What’s In a Name?
Week 5: I Am the Door
Good morning! Please open your Bibles to John 10.
Speaking of opening, since we are talking about Jesus being the door, in preparation for this I tried to count all the doors I’ve opened so far this morning. The first door I opened today was the cabinet door where we keep the coffee and coffee filters. I made the coffee. Then I opened the refrigerator door. Then I couldn’t remember why I opened the refrigerator door, so I closed it again and sat down with my coffee. I opened the door to the backyard to let the dog out, sat down in my chair, got back up to open the door to let the dog back in because she didn’t like the rain. I spent some time in God’s word, then I began to get ready for church. I opened my closet door and figured out what I was going to wear. Then I opened the shower door and took a shower. Got out of the shower, got dressed, then opened the refrigerator door again to get some milk for my cereal, which I found when I opened the pantry door.
I finished the cereal, opened the refrigerator door a third time to put the milk back, kissed Trish goodbye, opened the door from the house to the garage, opened the garage door, opened the door to my truck, got to church, opened the door to get out of the truck, opened the outer door to the church, the inner door, the office hallway door, the door to my conference room, the door to my office, the back door to my office, the door to Tom Moore’s class for our men’s prayer room, the door to the sanctuary, back to my office, the door to every Sunday school room when I popped in to say hello. The door to the bathroom, the door back to my office, the door out of my office out of the conference room, out of the office hallway, into the sanctuary, and here I am.
25 doors opened closed, opened again from the time I got up to now.
And they weren’t all doors for the same purpose, either. There were cabinet doors, refrigerator doors, garage doors, truck doors, and so on.
So when Jesus described himself as the door, it’s not out of bounds to ask, “Well, yeah, but what kind of door are you, Jesus?” What did you mean? And are you really “THE” door? Maybe you’re just “a” door, and it’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure story.
And if you are really the ONLY door, what happens if I don’t walk through it? What about all those other people that don’t walk through it? What if they never knew there was a door?
Our text for this morning is going to answer some of those questions. At least I hope it does. Let’s look at the first ten verses of John 10 and see if we can get some answers:
I’m reading from the English Standard Version, and it uses the word door. Other translations use the word gate, and even though a lot of times there’s a shade of meaning that makes a difference in how we read the text, there isn’t really one here. So whether its door or gate in your translation, let’s walk through this together (see what I did there?)
[READ John 10:1-10]
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray
I want to talk first about what had just happened before Jesus gave this teaching. We’ve seen already that context makes a difference in understanding these I am statements—Jesus said I Am the Bread of Life when he fed the 5,000, I Am the Light of the World during the feast of Tabernacles, when the Jews remembered how they had been guided by the pillar of fire. And context matters here too. Back in chapter 9, there was the healing of the man that had been born blind. We aren’t going to go deep in that one, but I want to point out a detail in that story that will help us understand why Jesus is talking about doors in the first place.
We read in John 9 that the Pharisees were upset that Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath. So they are interviewing people to try to get the gist. They call in the man’s parents, and check out what the text says in verse
22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[b] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
Now the idea of being put out of the synagogue wasn’t just a temporary, “Go home and come back next week” kind of thing. If you were put out, you were excommunicated. You weren’t welcome back to the synagogue EVER. And that meant you didn’t have access to God. So they’re like, “Hey, ask our son. He’s old enough.” They are ok with throwing their son under the chariot—they just don’t want to be there themselves.
So the Pharisees question the guy that had been healed for the second time. And in verse 33, the guy says, 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
Well, the Pharisees don’t like this answer at all, so in verse 34, they throw him out.
So the religious leaders considered themselves the gatekeepers for orthodox Judaism. They allowed in those they felt were worthy, and they excluded those that weren’t. And the bare minimum standard for inclusion were tribe, torah, and tradition. Tribe. Were you born a Jew? If so, you’re in…. As long as you obey the Torah.
This was another name for the five books of Moses. And you had to keep the law faithfully if you wanted to be in.
So if you were a Jew, and you kept the Torah, you were in…
…As long as you also obeyed the traditions of the elders. These were all the hundreds of rules and regulations the religious leaders had added to the Law to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally break the law.
And so the Pharisees had made a door of exclusion and put themselves in charge of it—deciding who would have access to God and who wouldn’t.
Now, let me ask you this—have you ever felt like you were kept away from access to God because of some self-appointed gatekeeper? [color of your skin, the cost of your clothes, sins that you’ve committed, sins you are still committing? You ever felt like you had too much something or not enough something to belong?
Too much sin? Not enough purity? Too many issues? Not enough days sober? Too much anger? Not enough belief?
Can you even imagine how this guy felt? He has been blind since birth, and the first thing he sees is a bunch of self-righteous, sanctimonious, stuffed-shirt scribes and Pharisees telling him he doesn’t belong in their temple.
Verse 35:
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[c] 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.
Jesus accepted the worship of the man who had been put out of the synagogue.
When the man said “Lord I believe,” Jesus didn’t say, “Well, that’s a great start. But hey, not so fast on worshiping me. Before you do that, let me put you on a probationary period, where we make sure you believe all the things you are expected to believe to be a good Christian. Or let us scan your Facebook pictures to see if any of them have beer or wine on the table. Give us your Spotify playlists. We need to make sure you aren’t listening to any of the wrong music. Hey—election day is Tuesday. Do you mind telling us who you are voting for?
No. Verse 38: “The man said, Lord I believe” and he worshiped Jesus. Period. Full stop. Without condition.
Then in verse 39 Jesus basically said, “You know what? Those religious leaders are half right. I did come into the world to judge the world. But I’m not judging the ones the religious leaders think I am judging. I came into the world so that those who don’t see can see, and those who think they can see will become blind. Pharisees are like, “What? You calling us blind?”
Verse 41 says—Yep. When you say “You see,” you don’t.
Because when you say you see, all you see is someone you want to keep out. Jesus sees someone He wants to invite in.
And that brings us back to where we started. Now turn the page to John 10.
10 “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.
Guys, there is so much more going on here than what’s on the surface. In Jesus’ day, each village had a community sheepfold, and at night they would bring in all the sheep.
And if you had sheep in that fold that belonged to you, you could enter through the sheepfold door and call your sheep by name.
I don’t want to get too deep into what the sheep represent, because that’s next week’s I am statement, but I do want to emphasize a point of this teaching we often overlook. Jesus is contrasting the shepherd who enters through the door with the thieves and robbers who climb over the wall.
And if you put this in context, and remember what has just happened and who Jesus has been talking to, I think Jesus is taking a swipe at the religious leaders. He’s like—listen—all y’all that think the point of religion is to keep people out—y’all are thieves and robbers. All you want to do is steal joy. Steal assurance. Steal confidence. Steal fellowship. But guess what—these aren’t your sheep.
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.”
I need to say this again, because I think someone needs to hear this: Christianity is not about exclusion. It is not about keeping people out. It’s about an open door and a shepherd who calls you by name.
That doesn’t mean there are multiple ways to heaven. The Bible doesn’t teach universalism. Zero in on verse 7:
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.
On your listening guide, the second point starts out with A door of something. But I want you to cross out A and replace it with THE. Jesus says I am THE door.
There is no other way. Everyone else who came before or has come since and said there is some other way to a right relationship with God is a thief and a robber. Maybe like the scribes and the Pharisees, who tried to say that being Jewish was the door. Or obeying the law was the door. Or holding onto religious traditions was the door. No, Jesus said I am the DOOR. In a couple of weeks we’ll talk more about this when we get to the passage where Jesus says “I am THE way, the truth, and the life.
You say, but wait a minute. I thought you said that Jesus wasn’t exclusive. Here’s the thing: Access to Jesus is inclusive. Whosoever means whosoever. Anyone means anyone. The world means the world. It is an inclusive invitation.
But it is an exclusive gospel. There is only one way, and it is through a relationship with Jesus.
And it is THE door of relationship. Relationship with the One who laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:11—we’ll get to that next week)
It’s also the door to security. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved.
Finally, it’s the door to an abundant life. Verse 10:
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.
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First Class Ticket Story]
Conclusion: A second look at Revelation 3:20
