I AM the Door
John 10:1-10
There are seven I AM statements in the Gospel of John. They are “I AM the Bread of Life;” “I AM the Light of the World;” “I AM the Door;” 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.” Actually there are eight as John 8:58 says “Before Abraham was, I AM.” The use of I AM is very emphatic in Greek and could have been said more simply without adding the personal pronoun. It seems to echo the “I AM” in Exodus 3:14 in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament for the name of Yahweh. So these I AM statements are statements of Jesus’ divinity. He is the Yahweh of the Old Testament who appeared to Moses. Today we will look at “I AM the Door.” This appears twice in the passage we have read in John 10:7 and John 10:9. Let us open our bibles to John 10.
Sometimes the chapter divisions that were put at a later time into the Bible can cause confusion because it indicates here that there should be a break between chapters 9 and 10. But really, John 9:39-41 set up what is essentially a parable. Jesus had just healed a man who was blind from birth. The story of the miracle occurs before it was mentioned that Jesus did this on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees were indignant as always that Jesus would in their eyes break the Sabbath. They thought that if Jesus was truly from God, that He would obey their interpretation of the Sabbath. They could not deny the healing, so they would attribute this healing to the devil. They got even more indignant when the formerly blind man showed more spiritual insight than they had and as a result threw the blind man out of the synagogue.
Jesus replied to this indignity by saying that He came to make the blind to see and blind the seeing. The Pharisees saw that He spoke about them and snorted; “Certainly you are not calling us blind, are you!” Jesus answered that because they claimed to be able to spiritually see, they had the worst kind of blindness. This is what sets up a parable. Jesus used the parables which tell simple stories as a means to bring truth to light to His own and to hide the truth from those who rejected them. Parables are simple stories taken from everyday life. So in this sense, they are easy to understand at that level. But these simple stories illustrate a spiritual point which is not so easy.
Jesus begins the parable with a double “amen.” “Amen” is a Hebrew/Aramaic word which is translated “So may it be” or as an affirmation that something which had just been said is true. Jesus breaks the mold by speaking the Amen before the statement. In the other gospels, Jesus says a single Amen, but in John’s gospel it is doubled. When a Hebrew word is doubled, it makes it more emphatic. So Jesus is emphatically giving an “Amen” to what He is about to say. “Most truly, I tell you, ‘The one who does not enter through the door of the sheepfold but climbs in some other way is nothing but a thief and robber.” This statement is emphatically antithetical with the use of the strong Greek conjunction “alla” translated “but.” There is an simpler conjunction which does not carry this strong emphasis. Not only this, but this same conjunction is compounded with “place” to emphasize that the place a thief and robber comes in “another” way than the right way. The thief is one who simply sneaks in and steals. The robber is the one who comes armed with the intention of doing bodily harm. The fact John uses both is another emphatic marker.
Now we can see why it is important to see that John 10 is really a continuation of Jesus’ dialogue with the Pharisees. He is essentially calling them both thieves and robbers. Their purpose was not to care and feed for the sheep, but rather to take advantage of them. Sheep are helpless without the shepherd. So rather than going through the door, they have to creep I over the wall protecting the sheep. So this really is not about those who would try to sneak into heaven by going over the wall with the intention of staying there. Rather they were on a mission to lead the sheep astray and even slaughter them for their own purpose.
Verse two is remarkably unemphatic in a passage full of emphasis markers. It simple says with the simple conjunction: “But the one who comes in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” It is certainly in contrast to the thief and the robber, but Jesus only places slight emphasis on “shepherd” by moving it up in the word order. He will not become emphatic until He explains the parable. The shepherd has no reason than to take the simple way through the door of the sheepfold.
Sheepfolds in the villages often contained the sheep of several shepherds. A guard was stationed at the door to make sure only authorized shepherds could enter in to call out their sheep. This porter knew all the shepherds and would open the gate for them to enter in. At the same time, he would deny entrance to those who were not, which is why the thieves and robbers would have to sneak in some other way by going over the wall or fence.
One of the remarkable things about sheep, and their only defense, was to recognize the voice of their shepherd. The shepherd would be let in by the porter, and he would call for his sheep. Only his sheep would follow him, and the others would remain in the pen waiting for their own shepherd to call. The shepherd also had a personal bond with his livestock. It says that he calls them by name. I learned from my wife’s uncle who kept cattle that he had a name for each of his cows and bulls. Its not just the sound of his voice, but also the sound of their name they recognize. I would suppose if the shepherd wanted to call out just one of his sheep for some reason that only that sheep would come out.
After the sheep are called out, the shepherd leads them and they follow. If there is danger, the shepherd is first in line. He always looks for pasture and good water for the sheep. He protects them and provides for their nourishment. He does this only for his own sheep. But the other sheep will absolutely not follow, but instead flee from him. Heh but here is the strong “alla”, “but.” And again it is also compounded in the word “another.” There is more to this verse than simply stating the obvious, that sheep only follow their own shepherd and will run if another shepherd tries to lead them. He is telling the Pharisees that they are NOT His sheep. Therefore, they follow another, that is the devil, who is no shepherd at all. They flee from Jesus who is God and run after Satan. The devil is no more than a thief and a robber, and so are his followers.
Verse six indicates that those who heard, including His disciples did not understand the purpose of the parable. So Jesus goes on to tell them. This time He reverses the order and puts Himself first. Here is where we are introduced to the strong: “I AM the Door for the sheep.” This statement is introduced by the double “Amen” which makes it even more emphatic. Additionally, the definite article “the” means He is the only door. All those who came before Him, speaking of the Pharisees, were thieves and robbers. Jesus adds that His sheep did not listen to these false shepherds.
He emphatically repeats :I AM the Door in verse nine, this time that if anyone enters though Him, they shall be saved. The “me” is the emphatic form of the pronoun. It is by Jesus, and only by Jesus can we be saved. All other ways are false. These sheep can safely go in and out and find the pasture. They need not fear, for their shepherd goes before them.
In verse 10, Jesus sums up the first half of this double parable. He will go on to explain the second half of the parable by telling them not only is He the door, but also the good shepherd. He reminds them again that the Pharisees were only interested in stealing, killing, and destroying the sheep. They were doing the work of Satan by doing so. Jesus, the one the Pharisees called Satan or Beelzebub actually was the one who had come to give them not only life, but abundant life. This abundance is a quality of life as well as eternity of life. In Psalm 23, David states that: “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Shall not want of what? He is the one who leads the flock to green pastures and quiet waters. He provides refreshment ot the soul. He provides overflowing abundance even in the face of David’s enemies. He brings through the shadow of death. He provides goodness and mercy throughout life and the promise of dwelling in the house of Yahweh forever. This is the promise of Jesus to all His sheep, not just David.
We can see that we must listen for the voice of Jesus, and not just the voice of the preacher, singer, or some other religious authority. The best that a preacher can do is to preach God’s word, to tell people what God wants. He is sort of the under-shepherd. But like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, there are plenty of wolves in sheep’s clothing and plenty of devils with the tile “Reverend.” The good news is that if you are God’s sheep, you cannot ultimately be led astray, even by a slick preacher. Sheep do indeed go astray, bu the good shepherd will leave the ninety and nine to find you. Your eternal protection is a gift from God, not a matter of works. Apart from Jesus, we could only be led away for destruction. Our works cannot help us. We are helpless sheep. But we are HIS sheep, the people of HIS pasture.
Jesus said if anyone will enter, they can enter. Perhaps you are not yet His sheep. Ask the Lord to open the door and let you in. Jesus says that all who come to Him, He will absolutely not turn away. This promise is for you, if you will only listen and come.
