the way to the front. Opened the trench coat and said, “Do you want to buy this pidgeon?”
And the pastor said, “I’ll pass.” And the guy left.
We feel vulnerable. We’re aware of the dangers of mass shootings.
We feel vulnerable as the church. I got an email this week from Church Venture NW which is the Conservative Baptist association we’re a part of, and they said we now get discounted legal service if our religious liberties are attacked.
Great!
We are told constantly by cable news, the internet, and our own fearful souls that we are under attack. We have an enemy who wants to destroy us with division as we’ve seen these last two years.
And in our true American, 4th of July hearts we say, “Arm yourselves! Fight back!” Christians in America always are fighting something. It was the communists, then it was people who say, “Happy Holidays” now it’s Critical Race Theory, it was Roe V Wade for 50 years.
Is there a place for activism and certainly for standing firm to right theology to confront false teaching, of course.
But we also remember that Jesus is our true security. We are walking, talking, pooping, peeing, pillows.
What makes you feel safe?
Is it enough money. Is it being successful. Is it having your life turn out like you expect. Is it health.
What’s under threat in your life?
The good news is right now Jesus is working to protect us. He doesn’t doze off on night shift. He’s pulling every string to give us just what we need and protect us from harm. His church. And we have many things that threaten our existence, and a sinister enemy who loves to disguise himself in sheep’s clothing, but the good thing is Jesus is on guard. We can go in and out and find pasture and trust him. We can relax, Jesus is close by.
The third and final thing about Jesus being the gate is

Jesus is the source of abundant life.

John 10:10 ESV
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus is comparing himself to the religious leaders who seemed bummed, angry, jealous that a disabled man got to experience more life than he possibly imagined. If you’re born blind, your ceiling for quality of life is limited. They came to the blind man and wanted to steal his joy, they probably wished he just died and didn’t cause this problem, they wanted to destroy his social standing and kick him and his family out of the synagogue.
But Jesus came and gave this man not only sight, but true life.
John 9:34–38 ESV
34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Summer time in the Pacific NW is when we get to work living our best life. It was so dreary for 6 months, so now we’re all on the hunt for some Vitamin D and abundant life.
Social media is nothing if not a giant advertisement for abundant life. We all want a good life. No one wants a bad life. Raise your hand if you like fun? See, everybody.
There are a lot of things selling us a path to the good life.
There’s family. You got those people on social media, showing you how awesome their kids are, how great their boyfriend or husband is, how much fun they’re having with their family on vacation…family is huge in our suburban context. Maybe family is the key to abundant life.
There’s politics. Social media wouldn’t exist right now without political discussion. You have people who say if we just progress in human enlightenment and develop as a species we will create a social utopia. And then you have people who say, “Our founding fathers had it right! 4th of July 1776 was great and it’s been bad ever since.” So maybe the right political alignment that brings abundant life.
Or there’s self. Be true to yourself. Look within yourself, there you’ll find true life. Self care, self worth, treat yourself, I would have abundant life but I need more ‘me time.’
These are not evil in and of themselves, but if we make them our source of life they will steal from us, they will kill us, they will destroy everything. If you build up your family into an idol, we’ll praise their performance and they’ll eventually let us down. Politics is our country’s shepherd and it’s turning us into monsters and we literally try to kill each other. And our hyper individualism is turning us into anxious people who are increasingly feeling like life isn’t worth living.
And Jesus says you are blind, let me help you see. Let me give you true life. Not just a good life but MORE LIFE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. Better than the best family, better than a perfect political climate, better than your best version of yourself.
What excites you? What do you think about that gets your heart pumping? What would it look like for your soul to be thrilled by Jesus?
In a sense, the story of the Bible is about a gate. God created the world with abundant goodness. But Adam and Eve believed the snake who was nothing more than a thief and a robber. And in their sin, God removed them from the garden.
Genesis 3:24 ESV
24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
But God promised one day to send someone who would reopen the gate to Eden. But that person would have to go through the flaming sword and experience death in order to bring us to life.
And along came Jesus. He came to heal those who were blind and give abundant life to all those who would believe in him. But he called out the leaders of the day, calling them thieves and robbers and this drove them mad. It drove them to kill him.
And so Jesus took the path to death on a Roman cross.
But three days later, something changed.
John 20:19 ESV
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus opened the gateway to Eden by being raised from the dead. The gates of hell cannot prevail against him or his sheep. Doors themselves are no match for his resurrected body.
And one day, we will have no need for gates, or protection, or security, because we will be with him.
Revelation 21:23–25 ESV
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.
Until that day, we hold on to the fact that Jesus is the gate for the sheep. If you trust that Jesus is the one sent by God to save us, and you give him your loyalty as king of the universe, you go through the entrance to salvation, you are safe in his presence, and you can experience abundant life now.
Maybe this morning, God is asking us to remember our name. Gateway Chapel.
Gateway is not a brand. It is not our way of presenting Jesus. It is a truth that the King of Kings, the immortal, invisible Father, revealed himself in Jesus. And Jesus said I am the gateway to true life. And the gate is open to all. Not based on anything you can do, but on simply trusting Him and then following him to pasture.
And all who believe and enter are saved from all threats. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. We are put under 24/7/365 protection from the most compassionate and caring guardian imaginable. He is our shepherd, we lack nothing. Once if by sea, twice if by land, doesn’t matter who comes across the river, Jesus is on guard. He never slumbers or sleeps, we are safe.
And the gathered sheep, the church, who believes him and is protected by him truly get to live their best life. Even if you end up like Paul, imprisoned in a Roman dungeon with only a small opening above you for light and air, you can experience abundant life, how? Because you are close to Him. Jesus is with you. The thing that marks us as his people is not money, or family, or politics, or anything, but it’s simply HIM. Not some life that is separate from Him, but the very same life he laid down to open up the gates back to Eden.
Remember your name, Gateway Chapel.
As we take communion, choose one of the three attributes of Jesus, which one hits home today? Circle one and pray that Jesus would remind you of his protection, salvation, and life.
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Benediction
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
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