Today we are concluding the series on the “Ego, ami” (“I Am, I AM”) sayings of Jesus in the Book of John. Each of these statements of self-description made by Jesus are designed to help us to realize that Jesus is indeed the “Great I AM” of the Old Testament, and that He had come to seek and save the lost.
Jesus’ declaration today, “I AM the door to the sheep pen”, came about as a result of Jesus’ confrontation with the Jewish religious Pharisees because of the way that they treated the once blind man whom Jesus healed in chapter 9. Remember that instead of rejoicing over the man being healed, the Pharisees had questioned, condemned and kicked the man out of the synagogue, all because he dared to say that the man Jesus who had healed him was not a devil, but a man of God.
Jesus was attempting to communicate to everyone that the way of the Pharisees is not the way of God. He opened His sermon with the illustration of the shepherds, sheep and sheep pen, because He knew that it would be familiar to those to whom He was speaking at the time.
Granted, that setting is not so familiar to us in these days or in this country, so let’s examine the setting as it was almost 2,000 years ago. In those days, sheep were kept for the night in two different situations.
The first way was in cities or villages. There would usually be a large public holding pen where all of the shepherds would bring their flocks in order to secure them at night. There would also be a paid shepherd who would guard the gate to the pen during the night and admit the shepherds in the morning. The shepherds would come in the morning, walk into the pen, and use their special call to their sheep. The sheep would hear and respond to the shepherd’s voice, and he (or she) would lead his/her sheep out to pasture.
The second way that sheep were kept was out in the countryside. At night, a shepherd would herd his flock into a walled enclosure of piled rocks with only one small opening. There was no physical door or gate, just an opening. So at night, the shepherd would literally “become the door” as he lay across the opening. This would prevent the sheep from getting out and prevent wild animals and thieves from getting in.
In today’s passages, Jesus alludes to both of these types of situations. In the first six verses, Jesus is speaking of the communal pen to which the sheep and shepherds were allowed entrance by the gatekeeper. He is trying to help people see that the Pharisees of their time (and the false teachers and false religions of our day) were not their true shepherds. Entrance to the sheep pen (which is a representation of Heaven) could only happen one of two ways. Either you were granted permission to enter by the Gatekeeper (representing Jesus Christ), or you had to sneak over the wall.
Jesus made a very, very clear indictment concerning the Pharisees of His day, and the false teachers and false religions of our time. He was saying that those leaders, who made themselves out to be shepherds of the people, were in fact thieves and robbers trying to steal the people and lead them astray. Jesus uses two terms in describing the thieves (kleptes – one who steals with cunning and stealth) and robbers (lestes – one who steals through violence). The first steals by hiding it under his coat, while the second steals at knife or gunpoint. We must be on guard today, because there are still those among us who will use cunning deception and half-truths to lead others astray, and there are those who will use force and manipulation to achieve the same end. Both types of people are false teachers of false religions.
We really need to understand the message here. There are many false teachers within our society and even within the Church today, who are knowingly, and some unknowingly, leading people astray. The vast majority of the Pharisees really thought that they were doing the right thing. They were actually trying to follow what they believed to be the wishes of God. But they were dead wrong. They had religion, but they had no relationship with God.
Christianity is religion with a personal relationship with God. That is what separates Christianity from all of the other religions of the world. It is no coincidence that Jesus refers to us as sheep. We can often be as dumb, or even dumber, than sheep. We will follow someone, anyone, who tickles our ears or rubs our tummies, not realizing or bothering to check out if they are leading us astray or not.
A false teacher is anyone who gives instruction for living that is contrary to the Word of God, or goes against God’s will. We must be able to identify truth and falsehood, good shepherds and bad.
The good shepherds enter through the Gate (Jesus Christ). They are called of God. They do not obtain their position through the ways of the world (legacy, politics, self-declaration, and human ingenuity), but by the leading influence of the Holy Spirit. They do not become pastors because “it is a nice little job to have”, but rather because they have received a divine commission from God to win people to the faith, help them grow in their faith, and send them out to share their faith.
Bad shepherds, false teachers, have their own agenda. They, in their hearts, may actually have little or no interest in God’s will or agenda at all. If a pastor preaches messages that are contrary to the Word of God, then he/she is an apostate, a false teacher, leading his people into eternal damnation.
If the Truth of Scripture gets watered down and those practicing sinful lifestyles and activities begin to feel okay about what they are doing, even though they are purposely living in sin, then they have been sucked into a lie and are heading for an eternal disaster! Good shepherds teach God’s words, not their own. His Word and His Spirit will never allow you live in an active, perpetual, willful state of sin without conviction, confrontation, and chastisement.
A pastor’s job is to share God’s word with his congregation to the best of his/her ability, because the reality is this: God’s word is all that we pastors really have to offer. If the people don’t like it, if they don’t want to hear it, if it steps on their toes, then their problem is not with their pastor, it is with God. The only way for a person to change their heart and soul is to receive Jesus Christ by faith. We must confess our sin to Him and receive His payment for our sin on the cross.
Then, in order to grow in our faith, we must become a hearer and a doer of the Word of God. It is by reading, studying and obeying God’s Word that we recognize the truth or falsehood, when we hear it.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, I Am the door to the sheep pen. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not listen to them. I Am the Gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
It is at this point that Jesus transitions to the shepherd who tends his sheep out in the countryside. Remember I told you that the sheepfold in the country was fully enclosed, with the exception of a roof and door. There was only a small opening in which the shepherd would sleep at night, literally becoming the door.
Years ago, a great scholar, Sir George Adam Smith, traveled to the Far East. One day he came upon a shepherd in the fields with his sheep. Sir Smith asked the man to show him where the sheep were kept at night. Sure enough, the man led Sir Smith to a four-walled enclosure with one narrow opening. Sir Smith said to the man, “This is where they sleep at night? Are you not afraid they will get out, or a wolf get in and eat them, or a thief get in and steal them, since there is no door to prevent these things from happening?” The shepherd thanked Sir Smith for his concern, but not to worry. The man said that the sheep were perfectly safe. “For you see,” the shepherd told Sir Smith, “at night, when the light has gone and all the sheep are inside, I lie in the open space. No sheep can go out without trying to get over my body and no wolf or thief can get in without crossing my body. I am the door.”
This is precisely what Jesus is telling us. He says, “I Am the Door!” To get into the fold, you must go through Jesus. He is the Protector for His sheep. He will keep you safe and secure. Jesus is the Provider for His sheep. When you go out to pasture, He will nurture and satisfy you. Jesus says, “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Jesus says, “I Am the Door!” Notice that He never once mentions anyone even attempting to come in through the back door. He mentions robbers and thieves attempting to get in by climbing the walls, but not by trying to sneak in through the back door. Why doesn’t Jesus say anything about coming in through the back door? Because there is no back door!
There are preachers and teachers today who do not like this particular Biblical truth, so they teach otherwise. As a result, it breaks my heart, but there are many, many people who believe they can get into Heaven through a self-created back door. They are wrong!
If there is no Jesus in your life, then there is no way to God for you, no Heaven awaiting you, no everlasting life for you. But the Good News is that salvation through Jesus Christ is available to everyone who will believe and accept Him as Savior and Lord.
Jesus says, “I Am the Way, the Truth, the Life and no one comes to the Father except through me. I Am the Door.” Jesus made very exclusive claims. Each time He said, “Ego, Ami” (I Am, I Am), each time He said those words, the Jews understood Jesus was saying, “I Am God.” No other religious leaders have ever made such a bold claim and were able to back it up, because they were mere men. But Jesus was God in the flesh and only Jesus died for our sins.
So His statement is also inclusive, because He tells us He died for all who would believe. Do you believe? I pray that you do. Amen.