The Gate

Jesus invoked an image familiar to those who heard Him when He spoke of Himself with the words, "...I am the gate for the sheep...I am the gate."  (John 10:7, 9).  Few of us have been around sheep, but such was not the case in the world in which Jesus came to live among us.  Shepherds and sheep were commonly seen in the countryside.  It is remembered that the first visitors to the Christ child born in Bethlehem were shepherds.  When Jesus started this teaching which described how sheep come and go into and from a place of care, everyone who listened surely was shaking their head in understanding.   

The gate of the sheepfold was a place easily guarded and protected.  The sheep were safe from those who would steal them from the shepherd and the predators that would kill and destroy,  As Jesus used the gate imagery as a teaching point, He said, "Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:9-10)   With these words Jesus speaks of His primary role among us.  He came to preach, to announce good news, to teach, and to heal, but He came primarily to bring us Home to the place where we belong.  

Our identity is with our Creator.  It is an identity that we, along with those first century folks, have forgotten.  As the sheep find security, life, and well being by going through the gate, so we know such through the person of the Christ who came to live among us and show us the way to the Father God.  To see Jesus, to embrace by faith who He is and the reason He came to live among us is life giving.  Through Him we know the provision of green pastures, the safety of the still waters, and the restoring of our soul.  (Psalm 23:1-3)