Wednesday 3rd July
Read John 10:7-10
“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIVUK)
There is a danger in reading John 10 that we seek to identify all the images presented therein and nail them down with modern, spiritually understandable, parallels. The history of interpretation is riddled with allegories that date ever so quickly as time passes. The challenge of finding allegories everywhere, rather than where Jesus himself clarifies, is that we can quickly become confused. Is Jesus the gate through which the sheep enter the sheepfold or is He the good Shepherd?
Jesus is both of course. Those who enter the sheepfold by any way other than the gate (v1) are not true shepherds. So the true and good shepherd is also the proper gate. As many have in the past, we can extend the metaphor in all sorts of directions, but in this instance we are wise to go no further than Jesus does Himself. Jesus observes that there is security and peace and pasture for those who enter through Him. He is the only one who provides such complete peace and security. When the outside is dangerous, we sleep well when we are secured in Jesus.
