John 10:7-9
“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture”.
This saying of our Lord, which is a parable at best, could be better understood if we backed up to John 9:35.
Jesus was discussing with the healed man cast out of the temple by the Jewish leaders.
First, he uses the most common occupation in Israel (shepherd), for an illustration.
A ‘sheepfold’ is a place of shelter for flocks where they repose at night to be secure from wild beasts. It’s door is well-fortified, as well as carefully guarded.Once the sheep are inside the fold, the shepherds may go home rest assured that they are safe.
Next morning when they come for their flock, there’s only one way the porter will identify the true shepherd and owner of what flock.
First, he must come via the door to request his sheep. Not climb the wall from the rear, or break-in through a window.
How does he identify his sheep?
The sheep bore no computer chips or paint-marks.
They relied simply on the sound of the shepherd’s voice, already well known to his sheep.
Once he makes speaks or makes a familiar click of tongue, his sheep rise and follow him out.
This is what Jesus meant by ” my sheep hear my voice, the voice of a stranger they will not follow”.
*Jn 10:5*
“And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Because the Jews were still adamant and failed to understand, Jesus narrowed it further to the ‘door’.
It’s like, if you cannot get the whole parable, just get the door.
What’s the role of that door to the sheepfold? See me as that door, and you’ll understand the entire parable.
NOW, “I am the door to the sheep”:
What did Jesus mean by that?
The door not only secures the sheep from wild beasts or thieves and robbers, it also secures the sheep from straying out of bounds from the sheepfold.
Jesus is the security of the church which is His sheep-fold, and he guards it jealously.
Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication.
Jn 10:28-29
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand”.
I am the door means I am the way by which ministers and people enter the true church.
It is by Christ’s merits, his intercession, his aid, and his appointment that they enter the sheep-fold, the church. The sheep and shepherds have same door. The Elect become part of the Church by no other means except by receiving Christ’s finished works of Grace by faith. Eph.2:8
Minister’s too must receive their commission via a true revelation of Grace. No more, no less.
Note that Christ does not say: ‘the Door of the fold,’ but rather, ‘the Door of the sheep.’
The fold has no meaning apart from the sheep.
“I am the door relates to the lives of the sheep individually and collectively, rather to an organization.
To deal with the sheep legitimately, you must go through Jesus as the Door.
That means all teachings must be based on the doctrine of Christ otherwise would be climbing in to the sheepfold through the window.
Teaching the Law of Moses, teaching any culture or tradition in the Church, teaching the personal experience of the preacher is climbing in through the window.
Any schemes aimed at manipulating the sheep for financial gain is a break-in through the window.
Apostle John aptly put it in
2 Jn 1:10
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.”
Alas! all through generations, there be many who for no better ends but ambition, fame and money have sought the pastoral office.
To all such Jesus gives the names of thieves and robbers.
If you’re in the sheepfold, you already know the voice of your shepherd. Be joyful that he is both your shepherd and the Door of your eternal security.
“Christ in you -the-hope-of-glory”
(Col 1:27).
– Dr Nich Mbaezue