the ONLY Door

Easter 4 (Good Shepherd Sunday) April 13, 2008

Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church

John 10:1-10

John 10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 "And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 7 Jesus therefore said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

Some years ago a member of the church I was serving was trying to convince me to take a tour of the Holy Land. He explained that there was something special about walking where Jesus and His disciples had walked. He was a retired employee of American Airlines and could fly anywhere in the world for free. So he had toured the Holy Land several times. I asked him what he thought was the most memorable thing he had done there. He explained to me that He had set three goals for his last visit, thus making it the most memorable visit.

First he wanted to dip his hand in the water from the Jordan River where Jesus might have been baptized; secondly, he wanted to see Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified and finally, he wanted to visit Bethlehem where Jesus was born. And these things he did. He dipped his hand in the Jordan River reliving Jesus baptism, visited Golgotha there he reflected on Jesus atoning death for the sins of mankind, and finally he visited the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem where you can peer through a small hole in the floor to see where the manager lay, the place where the baby savior had lay.

But while he was there he began to wonder where the shepherd’s had heard the words of Luke 2 (2:8-11). “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” The tour was almost over and the guide said he’d be willing to take him to that place where many believed the shepherds had seen the angels for a small fee. That small fee, by the way, was the price of the petrol (fuel). 

As they drove through the countryside the hills were rolling and covered with green grass. Surely these must be the meadows where the sheep grazed. But the guide explained no the land is too flat, only cattle grazed these meadows. Finally after driving some distance they came to a hilly, rocked covered region with steep trails and ravines. He asked Michael, his guide, what would live in a wilderness as this? Michael answered   mountain lions, wolves, bears but also shepherds and sheep. He went on to explain that this is a place where the shepherds had grazed sheep for generations even back to the time of Jesus. But this was a wilderness not lush green pasture. This is a place of peril, by animal, by landscape, by bad men in a bad land.  Yet this was the way it was in Jesus day as well.

They began to walk up a narrow path with a cliff to one side and a rugged wall of stone on the other. As they crested the hill a green meadow laid ahead them was full of sheep. The meadow was well protected with wall of stone reaching up in all directions. In the side of one of those walls was a cave. The front of the cave had stones piled up to create a narrow passage way. He asked if in this cave was where the shepherds slept at night. Michael responded no only the sheep. What keeps the sheep inside? The shepherd does, he sleeps across the opening. The shepherd is the door; he is the protector of the sheep. And that brings us to our passage today.

Jesus says: "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Jesus is not only the shepherd of the sheep; He is also the door of the sheep pen, the door of the sheep. There is also no other way into the sheep pen than through the crucified and risen Jesus. He is the door for the sheep. He eagerly guards His sheep against predators and intruders, false ministers and teachers. Sheep were kept in walled pens or caves during the night for protection. The sheep pen had only one gate, one door. Every morning the shepherd would stand at the opening and call out to his sheep by the names he had given them. They would beckon the sound of his voice and follow him through the gate into the pasture. A devoted shepherd would even sleep on the ground across the opening of the sheep pen during the night to protect his flock. The shepherd literally became the gate for the sheep, by laying down his life for the sheep.

There is no other way to be saved than through Jesus. There is no other way to the lush, green pasture of eternal life than through crucified and risen flesh of Jesus. "No one comes to the Father except through me," (John 14:6) Jesus said. There is no other name than the name of Jesus by which we are saved. There is no other death than the death of Jesus that leads to eternal life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is the only true way to eternal life. All other ways, no matter how attractive, how religious, how righteous it may appear, it leads to death and destruction.

The image of the sheep pen is a beautiful picture of the church as it is in the world. The believers in Christ are brought in out of the world, rescued from certain death and damnation, through the gate of Jesus' death and resurrection, for He laid down His life for us. We are in the world but no longer of the world. In the sheep pen we are cared for and fed by the shepherd. Our wounds are anointed with the healing balm of forgiveness. - For we are washed in the cleansing waters of baptism. We are fed forgiveness through the very body and blood of Jesus and strengthened by God’s Word. We are guarded against false shepherds and wolves. He feeds us. He anoints us and calls out to us. We hear His voice. "Sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd" is what the church is, believers who hear the Gospel. Then we go out in Jesus' name, through Him into the world to live out our lives in the work God has called us too do. The sheep are never apart from their Shepherd and He is never apart from us. So we like sheep, are gathered together in the sheep pen of this church and lead out into our everyday lives by Jesus the Good Shepherd through the gate of His death and resurrection. We are lead out to proclaim Jesus as the only way, the only door to salvation. That is the purpose of the church to bring salvation and restoration to sick sinful people of the world. When we lose sight of the mission to reach out to a sin sick world then we become the ones needing to be reached. A church that has lost that vision, has forgotten why Jesus came, why He lived, why He died, why He rose again and why they exist to share that message.

Jesus is the door to eternal life, the only door. His death and resurrection is the only path that leads to eternal life. One day He shall stand at the doorway and call each of us again by our name, as He has already called us in Baptism, as He continues to call us through The Lord’s Supper and His Word. We shall hear His voice and follow Him through the door of His death and resurrection, and He shall raise us clothed with His immortality, never to suffer, and never to die again.  Our Lord, our Shepherd, our Door to everlasting life, Jesus. All praise, honor and glory be His now and forever. Amen

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen!