Jesus Is The Door

“Jesus Is the Door”

John 10:7-10

Seven times in the Gospel of John Jesus said who He was and each time He deepens our under-standing of His provision for us.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” (6:35)

“I am the light of the world.” (8:12, 9:5)

“I am the door.” (10:7, 9)

“I am the good shepherd.” (10:11, 14)

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (11:25)

“I am the way, the truth and the life.” (14:6)

“I am the true vine.” (15:1, 5)

Every time Jesus uses one of the “I AM” statements, He is emphatically declaring the He is Jehovah, the great “I AM” of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In John chapter ten Jesus makes two “I AM” Statements in which He clearly states for the people in general and the Pharisees in particular what a “true” Good Shepherd should look like. He states that “I AM The Door of the Sheep” (v. 10) and “I AM the Good Shepherd” (v.11). This morning we want to just examine His statement that He is the door of the sheep, and leave the examination of the Good Shepherd for next week.

Verse seven says, “Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear 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 does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

You may remember early in chapter nine when the blind man was confronted by Jesus Christ, that Christ became the deciding factor and the turning point in the blind man’s life. In the process of being healed the blind man believed and worshiped Jesus Christ. He had discovered that Jesus Christ was the doorway into eternal life.

When Jesus heard that the rulers of the Temple had kicked the blind man out of the Temple because he would not denounce Jesus, Jesus came to him. And this is where the story is picked up in Chapter ten. Jesus now stood with the former blind man who had been driven from one-fold and received him into another.

After John says verse six that Jesus’ hearers did not understand the illustration that had given He responded with different figure of speech.

Jesus begins his conversation with the solemn words “most assuredly” or “truly truly” or “verily verily” in KJV which emphasizes what he is about to say is really serious.

I what to share with you today three truths…

First, He Presents An Exclusive Claim. (10:7-8) “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

As we saw in the last lesson the whole point of this story is that there are two kinds of sheep-folds – the first type was large enough to hold several flocks, it was fairly substantially built and was cared for by a porter or gate keeper. That is the kind of sheepfold Jesus is referring to in the first six verses.

But there is second kind of sheepfold that was found out in the countryside and was often little more than a rough circle of stone and the shepherd himself lay down across the opening and entrance into the sheepfold. The shepherd was the door. No sheep could get out and no enemy could come in except over his body. In a very literal sense, the shepherd was the door. There was no way in or out except through him.

“The great Old Testament scholar Sir George Adam Smith was once traveling thorough Palestine when he came across a shepherd and his sheep. During their conversation, the shepherd showed him the fold into which he lead his sheep at night. It consisted of four walls, with one open space. Sir George asked the shepherd whether that opening

Was how the sheep got in. “Yes” , said the shepherd, “and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe.” “But there is no door,” said Sir George. “I am the door,” said the shepherd. He explained, “when the light has gone, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in the open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door.” [G. Campbell Morgan. The Gospel According to John. (Westwood, NJ: Revell) p. 177]

Exclusiveness of the Door

Today some two thousand years after Jesus delivered the words in John chapter 10 they still as hard for some to accept as his original audience. The message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone was hard for them too.