Jesus is the Shepherd Door for the Sheep

“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.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 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. (John 1:1-10, ESV).  

Introduction

The last few weeks we looked at Jesus being the Light of the World who enlightens those who look to Him. With the healing of the blind man and bringing him to salvation Jesus proved He is the Son of God who has the power to give salvation to whomever He will. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (John 9:39, ESV). The Pharisees, who were following him around to accuse Him, asked, “We are not blind too, are we?” So, Jesus rebuked them by saying they are condemned because they refuse to acknowledge their blindness. This rebuke is what we must keep in mind when interpreting this passage. People can only come to Jesus if they belong to Him, and they go through Him for salvation. In a way, it is like when Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6).

Context

John is writing to prove “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.” (John 20:31). While Jesus did countless miracles, John records seven sign miracles to prove He is God the Son and demonstrate faith in Him saves the poor, lost soul. As each miracle demonstrated more of Christ’s divine power, so did the claims of His being the Son of God. Jesus even uses the name of God, “I AM,” for himself several times. He also has seven instances where he uses the name of God with prepositional phrases to show different characteristics of His saving and sustaining power “I am the bread of Life,” I am the Light of the World,” “I am the Door of the sheep,” “I am the Good Shepherd,” “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and “I am the True Vine.” Jesus just claimed He and His Father are sovereign over salvation and he continues to flesh that thought out on how only he gives salvation to those who belong to Him.

Thesis

Jesus is the only true owner of His people and the only way for them to have abundant life.

Outline

This will be seen in three movements I. The Shepherd’s Parable, II. The False Shepherds, III. The Door of the Sheep.

I.                The Shepherd’s Parable

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.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. (John 10:1-6, ESV).
2. Jesus’s parable should be understood in light of the fact he was just rebuking the Pharisees for saying they see, yet they reject Jesus as the Messiah the Scriptures promised.
3. Jesus told many parables recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. He told them so that he could teach truth to his disciples and confuse those who do not want to believe the truth. A parable is a long illustration, usually a story with no more than two to three characters, to prove a point. Parables would take common day experiences most people could relate to, to teach large truths.
4. One of common theme in the Bible and relatable experience with the Jews is sheep and shepherds. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were shepherds. Job was a wealthy shepherd. David was a shepherd. God is called a Shepherd several times in the Bible, and most importantly the Messiah was prophesied to be a Shepherd. Ezekiel 37:21-28 says,

²¹ then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. ²² And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴ “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. ²⁵ They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷ My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (ESV).

• Jesus was claiming to be none other than the Messiah who was prophesied in the Old Testament, which the Pharisees should have recognized. He was calling them false shepherds who were pilfering Israel, killing them with their unnecessary rules they put on God’s Law, and destroying God’s truth.
• While God promised He would call all his people out from the nations, cleanse them from their sins, and he will be their God, Jesus was demonstrating how these Pharisees were not God’s people. They did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they were not his people. Instead, the religious rulers of Israel became the agents of Satan and became thieves and robbers.
• Like all of Jesus’s other parables, no one understood what Jesus said until He explained it.
• We have seen the Shepherd’s parable. Now we look to the Shepherd’s explanation of false shepherds.

II.              The False Shepherds

1. “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.” (John 10:7-8, ESV).
2. When Jesus says, Amen, Amen, or translated Truly, truly, Jesus is about to say something very important. The is saying this is absolutely true listen to me.
3. He also using the name of God, “I am,” or Ego Emi, a Greek translation of the Word YAHWEH, which means “I AM.” He was claiming to be God, not a door made of wood and hinges.
4. The metaphor of being a door has to do with something they all experienced. Jesus is not claiming to be made of wood, have a handle, or a key, or have hinges. The Tyndale New Testament Commentary on John says,

There it was the village setting: the courtyards and narrow streets on to which they opened. Here the setting is the open country into which the shepherd led the sheep for grazing, and where in the summer months shepherd and sheep might spend the night. Overnight the sheep were placed in roughly constructed round stone-walled enclosures. The top of the dry-stone wall was covered with thorns to keep out wild animals. Inside the enclosure the sheep were safe so long as the entrance was secured by the shepherd. He slept across the entrance as there was no door and no doorkeeper.^[1]

• Jesus, as the door, guarded the sheep from thieves, robbers, and wolves.
• So, who are the Sheep and who are the thieves and robbers? John MacArthur explains,

Though some argue that the sheepfold represents the church or heaven, the context (cf. v. 16) indicates that it represents Israel. In addition, it is hard to see how thieves could break into either the church or heaven and steal the sheep (cf. vv. 27-29). The door is Jesus himself (vv. 7, 9), who alone has the authority to lead out of self-appointed (cf. Matt. 23:2), Jewish religious leaders, who, doing the work of the devil, not God, climbed the walls of the sheepfold to spiritually fleece and slaughter the people.[2]

• One of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible is the passage on the widows offering. Jesus was not commending her for giving all she had to live on. He was condemning the religious leaders for killing this poor woman with their rules and regulations not found in the Bible (Mark 12:41-44). That is obvious because in the context Jesus is saying beware of the Scribes,

³⁸ And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁰ who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (vv. 38-40, ESV).

• All who came before Jesus were thieves, robbers, and murders, false shepherds. As Jeremiah 23:1-2 says,

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. (ESV).

These are the false prophets and teachers who came before Jesus, not God’s faithful few. Yet, of Jesus Jeremiah says,

⁴ I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. ⁵ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (vv. 4-6, ESV).

• We have seen the Shepherd’s parable, the Shepherd’s description of False Shepherds. Now we look to the Shepherd Door.

III.            The Shepherd Door

1. 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. (John 1:9-10, ESV).  
2. This is strikingly like when Jesus will say, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV).
3. In other word’s whoever enters in through Jesus, into his fold, will be saved from the dangers of false teaching, sin, and destruction, and find peace, love, and forgiveness.
4. The Tyndale commentary says,

Jesus added, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. He depicted ‘the Jews’ as sheep stealers who had no thought for the well-being of the people—they came only ‘to kill and destroy’. They were like the wicked shepherds of Israel denounced by Jeremiah and Ezekiel (see commentary on 10:8). Contrasting his own ministry with theirs, Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. The imagery is of a shepherd ensuring that his sheep are well cared for and contented. Jesus, the good shepherd, came into the world so that people might have (eternal) life, and have it to the full. To have eternal life is to know God through Jesus Christ (17:3). To have it to the full could refer either to enjoying the richness of life in relationship with God in the here and now or to resurrection to eternal life at the end of the age (5:24–29), or both.^[3]

• If you go to the Ark Encounter, the last exhibit is a graphic novel. It is called the four doors. The first door it mentions is the door in the Ark. There was only one door and those who entered in were save from the flood, which was an act of judgement against all mankind. The second door was the door of the Passover, where the Israelites placed lamb’s blood on the door posts and lintel of the door so the plague of the death of the first born would pass over them. The third door was the curtain of the holy of holies where the high priest could enter the presence of God only though sacrificing for his sin and the sins of the people for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. The fourth door is Jesus Christ who is the door of the sheep. He is the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep and opens the door of the tomb so that his sheep can have eternal life. When we look to Christ as the door of heaven and salvation, we know we can have peace, rest, and abundant joy.
• In contrast to the thief who only comes to steal, kill, and destroy, Jesus gives life to those who enter though Him. He will lead them and have abundant life.
• MacArthur says,

Perissos (abundantly) describes something that goes far beyond what is necessary. The matchless gift of eternal life exceeds all expectation.[4]

• You cannot imagine the rewards that await us for enduring for Christ. As God is infinite and amazing, so is heaven. It is only going to get better, and better the longer we are there. We will have things to do, an infinite God to worship, and a new heavens and earth to explore. Most importantly we will be free from sin, charlatans, and sorrow. We will have joy evermore.

Conclusion

Jesus is the only true owner of His people and the only way for them to have abundant life. While we have an abundance of false teachers and false owners calling for our allegiance, Christ is our King. We have people telling us Jesus never existed, tell that to over 500 witnesses to his life, death, and resurrection. We have people telling us God does not exist. Tell that to the fine tuning of creation revealing his divine power and brilliance. Jesus Christ is God, he is the shepherd over his people, and of His kingdom from every nation tribe an tongue.

One thing we will worship Christ forever is for his salvation of His people,

⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, ¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:6-10, ESV).

Christian, are you worried that you can be taken from the Shepherd? Do not fear! Jesus said,

“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.”

Jesus called you out for salvation before you even knew Him. He is the Hero. He will not lose any the Father has brought to Him. He is our mighty champion who will fight off the wolves for you. If any false shepherd comes, you will flee from them and cling to your savior. Our master will keep you saved and on the straight and narrow, even if he has to use his rod to discipline you. Nothing can separate you from the love of God: not sin, death, disease, famine, pestilence or sword. Christ has bought you and He will keep you.

For those who do not believe. If you do not come to Jesus Christ and refuse, you are not among God’s sheep and will be taken in by anything. You will de consumed and destroyed by what you love. Let me call out to you to follow the only lover of your soul. Let us see if you will follow the voice of the shepherd. I hope that God will open your blind eyes. Bad News: Anyone who has ever lied, stolen anything, used God’s name in vain, and looked with lust is a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. That is just four of the Ten Commandments. It is even worse. Anyone who does not put God first in life and think of others before oneself is a lawbreaker. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23a). No one is good (Rom. 3:10-20). God is a good judge who must punish lawbreakers and send them to Hell. 

Good News: God is rich in mercy. He sent Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, to live a sinless life, and die on a cross to pay the penalty for sin. God can dismiss your case. Jesus rose from the dead three days later, defeating death. God calls you to repent (turn from sin) and have faith in Jesus (trust in His sacrifice). When you do God will unite you in Jesus’ death, forgive you of all your sins, and seal you with the Holy Spirit so you cannot lose your salvation. I hope you will come to Him and become on of his flock. Let us pray,

Dear God, thank you for sending the true shepherd of our souls. Yes, he was struck down and his sheep scattered. Yet, you raised him from the dead and brought back your flock to Him. You have redeemed a people for yourself from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Let us go out and call people to repent and trust the savior, as we are following our shepherd. It is in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.  

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^[1] Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 231.

[2] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: John 1-11, (Chicago: IL, Moody Publishers, 2006), 426.

^[3] Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 232.

[4] Macarthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: John 1-11, 431.