I Am The Door

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John 10:7-10

(7) So Jesus again said to them, “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 listen to them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and 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.

Today we will study the third I Am statement of Jesus—“I Am the Door.”  

INTRODUCTION

First of all, take note that there is only one setting for the third and fourth “I Am” statements of Jesus (“I am the Door” and “I am the good Shepherd”). They are both found in John chapter 10. So basically, these two statements are related to each other. There is no real break between chapter 9 and 10.  I know it says “Chapter 10” but in the original manuscripts there are no chapter divisions. So the context is the same day, the same scene, the same people, and Jesus responding to the same event.  

A. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind (9:1-12)

Chapter 9 was about a man born blind who had become a beggar, and the disciples asked Jesus “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (v.2-3). So Jesus gave sight to this blind man.

Jesus spat on the ground and made a paste out of mud and his spit and rubbed it on the man’s eyes. Then He told him to wash his face in the Pool of Siloam. After the man did this, he was able to see.  

Naturally, he wanted to know who had healed him, so Jesus spoke to him. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Take note that Jesus is still talking about Himself as the light of the world (v.5) and His healing this blind man was a direct sign of His claim as the Messiah.  Now you’d think this miracle would make everyone happy. But some people were skeptical. “Was it even the same man?” some asked. The Pharisees too were doubtful.

B. The Pharisees Investigates the Healing (9:13-34)

They called his parents over and began to grill them with questions, asking them to verify their son’s identity.

The Pharisees took a legalistic approach to the healing and the fact that Jesus performed it on the Sabbath. This was the day that there wasn’t supposed to be any work done. Therefore, the healing was breaking their laws.

After arguing with the man for a short while, they eventually cast him out of the synagogue. In their eyes, the former blind man couldn’t possibly have experienced God, since he wasn’t healed in the way that they expected God to heal. This healing couldn’t be valid.

C. Jesus and the Healed Beggar (9:35-41)

In the last few verses of chapter 9 we see Jesus talking to the healed beggar and revealing Himself to him that He is the Messiah, the Son of Man. To which the man believed and worshipped Him (v.38).

And then Jesus declared,

John 9:39

“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

Hearing this, the Pharisees were all the more enraged with hatred for Jesus. 

Instead of rejoicing that the blind man had experienced God, they decided they would act as a block or obstacle to access God. They were trying to be a door to God themselves.

This is why Jesus then replies in John chapter 10, “I am the door of the sheep.” There is no real break between chapters 9 and 10. It’s still the same scene, and Jesus is addressing the same people.

Here, in this chapter, Jesus employs one of the most beautiful word pictures in all of the Bible.  Jesus called it a “figure of speech” (Gk. Paroimia) in verse 6.  It’s not a parable because it doesn’t start “the kingdom of God is like.”  It is a word picture that Jesus (God as a whole) loves to use in the Bible. It is the Shepherd-sheep imagery to illustrate God’s relationship to His people.

II. INTERPRETATION

Shepherding and raising sheep was a very common thing in the land of Israel.  The main part of Judea is a central plateau, and it’s very rocky, and it wasn’t good for crops, so it became the place where sheep would graze. No wonder, God used this word picture to describe Him and His affection for His chosen people.

I will talk more about Jesus being our shepherd next Sunday when we deal with “I am the good shepherd.” But for now, I want us to visualize what Jesus is talking about in John 10:1-9. 

John 10:1-9

(1) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (2) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (5) A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (6) This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

(7) So Jesus again said to them, “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 listen to them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Jesus draws his metaphor from the imagery of a sheep pen, which was an enclosure usually made of stone walls. At night, the shepherds would bring the sheep in there to allow them to rest securely. The sheep would enter one at a time, while the shepherd would stop each sheep with his rod and check each one out for wounds. He would let them through one by one and drop his rod over the next one and when he had examined him, would let the sheep in.

Shepherds would even share a sheep pen and put all their animals in this enclosure. All of the village sheep would be in one fold which was the place of protection.

Historians have found evidence that when these shepherds put the sheep in the pen at night, the shepherds would lie across the front of the pen and would act as a guard.  They were effectively a door or gate for the sheep pen. This was not only to prevent predators from getting in but to prevent sheep from getting out. The shepherds would lay across and fall asleep there or stay watch. The sheep would go in or out only with the shepherd’s care.

It’s an image like this that we get when we read John 10.

“I Am the Door” means…

1. Jesus is the EXCLUSIVE Way to Salvation

John 10:9

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…”

In this “I am” statement, Jesus vividly illustrated for us the exclusive nature of salvation by saying that He is “the door,” not “a door.” Furthermore, Jesus is not only our Shepherd who leads us into the “sheepfold,” but He is the only door by which we may enter and be saved (John 10:9). Jesus is the only means we have of receiving eternal life (John 3:16). There is no other way.

In the grammatical construction of His words, Jesus is not suggesting that there are several doors to salvation and that He is but one of them. No! He is saying that He IS “the” door.  We should not think that there can be many ways of coming to God. Jesus is saying He is the ONLY door by which all chosen sheep must enter.

Acts 4:12

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 

2. Jesus is the EXTENSIVE Way to Salvation

John 10:9

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Yes, Jesus is saying, I am the exclusive door to safety and salvation. But none of us wants to be merely saved, right? We were not created merely to be safe. The human heart yearns infinitely more than safety.  Oh yes, salvation is basic and necessary. We want to be protected from what can destroy our souls. We want life. Eternal life. But we want more than mere life today and eternal life in the future. We want the freedom to enjoy life, but such freedom was stolen by the devil due to sin and corruption. As long as people are under the yoke of sin slavery, they are under the slavery of Satan. 

But Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved [yes, but more, so much more]. My being the door extends beyond being safety and salvation. The point of saying this is that the sheepfold itself represents safety and protection. But sheep don’t want to stay their whole day. In fact, they will die if they stay in the safety of the fold. They want green pastures and still waters outside.

And I think that is what Jesus meant in the rest of verse 9, “and he will go in and out and find pasture”— He is not saying that we “go in and out” of salvation. But rather this is the old Hebrew way of describing life without fear, instead, it’s a fearless life and with so much more! Christ as our extensive door provides us security, liberty, and sufficiency.

So thank you, Jesus, for being a door for us. We believe you are the only door to eternal safety. The only door to soul-satisfying pastures. The only door to God. We enter. Thank you.

3. Jesus is the EXCESSIVE Way to Salvation.

John 10:10 NKJV

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

This is so amazing truth! Jesus being our door to salvation is not only exclusive (He alone is the door to heaven), extensive (we can go in and out and find pasture), but it is also excessive as well (more abundantly). 

In contrast to the thief (Satan) who comes only to steal and kill and destroy, Jesus, our excessive door, comes to lavish us with more life.  Jesus doesn’t just save us eternally, in Him, we have life abundantly. Amen? 

III. THE IMPLICATION

Having known the interpretation of what it means when Jesus declares “I Am the door…,” let us now learn what it means for us today to have Jesus as our door.

1. We are Saved forever!

What does Jesus save us from? Jesus saves us from our sin. 

1 Tim. 1:15 (NIV) 

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.”

Jesus saves us from the penalty of sin which is the second death (lake of fire) and gives us eternal life. And this eternal life is secured by Christ forever.

John 10:28

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

2. We are Secured and sustained forever!

John 10:9

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Jesus is our Securing Door. The imagery here is that the sheep are safe when the shepherd is present. The sheep can come into the pen and feel safe…they can go out and look for pasture and they are safe. 

I love the way The Message puts this verse: 

John 10:9 (Msg) 

“I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through Me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture.” 

The sheep are safe to move about and find the shepherd’s provision.

In the same way as the sheep, we are safe to come in and go out. We are safe and secure from the enemy we can come in and feast on the riches of Christ…we come in by building our relationship with Christ through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with others. Those of us who know the Lord Jesus, need to be aware of the door that leads to a deeper relationship with the Lord…and we need to be more intentional about going in and growing.

3. We are Satisfied forever!

John 10

(9) I am the door. …I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

Jesus comes to say that there is more… there is more to this life than living and dying! Jesus came to give us Abundant life. Overflowing life. Deep life. Weighty life. Joyful life. Peaceful life. Satisfying life.

We don’t just survive. In Christ, we thrive at every level of our human being. We were made for this. This abundant life glorifies Him. And Christ came to offer us this. 

Remember the famous lines of John Piper? 

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Jesus comes to give us abundant life full or rich meaning and deep satisfaction! God gives us the promise of eternal life, but we can have a rich and fulfilling life here. We don’t just have to wait for this life to enjoy God’s victory. 

And by the way, abundant life is not about having stuff. It’s about having peace, having joy, having satisfaction, having contentment in life, having a personal and intimate and loving and caring relationship with God.

IV. THE INVITATION

4. Jesus is the INCLUSIVE way to salvation.

John 10:9

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Here, Jesus makes a glorious offer: “If anyone enters by Me.”  Jesus is the exclusive Door to heaven, but His offer is inclusive of anyone who believes in Him!

Yes, anyone who is willing to repent, anyone who is willing live for God, anyone who is willing to deny self and suffer for God, anyone who seeks first His kingdom and righteousness, anyone who is willing to exchange worldly pleasures for the pleasure of owning Christ.  

But why are so many people not coming to Christ and being saved?

There is a problem. Sinners are separated from God by a wide wall of sin. The situation can be also be pictured as a wall separating God and man. If there is no way over the wall then our only hope is for some way through the wall, in other words, a door. 
A Door is a direct contrast to a wall. It is hard to climb a wall. It is easy to go through a door. Anyone who wants to get to God doesn’t have to climb. He just makes a radical decision to open the door.
A door is only a helpful thing if it is used. “If anyone enters….” Christ forces no one to enter. You have to come to Christ willingly, freely, submissively.
What wonderful things await you on the other side of that door! It will open to anyone who will turn their back on their sins, self-centeredness and walk in. And oh what marvellous things await you on the other side of that door. 

Conclusion

In Rev. 3:20, in His letter to the Church in Laodicea, Jesus describes another door that must be opened, He said… 

Rev. 3:20

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. 

Are you seeking to go through other doors in your life instead of the door of Jesus Christ?

Are you trying to be a door for someone else?

How will you respond to Jesus’ invitation to enter through His door?

He is knocking at your door today. Your response to Jesus Christ as the Door determines your eternal destiny!

Remember, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God through any other way as prescribed by God’s Word. There is but only one way to enter the fold of God; through repentance, faith and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour.  Amen.