Jesus Is the Door

John 10:7-10

In John 10 Jesus is following-up on His controversy with the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, over the matter of His healing on the Sabbath the man born blind (John 9). Last time we looked at John 10:1-6 where Jesus illustrated the differences between Himself as the true shepherd and the Pharisees as false shepherds. These Jewish leaders should have been faithfully shepherding God’s people, but instead they were wielding their authority with no concern for the sheep. They would put out of the synagogue people like this man born blind or anyone else who confessed Jesus to be the Christ (9:22). But they were thieves and robbers who were using the flock for their own power rather than sacrificing themselves for the sake of the sheep.

Verse 6 concludes, “Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.” Since they did not understand His symbolic language, Jesus followed His illustration with application in John 10:7-10. Notice how He turns from speaking in the third person in John 10:1-6 to the first person in John 10:7ff. Listen to John 10:1-10 and then we will study verses 7-10 today.

1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 “But he who enters by the door is the 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 “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 “Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear 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 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.

Twice in these four verses (John 10:7-10) Jesus said, “I am the door.” What does He mean by this? In His opening illustration in John 10:1-5, the scene was a common sheepfold in the village where the different shepherds would bring their sheep each night. There was a doorkeeper to guard the entrance. But now, the scene probably has shifted to the countryside, where the shepherd would take his sheep for summer pasture (William Barclay, The Gospel of John [Westminster], rev. ed., 2:58). The shepherd would build a protective enclosure for the sheep so that they could go in for protection at night and go out to feed during the day. The shepherd himself would lay across the opening to the shelter at night. So Jesus pictures Himself as both the door in John 10:7-10 and the shepherd in John 10:11-18. As the door, He let in the true sheep to keep them safe, but He excluded predators or thieves that would harm the sheep. As the door, He let them out to the green pastures to feed.

G. Campbell Morgan records an illustration of this practice from perhaps the greatest Old Testament scholar of his day; Sir George Adam Smith.

He was one day traveling with a guide, and came across a shepherd and his sheep. He fell into conversation with him. The man showed him the fold into which the sheep were lead at night. It consisted of four walls, with a way in. Sir George said to him, “That is where they go at night?” “Yes,” said the shepherd, “and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe.” “But there is no door,” said Sir George. “I am the door,” said the shepherd. He was not a Christian man, he was not speaking in the language of the New Testament. He was speaking from the Arab shepherd’s standpoint. Sir George looked at him and said, “What do you mean by the door?” Said the shepherd, “When the light has gone, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in the open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door.”

Jesus is the door to abundant life for all who come through Him. In these verses we see that Jesus the Door meets three of our most important needs: salvation, security and satisfaction. So I want us to consider these verses under those headings. First, Jesus is the:

1 – Door of Salvation (John 10:7-9a)

Look at John 10:7 and 9: “7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. … 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved …” The first thing we discover is that the door is a person (“I am”) and the way in is personal (“if anyone”). Jesus declares that He is the door to salvation and that the only entrance is “by Me.”

Let’s break this down a bit further.

A. Jesus is the only door.

A sheepfold only had one entry point, one door. Jesus is saying the same thing He will say to His disciples in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus was claiming to be the exclusive, only way to God. Just as Noah was instructed to make only one door into the ark (Gen. 6:16; 7:16), so too, there is just one way to be saved from certain destruction. Just as there was only one door to the tabernacle of God (Exo. 26:36) so Jesus is the only door to salvation and God’s presence. The apostle Paul put it (Eph. 2:18), “For through Him (through Jesus) we both (both Jews and Gentiles) have access by one Spirit to the Father.” It is what the apostles taught in Acts 4:12 about the name of Jesus, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus is the only door. In the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, the “One Way” sign—the index finger held high—became of popular icon. “One Way” bumper stickers and lapel pins were everywhere, and the “One Way” slogan was a very catching phrase. Although the Jesus Movement of those years sometimes did not have very good theology, they had this right. Jesus is the One Way, the only door of salvation.

While this is not very popular in our politically correct culture, all roads do not lead to heaven. We don’t all worship the same God. Sincerity doesn’t get you there. Good works aren’t good enough.

Generally the world is okay with you if you say, “Jesus is a door to God.” They think, “That’s fine! Mohammad is also a door and Buddha is a door and nature is a door. All religions lead to God. There are many doors.” But when you draw the line that Jesus drew and insist, “No, He is the only door,” you get accused of being intolerant and bigoted.

Jesus was not afraid to confront the false religion of His day. Look at John 10:8, “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” Literally that verse reads in the present tense, “All those who come before…” Jesus is not referring to the godly prophets of old, men like Moses and Elijah, Daniel or even John the Baptist. He is referring especially to the thieves and robbers who were standing before Him, the Pharisees who were not godly shepherds over Israel. And He is referring to all those pseudo-shepherds (past, present, and future) who seek to usurp His place and prominence as the One sent from heaven by the Father. The Pharisees certainly think of themselves as the “gatekeepers” of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ day. Jesus says of them in Matthew 23:13, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

So, Jesus is the only door of the sheep. All others who claim to be the way to God are thieves and robbers. And we see also that,

B. Jesus is an open door.

Salvation is available for all. The condition is, “If anyone enters by Me.” The invitation is open to “anyone” and everyone, but you must enter through Jesus alone. It’s not limited to one group of people but is intended for the whole world. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how you’ve been living. As we saw in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:13: “For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.””

While the door is open to all kinds of people, an individual must “enter” in order to be saved. How do you enter? Well, that’s the theme of the entire Gospel of John. He wrote these signs that Jesus did (20:31), “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Or (John 1:12), “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” You must believe and receive.

To enter through Jesus the door means to believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of God, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead. Have you done that? Have you put your trust in Jesus as your only hope for eternal life? Before leaving this point, notice that Jesus doesn’t say you might be saved or mabye you’ll get in, but rather: “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…”

So Jesus is the only door of salvation. The door is open to anyone who comes and enters by Him. Secondly, Jesus is the:

2 – Door of Security (John 10:9b)

This is the main idea behind the picture of sheep going in and out to find pasture. Barclay says that this “was the Jewish way of describing a life that is absolutely secure and safe.” If the country was under siege, people had to stay inside the city walls. But when they were at peace and the ruler was upholding law and order, people were free to come and go as they wished. Moses used this language in praying for his successor (Num. 27:16-17), “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” (See also, Deut. 28:6; 1 Kings 3:7; Ps. 121:8.) So when Jesus, the good shepherd, guards the flock, they are secure to go in and out and find pasture.

The sheep know they are safe because the shepherd is protecting them. The sheep were safe inside the fold and they were secure out in the pasture because the shepherd was with them.

The term also was a Hebrew expression that connoted familiar access. In Acts 1:21, Peter mentions “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.” Acts 9:28 mentions how after Paul’s conversion, when Barnabas introduced him to the apostles and they came to trust that he really was converted, Paul “was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.”

So the spiritual picture is that if you have entered the fold through Jesus, who is both the door and the shepherd, He provides safety and familiar access. He is guarding all of your ways. It’s like Psalm 23:4 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” You can go out to the rich pasturelands that He provides and come into the safety of His fold without fear.

Jesus will speak about the eternal security of those who believe in Him later in this chapter (John 10:27-29):

27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

With all that is happening in our world right now, isn’t it good to know that our faith gives us freedom to trust that the Redeemer is our refuge? We can go about our daily routines and be confident about our salvation and about our ultimate safety, even if the Lord were to call us home sooner than we expect.

So Jesus is the door of salvation and the door of security. Thirdly we see Jesus is the,

3 – Door of Satisfaction (John 10:9c-10)

This is the picture behind “pasture,” as well as the idea of “abundant life.” Jesus says in verse 10, “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.”

Jesus not only came to save, and to give you security, He also came to satisfy: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The word “abundantly” means, “beyond what is necessary,” “exceeding,” “superabundant” or “excessively superior.”

Notice that the sheep go in and go out and “find pasture.” As we learned in John 6, the hunger of the human soul can only be satisfied by Jesus, the Bread of Life. Are you feeding upon Him daily? Did you know that sheep won’t settle down until their needs are met?

Listen to the opening words of Psalm 23: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”

Jesus meets all of our needs so that we can experience true rest in Him. We can rest secure in our salvation because Jesus has done everything necessary to purchase our salvation for us. As He says in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Jesus met our deepest need, the need for rescue from sin and death. He did it by giving His life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin in our place. This is why we can go in and out with Him. He died for our sins, so that we are forgiven and have access to God. And He was raised from the dead to be the great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20–21). Today. Alive. Leading us again and again to protection and pasture — life and abundant life.

Many Americans who are financially comfortable may have achieved “the good life.” But most of them have missed the abundant life that Jesus promised to all who follow Him. The abundant life that Jesus promised has nothing to do with material wealth, no matter how many times the false teachers of the “prosperity gospel” preach it. These pseudo-shepherds do not care about the flock; they care about themselves. So, they use and abuse the flock. As Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

Abundant life has everything to do with being right with God through faith in Christ and having the hope of eternity spent in His presence. It’s not pointing to having an abundance of material goods, but rather to the soul satisfaction that comes when you know that the Lord is your shepherd.

You know that He is caring for you and He prepares a table before you even in the presence of enemies, so that your cup overflows (Ps. 23:5). He goes with you even through the valley of the shadow of death. In other words, Jesus isn’t promising an easy life where there are no trials or where you get instant deliverance from your trials. Rather, He is promising to meet all of our spiritual needs if we will enter through Him as the door.

There are only two ways to live your life: You can pursue this world for satisfaction, or you can seek after God to satisfy. The world, under the dominion of the thief Satan, will rob, kill, and destroy your soul. Jesus offers life, and that more abundantly.

Eternal life is forever but it doesn’t start once you die. It begins as soon as you are saved! He has chosen you and He has a mission for your life. Are you tuned in to Him or have you allowed Satan to steal some things from you?

Jesus wants us Saved, Secure and Satisfied in Him. Are you?

There are only two groups of people here today. Those who are saved and those who are not…yet. You’ve either entered the door of salvation or you’re still standing outside that door. For those of you who are not saved, think about these verses:

Genesis 4:7: “And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Admit that sin lies at your door. You are a sinner in need of a Savior.
Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Enter the narrow door of salvation right now. Come to Jesus enter into life through Him.
Matthew 25:10-13: “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” Be saved before the door shuts.

For those of us who have already entered the door of salvation through Jesus Christ think about these verses:

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Have you shut Christ out from fellowship with you? Open the door to Christ and restore your closeness with Him.
James 5:9: “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” Have you gotten in the bad habit of grumbling about others in the church? Our shepherd, the Judge, is at the door.
1 Corinthians 16:9: “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” The door of salvation is also a door of service. You were saved to be on mission with Jesus. Sure, there will be adversaries and setbacks, but Jesus has opened the great and effective door of opportunity for us.

It’s time to go through the door.