The Gate

John 10.1-10

Dr. Matthew M. Fry

As we continue to experience The Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Speak Lord, your servants are listening. Amen.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the gospel of John. Listen for God’s Word for you today. John 10.1-10.

1 "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go 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.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

I am marginally good at this, but if you want to talk to the pro, you should talk to Melissa. Most days, Melissa, Lisa and I eat lunch together in the covenant room. A time to get away from the desks is always welcome, and I find it helps me concentrate on my afternoon work if I get the chance to take a complete step away over lunch. And, usually the case is such that as we talk over lunch, the sounds from the Preschool waft up from downstairs. I can always tell whether or not it is Murphy, and often times can tell whether or not it is a hungry cry, a “I hit somebody and I can’t get away with it” cry, an “I got hurt” cry, or even a fake cry. These are the things that all parents can just do. But Melissa, she’s the master. She hears a cry, and will know which of the 40+ kids it is, and exactly what is going on. “Oh, that’s Neeha, sounds like she fell.” It is amazing. Seriously, she could go on tour with that, or on David Letterman’s Ridiculous Human Tricks.

And the kids love her. When for some reason I have to get them to turn around the sign out in front of the stairs to let the throng know that it is time to go downstairs to school, they are never as animated as I can hear they are when she is around. She knows them, and they know her, and instinctively they know to follow her instruction. Lest she, as she puts it, has to put her mama voice on.

In John 10, we have Jesus who is going to get to the point of next week’s passage, that Jesus is the Great Shepherd. But the way Jesus gets there is to tell a parable about gates, gatekeepers, thieves, liars, sheep and shepherds. And it is a parable that the disciples didn’t understand at the time, and that most folks today don’t understand either.

Who are these ‘false ones’ these ‘theives and bandits’? For years religious leaders have made this about other religions, or about other denominations, or about people who don’t accept things that the particular religious leaders consider to be essential tenants of the faith. Which is, and I will say this as nicely as I can, because I’d rather call it something less nice, but I’ll settle for calling it a distortion of the gospel, and of Jesus’ message, and of the context of what Jesus was doing here.

For Jesus probably had in mind the various leaders who had emerged during his own lifetime. He probably wasn’t trying to talk to us in the future. The other leaders of his time, however, do seem to appear and re-appear throughout history. Some of them back then were revolutionary leaders or warlords, who were eager to lead Israel to a religious nation state, where the marriage of religion and government would to them find happy union. And there are many people who continue to fight for this kind of thing. The irony is that they are among the people who use this passage and say that any other way is not the gate, and will not lead to union with God.

There were other leaders in Jesus’ time, particularly of the house of Herod, who were eager to submit to Rome as long as it meant keeping their own power, prestige, and wealth. So long as the status quo is kept these people were happy. Just don’t think about how the status quo is taking people who are God’s children and marginalizing them, leaving them behind, crushing them in the machine of society so that others can thrive. And a great way to keep the status quo is to tell people that the most important thing is the after-life, and believing in it is important, and supporting the system and country is a part of that. Anyone who would not support the country must be a thief or a bandit. Anyone who would subvert the status quo is a liar.

So, with all these folks in Jesus’ day, and all the people since who have claimed his words, the real question is, how can one tell God’s true way? Well, you do it the same way a child knows the voice of someone who loves her, the way a director knows each call and cry of their charge. Anyone can show up in a pulpit, or on the television screen, or on the bookshelves, and tell people that they are the leader because they have gotten it all figured out, and claim to know the mind and heart of God. But only the one who comes by the way God has appointed has the right to do so. Anyone can claim to know the way, and can call followers on that way.

But the sign of an authentic religious leader is much more difficult, because the sign of an authentic religious leader is that they become like a gate that leads to the true shepherd. The authentic leader does not point to him or herself, or push an agenda that is beneficial to him or herself. Instead, the agenda is that of the shepherd, where reconciliation is accomplished, where the poor are taken care of, where the naked are clothed, where the prisoner is visited, where the hungry are fed, and where love for neighbor is as great as love for self.

For even Jesus, who was just about to say that he is the Great Shepherd, and again, more on that next Sunday, even Jesus said that he is the gate. Which is intriguing for this fact. Shepherds always had to be on the watch, because gates themselves were prone to be open, were prone to swing wide open, were prone to open on their own. In fact, shepherds of the day often slept at the foot of the gate so that it wouldn’t swing open, because that is what gates often did, open unexpectedly to let all sorts in.

Jesus is the only one who is the great shepherd. It always makes me wince a little bit when I tell people that I am a pastor, and then they start to use shepherd language. “Tell me about your flock.” “Well, like I said, I’m a pastor, not a sheep farmer. I don’t have a flock. I belong to a family.” I live in the burbs, not on a farm, why do people think pastors are shepherds. There is only one Great Shepherd, and it certainly should not surprise you that it ain’t me. And it ain’t you either. Or anyone else who would claim to tell you the truth.

And similarly, there is only one gate, Jesus Christ. And it is likely to swing open and let all kinds in. And no human, no matter how eloquent a speaker, or how persuasive a debater, unfortunately for me, no matter how incredibly attractive a person, but no human is in charge of the gate. No human is the gatekeeper. Only Jesus Christ holds that office. And I think we should let Jesus do that job. Perhaps he knows what he is doing and is quite capable of doing a good job.

Let us join joyfully and walk inside the love of God being ushered in by Jesus Christ who swings open wide. Amen.