Chapter 10, Verse 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.”  So Jesus is now there with the man that was born blind, yet now sees, as well as some of the Pharisees (we know that from Chapter 9 verse 40).  And so Jesus begins to teach.  This must have been just awesome for the healed man…I bet he was hanging off of every word that Jesus spoke, just sponging it in.

 

And so Jesus is about to go into a very interesting teaching and He says the only acceptable way into the sheepfold is by the door.  What’s kinda funny to me is that, well, how else would you go in and out…its obvious isn’t it?  Just simply come in.  But even so, some will try to climb in, to work their way in, but Jesus says here…that doesn’t make you part of the fold but rather an enemy of the fold…a thief and a robber.  So what does that mean?

 

It’s very simple.  There is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved.  There is no salvation in any other…and that name is Jesus Christ.  (Acts 4:12)  Oh Matt….that’s so exclusive, that’s so narrow minded…no!  That’s so true!  That’s so clear from the Lord Himself.  Jesus will say later in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through Me.”

 

There is no other way.  All roads do not lead to heaven…they do all lead to God, that is true, but only one road leads to God’s fold…to His family…and that is the holy highway as the Bible calls it in Isaiah 35, the Way of the Master, the provided path of God Himself, Jesus Christ.

 

 

If you try to enter heaven or the fold of God by any other way, by good works, by being religious, you’ll never make it!  The single doorway into eternal life is Jesus Christ.  And that is what Jesus is saying right here.  Enter by the door and quit your climbing!

 

Ok, that’s one way to look at this scripture set.  Another way is to contextually understand that Jesus is addressing the Jews.

These are they that stand upon their own righteousness and therefore claim perfection in the presence of God because they keep the law…recall what Paul said in Philippians 3:6?  “Concerning righteousness according to the law, perfect.”  But we know, you and I know, that no one apart from Jesus is perfect.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 

And so “the door” here could also be a reference to the “law”…and therefore He is revealing to them that although they strain at a gnat, they swallow a camel…no one fulfills the law…everyone is busted and therefore the Jews are deceived thinking that concerning Judaism, they are perfect…but the law, the perfect and righteous origin of Judaism which was given by God, was never to be a way for man to establish his own righteousness but rather was always a schoolmaster for mankind (Galatians 3) showing us, revealing to us that we are all busted and in need of a Savior! 

 

All but One that is…right?  Jesus Christ Himself was a man and Himself was Savior and therefore there was and is One who entered the fold of God by the door…the lawful way…Jesus! 

 

And so He continues in verse 2 and He claims us as His own, check it out…”But He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”  And so now with the contextual understanding, this scripture has a simple meaning.  That Christ presented Himself to Israel in a lawful manner, that is, in perfect harmony with the law and the prophets…in direct perfect and complete alignment with the scriptures.  And therefore He is our shepherd!  He alone is qualified to lead the flock of God. 

 

 

That’s awesome!  Do you know what the word “Pastor” means?  It means shepherd…and so who is the Pastor of this church?  Jesus Christ!  Who is the rightful Pastor of all churches?  Jesus Christ!

 

We are under-shepherds.  We follow Him!  He is in charge…so awesome isn’t it?  Why?  Because He has declared that He is our Pastor…so cool.  And so when He says move we move, when He says go, we go.  And look there are many things that He has already said right…Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Go and make disciples…let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity (2 Tim 2:19)…trust Me, be still child and know that I am God…He is our Shepherd, and look what He says next, is if we are His sheep, we will obey Him…

 

Verse 3, To him, the doorkeeper opens (again Jesus is uniquely qualified), and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name (he is personal, he speaks to each one individually), and leads them out.  Leads them out of what?  Out of legalism, out from under the law and into grace.  Keep reading, verse 4.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

 

How do you know if you are in the fold of God?  You know Him, you know His voice (or His word) and therefore you trust Him and obey Him.  Jesus said here that His sheep follow Him.  So clear.  But what He is also saying here is the He has made a way for us…He has led us out of the trap that we walked right into…sin.  He came, humbled Himself and became a man…in strict accordance with the law and the scriptures, lived perfectly and offered Himself as a perfect sin sacrifice for all mankind once and for all.  And so that we are sure that His sacrifice was accepted by God the Father and met the righteous requirement of the law, He rose after three days because the grave could not hold Him.  And in His resurrection He birthed a new race of men and women.  Men and women that could be restored unto the Father.  Men and women that could live in the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit.  Because Jesus Himself, our Shepherd, led us out of the presence of evil and into the presence of the Holiest of all…and we are now accepted, captured by His grace, covered in His love, and washed clean in His blood.  So awesome. 

 

Is that you?  Do you hear Him?  He’s calling to you personally.  He says that right here.  Do you follow Him?  Are you His or are you still yours?  Listen, whatever or whomever you follow…that is your shepherd and there is only One that is good.  There is only One that will lead you out of the trap.  And if the One good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus is not your Shepherd…well look at the next verse.

 

Verse 5, Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.  I wonder are you fleeing from Him?  Jesus, so righteous, so clear…He says you will either follow or you will flee.  Some of you may have this dualistic approach to life.  When it comes to others, your have strict requirements of holiness and righteousness and kindness and even perfection, but when it comes to you…well, you know, “I try my best.”  “I’ll do the best I can do” is kinda the attitude but that is so unacceptable when applied to others isn’t it?  You demand, and you want, and you complain, and you manipulate…to get what you want.  Let me tell you, that is fleeing from God.  Truly.  Because to know Him is to know what He has done…to understand that you yourself have been forgiven much, you yourself have been pulled up from the miry clay and therefore knowing from whence you’ve been set free, you will no longer imprison others.

 

 

 

Or maybe some of you have one foot in the church and the other foot in the world.  It’s not going to work.  The Bible says that you cannot serve two masters because you will end up hating one of them…it’s just natural…to take sides…And which one are you going to hate, the one that rubs like sandpaper…because that is what our God does…we are His masterpiece and so He is continually revealing and urging and wooing and showing us what it is that is harmful about us…but our flesh just says, heyyyyy if it feels good…so naturally, if you’re playing church, if you’re playing games with God, naturally your flesh is going to get the better of you and it’s just not going to work….you will eventually and completely flee.    

 

But the Lord says in Hebrews 3, “today, while it is called today, if you will hear My voice and do not harden your hearts, you will enter My rest.”  I wonder today, if you’d hear His voice.  I wonder today if you’d be honest with yourself and for the first time ever, worship God…because Jesus said that God is seeking those that will worship Him in truth.  I wonder today if you’d be honest…and face the fact that you’re not following.  Or if you are, you’re following from afar which we know got Peter in all types of trouble.  I wonder today if you’re finally ready to rise above the lie of the enemy and hear His voice, and become a real follower.  The moment you do that, everything falls into place…everything changes.  You hear His voice and He leads you out of the trap…

 

Some will…but some won’t.  Some have grown so hard to the things of God…gradually…and I pray that God will call out even louder if that is the case…which means trials but I pray that God will do whatever it takes because even now, some may not understand, having been blinded by the prince of this age…just like some of these Jews here.  Look at the next verse, verse 6, Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

 

Verse 7, Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  Jesus is the path to life, He is the door, He is the Shepherd, He is the all.  And recall our first application of verse 1 where Jesus said “he who does not enter by the door is a thief and robber” in other words, remains in their sin.  And so now He provides even further clarification there for the Jews as we just read that they did not understand, and He tells them listen…if anyone desires to enter the fold of God, they must enter in by the door, and I am the door. 

 

Verse 8, All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  We are given a clue by Jesus about who is He talking about here.  He’s not talking about the saints of old…Moses, Joshua, Elijah, David, and so on.  How do we know that?  Because He then says, “The sheep did not hear them.”  Well we have the writings of Moses, we have the Book of Joshua…we hear them, we accept their writings as inspired by the Holy Spirit in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:16…so what is Jesus saying?  Consider His audience. 

 

He is speaking of the Sadducees and the Pharisees…all of them…all that seek to approach God on the basis of their own righteousness…they are busted.  Their sin remains…it is only the Savior who is able to remove sin…and therefore if we approach God on our own merit then surely we approach God as thieves and robbers.  However, if we place our trust in Jesus, God’s Son, the Savior of mankind, then we approach God the Father clothed in the finished work of the cross and surely we approach God in the perfection and righteousness and blood of His own Son…and we too are found to be His sons and His daughters. 

 

Paul said, it is not I that live but Christ that lives in me.  And by God’s grace through faith we are called holy.  2 Timothy 1:9.  You see?  Jesus has given rise to a whole new race of people.  A family.  A body.  A bride.  A heritage of God Himself.  A people that are not under the power of sin any longer.  Who live alive, who live free, who live powerfully!  Who bring glory to the Ancient of Days!  Who dwell in joy and rest in righteousness.  Look at how Jesus describes His people. 

 

Verse 9,  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  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.  Enter by Jesus, hear His voice, follow Him…He calls to each one of us by name…and you will be saved!  Saved from what, Matt?  Saved from hell!  Saved from the eternal destination of sin and death.  You don’t belong there…He screams through His word and through the cross how very much He doesn’t want you to end up there…He came that you might have a way to be restored unto God and live forever! 

 

And what’s more, He said “I came that you may have life”…eternal life, life lived on forever apart from the presence of sin and death and corruption and truly a part of God’s family with Him in His house, His kingdom…but what’s more is that we He said “I came that you may even have it more abundantly.”  That’s here and now.  That’s today and tomorrow if the Lord tarries.  His desire is not for you to live lonely, to live angry, to live frustrated because it just seems that you never “arrive” or nothing is ever easy or goes the way it should.  Even if you did get that promotion, get that raise, get that new toy…get that girl or that guy…after a while…it’s not enough anymore is it?  All that ever came and offered you life apart from Jesus Christ…He says here…is at it’s end…when it’s played out…it’s nothing but a destroyer.

 

But He came that we might be saved.  He came that we might be freed.  He led the way and now He calls out to you, hear Him!  God Himself said, “This is My Son of whom I am well pleased, hear Him!”  And if you do that today, you hear Him….listen, don’t harden your hearts.  Follow!  He will lead you out to pasture.  He will lead you to freedom!  He will lead you to life.