Jesus is…the Son of God. Jesus is…the Lamb of God. Jesus is…the Teacher. Jesus is…the Messiah. Jesus is…the Temple. Jesus is…the giver of eternal life. Jesus is…the giver of Living Water. Jesus is…the Lord of Creation. Jesus is…the bread of life. Jesus is…from God. Jesus is…the Light of the World. Jesus is…a prophet. Jesus is…the Son of Man.
This is who Jesus is, who He says He is, through conversations we’ve looked at in the book of John. Today, we’ll look at another of these conversations with Jesus, and I’d love for you to join me in John 10:1-10.
“Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them meant. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door; if anyone enters through 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 so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” (NASB)
Here, Jesus gave one of His most famous metaphors for Himself and His people. He talks about a sheep pen, full of sheep that face various dangers and temptations but are kept safe by their shepherd. It’s one of the sweetest and most profound metaphors that helps us understand who Jesus is to those who love Him. In the verses just after these, He calls Himself the shepherd, to make sure those who heard His story truly understood what He was saying. We’ll talk about Jesus as our shepherd next Sunday, but this passage, while it talks about the sheep and the shepherd, has Jesus claiming something else about Himself.
This metaphor was something very familiar to those Jesus was speaking to. They understood shepherding images because many of them were familiar with keeping sheep. In the Old Testament, leaders of Israel, at all levels, were called shepherds. Psalm 77:20 says, “You led your people like a flock. You led them by the hands of Moses and Aaron.” (NIRV) Here, God is the shepherd, but He shepherded His people through Moses and Aaron, who acted as shepherds for the people under God’s direction.
Psalm 78:70-72 says much the same about King David.
Psalm 23 gives a rich image of God’s people as sheep and God as the shepherd that many of us are familiar with.
So, Jesus was working from a very rich history of this sheep/shepherd metaphor. This was something the people understood well because the keeping of sheep was something nearly every person was exposed to in some way.
In this passage in John, as Jesus draws on this familiar image, and He spoke about the sheep and the sheep pen, the people understood that God’s people were the sheep, and Judaism was the sheep pen. Within the laws of Judaism, they were kept safe, and when they loved the Lord with all their hearts, they became His sheep.
Jesus told them something troubling though, that not all those who have entered the sheep pen—Judaism, were God’s sheep. Some had entered by dishonest means, and their intention was to do the sheep harm and to gather sheep to them through lies and stealing. He called them thieves and robbers.
He wanted them to understand something very important: that those on God’s business, those who truly loved God and wanted His best, would come into the sheep pen in the proper way. They would go through the door.
In verses 7-10 Jesus says it very clearly, “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door; if anyone enters through 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 so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”
Twice in these verses Jesus says who He is. Jesus is…the DOOR. Jesus is the door.
The door is a passageway. It is the proper way for people to enter the sheep pen, and it is the proper way for people to become sheep. This should call to our minds another conversation Jesus has in John 14:6 when He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NASB) There is no other way to come to the Father, except through the door, Jesus.
And so then, anyone who tries to get to God’s people, who does not come through Jesus, does not belong with God’s people and are not a part of them. Those are people that we are warned of. Jesus was speaking of the Pharisees and priests who rejected Him, but the metaphor can be applied to anyone who claims to be able to believe in God and not follow Jesus. It’s just not possible. Jesus is the only way, He is the door.
We are warned against false shepherds, but in this passage in John, we learn more about those who do go through Jesus, the door. That’s us! We’ve come to God through Jesus, the door.
We see that those who go through the door, Jesus, those who are His sheep, are given means to help them determine who is a true shepherd and who is a thief and who is another member of the flock—He gives His sheep discernment.
In John 10:4-5 Jesus told them, “When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
I absolutely love this. What Jesus is saying is that when His people, the sheep, have to leave the safety of the pen, which could be a lot of things here (Judaism, the church, etc.) when we have to leave the safety of the pen, He goes before us. He goes ahead of us. Which is great, because at some point, you come to the realization that except for maybe a few hours every week, you live most of your life outside of the times when the church gathers in safety. You hold jobs outside of the church gathering, you have families outside of the church gathering, you have friends outside of the church gathering, you run errands outside of the church gathering. Most of your life takes place outside of this special time we have.
So isn’t it good…no, great…to know that when you go wherever you must go, He has already gone ahead of you? And what else do those verses say? He goes ahead of us and we follow Him because we know His voice. As we go into all the places we must go for different reasons, He goes before us and speaks to us and we know His voice because we belong to Him. Knowing His voice and actively listening to Him, which happens through the Holy Spirit, helps us discern if someone is speaking to us that does not have our best interests in mind.
Jesus says that we will not know the voice of strangers, and we will flee from them and not follow them. This discernment happens when you have developed a close relationship with Jesus and you can discern His voice and know how His voice is different than other voices in your life telling you what to do or say. A close relationship with Jesus gives us discernment, and that is so valuable today when we have a million different voices speaking to us, vying for our attention and leading us in their ways. We need to hear Jesus’ voice above all that noise.
We also see that those who go through the door, Jesus, those who are His sheep are extended graciousness when we don’t understand Him. Look at verse 6 and the beginning of verse 7, “Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them meant. So Jesus said to them again…”
Those who were gathered and listening to Jesus talk, and teach about a kingdom truth about Him and God’s people, they didn’t understand at first. This was not the only time people didn’t understand His teaching. This was not the only time people didn’t understand the message of God. This was not the only time people didn’t understand the character of God. This still happens today. In fact, I would say that each of us could probably think of a time when we didn’t understand something God had said, or something about who He is.
Jesus didn’t rebuke them. He didn’t call them fools for not understanding. He didn’t get exasperated and roll His eyes. He just spoke again in more simple terms so He could help them understand the truth of what He was saying. Jesus’ intention in His messages was never to try to confuse or mystify people. In fact, the reason that He gave this truth in terms of sheep and shepherds was to speak in an analogy that most people would understand. He often used language and images that could be more easily understood by the people He was addressing. But, in cases when we just don’t grasp the truth of what He’s saying, He finds another way to say it, because He wants to be understood, and He wants us to grasp the truth. He is gracious with us because He wants us to grow in Him.
Think about Jonah, who was frustrated that God sent Him to preach salvation to people Jonah believed weren’t worthy of being saved. But, even though Jonah ran from God, Jonah 3:1 tells us that God didn’t give up on Jonah, He spoke to Jonah again. He gave grace when He could have abandoned Jonah.
How many times did He do this for Israel? How many times does He do this for us?
James 1:5 reminds us, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” When we don’t understand, we ask, and He graciously gives it to us, without reproach.
Finally, we also see that those who go through the door, Jesus, those who are His sheep are given liberty to come and go in His presence. John 10:9 says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
As we discovered already, the shepherd, Jesus, goes out with the sheep. When we go out into the world, He goes with us and His voice guides us. He gives us discernment concerning whose voice to follow, but we are also assured that as we come and go, we can always remain in His presence. The shepherd goes with the sheep.
Deuteronomy 28:6 talks about this truth, “Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.” When we come and go into the world, we are blessed because we go in His presence. There is no where we can go to be out of His presence. Psalm 121:8 says, “The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time and forever.”
We can always be in His presence, wherever we go.
In fact, one of my favorite reminders of this truth is from Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” To me, this is a powerful reminder that because Jesus is the door that I enter into a relationship with God is, I can come to Him wherever, whenever, before His throne and receive what I need when I am in need—I come and go and I find—pasture.
1. Have you ever had experience with a “thief” whose intention was to steal, kill, and destroy? How did Jesus give you discernment concerning that person?
2. How has God extended you grace when you didn’t understand something He said or something about Him?
3. How significant is it to you that you are free to come and go and still be in His presence?