John 10: The Good Shepherd

“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

John 10:7-13

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  He cares for each one of us.  As he taught elsewhere, he will go searching and searching for just one of us who is lost, and rejoice when he finds us.  Sheep were so precious to shepherds - they were their life.  It was their mission to protect them - Jesus tells us that a good shephard lays down his life for his sheep.  Our God, creator of billions of galaxies, came to care for us.

Shepherds lead their sheep to good pasture.  Jesus leads us to where we can feed spiritually - the sustenance of the peace of knowing our souls are safe with him, and the refreshing water that is his Word in the Bible.

Jesus is also the Gate.  How can he be the gate?  Because in the context he's talking, shepherds were the gate.  The walls of the sheep-pen were made of stone, but there was no door or gate.  The shepherd himself sat in the opening of the sheep-pen at night - blocking the way in or out and providing safety.  He would know if anyone tried to enter.

Jesus himself is the way into safety - it is he who allows us in - makes the way by dying for us.  And in his sheep-pen we find safety.  We cannot trust in other things, because however good they are, they cannot endure the the final hurdle, and that is death.  The sheep-pen where the gate is the hired hand will not protect us when the wolf comes.

Jesus came so that we can have life, and have it to the full.  There is no greater satisfaction, no greater love, and no greater security.  Jesus invites us to have life, and he promises to never leave us, always protect us, always.