Stop The Insanity While You Can

Stop the Insanity While You Can

John 10:1-10

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he 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. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, "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 hear them. 9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through 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.

This narrative is almost always discussed as Jesus the protector and we are the sheep. Indeed, Jesus is our protector and we should follow Him as the great shepherd. To believe in Jesus is to follow His explanations for the Torah and the prophets. It is to live to help others, to learn about God through Jesus and the eternal life that is awaiting which was made available to us. Thinking about Jesus as a doorkeeper, or better yet, as the door, we can derive an additional meaning from this passage. Keeping the predator, Satan, out is definitely on the list of what Jesus does for us.

The shepherd at the door of the sheep pen not only prevents predators and people from entering the pen, who should not be there, but also prevents sheep from leaving the safety of the pen. Once you come into the family of God through Jesus, He is going to do everything He can to keep you in the family. He protects us from doing anything that would remove us from the love and grace of God. The words and actions of Jesus in the Gospels are examples to us about how to live in “God’s protection.” The LORD established the Ten Commandments for Israel, telling them that if they followed the LORD’s law that he would take care of them. When Israel strayed from the Laws, thus leaving the sheep’s pen, the LORD sent His prophets to let the people know. Finally, the LORD sent his ultimate prophet, the Messiah Jesus, to protect the people. The LORD also promised to keep someone at the entrance of the kingdom of God, so that it would be harder to escape. The Holy Spirit, sent by the LORD, is with us and is our guide to prevent us from leaving the protection of Jesus. If we follow the ways of Jesus, we will be protected. If we do not, then we might leave the confines of the LORD’s protection.

The shepherd imagery is a strong part of John’s Gospel. It shows that God wants an intimate relationship with each of us. The shepherd knows the names of his sheep and God knows each of our names. How can Jesus be a shepherd and a gate at the same time? The usage of these figures of speech can be quite confusing even for the advanced interpreter. A main message is to be careful of the shepherd you are following. Ultimately, we must follow Jesus as the shepherd. There were, are, and will be numerous people who will stand before us and claim to be the spokesperson for Jesus. We must be careful who we decide to believe and who to follow. The shepherd's imagery tells us to seek Jesus and to follow him.

Tielhard de Chardin, a Jesuit paleontologist, said that we must 6fgremember we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. John’s Gospel brings together several critical elements that are necessary for an abundant life: water, bread, light, and shelter. This narrative is about shelter. Shelter protects us from the environmental elements and from the animals who would easily become predators to the sleeping person. We need shelter from Evil inclination, which many of us call Satan. We also need shelter from the animal soul, which is also a part of us because we live in flesh and blood. There are so many temptations in this world that it is difficult to keep on the proper course of spiritual development. The forces inside and outside of us try to pull us toward Satan’s realm. The shelter is Jesus. His way of dealing with evil and Satan are on full display. Jesus wants to help us and that is why the Gospels were created. The Holy Spirit guided the authors to transcribe Jesus' ministry so we can benefit from it.