John 10:7-10

⁷ So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

I read a story about an Army veteran who had been wounded in Vietnam, was now on permanent disability and receiving benefits from the government. One day, out of the blue, he received an official notification from the government of his own death. Naturally, this came as quite a shock. To clear the matter he wrote the government a letter stating that he was indeed very much alive and explaining the necessity of continuing to receive his benefits. When the letter did no good he tried calling the government. Now, I’ve never had to call the government myself, but based on what little experience I’ve had with civil service person-to-person interaction I can imagine this was a true test of the man’s persistence and patience. But the phone calls didn't change the situation either. Finally, as a last resort, the veteran contacted a local television station, which ran a human-interest story about his situation. During the interview the reporter asked him, "How do you feel about this whole ordeal?" To which the veteran chuckled and said, "Well, I feel a little frustrated by it. After all, have you ever tried to prove that you're alive?”

That story has a somewhat comical undertone, but it does pose an interesting question. Are you alive? If you had to, how would you prove it? We make assumptions all the time about the people we know and see around us. They move, they breathe, they must be alive. But how about we take it a step further – are you merely alive, or really living? And given the option, which do you think most people would choose? Which would you choose? Do we even have a choice? Our scripture today indicates we do. And if we’re going to claim we believe what this book teaches, then maybe we should take a look at what it has to say about the abundant life.

John is recounting a story told by Jesus. By this time, according to John’s version of events, Jesus has already reached the high point of his ministry, the feeding of the five thousand (chapter 6). Many of the people are becoming more settled in their decision toward either belief or unbelief in Jesus’ claims, and Jesus is beginning to face open conflict with the religious leaders of his day. In this setting, Jesus tells a story. Not so uncommon, Jesus did that a lot, but we need to remind ourselves that any time Jesus told a story it wasn’t just for passing the time or to offer entertainment. He was attempting to communicate something, some truth, in a way that might be more easily understood.

He tells a story about sheep, sheep gates, and thieves. So one of the first things we should ask ourselves is, do I fit somewhere in this story? Because if this story is going to be applicable to me, I’ve got to figure out where I come into the picture. So we look. And, like it or not, we find that in this particular story, we are sheep.

Now I know that in some preaching you may have heard, sheep don’t get a very good rap. They’ve often been portrayed as rather stupid animals, with not much going for them. But I did some studying about sheep this week, and I learned a few things.

They are very much in the category of “prey” within the animal world, but they’ve got some fairly smart coping mechanisms to deal with this. They are herd animals, but a large part of the reason why they herd is because they know there’s safety in numbers – they stand a better chance against predators if they’re part of a larger group. This herding instinct is so strong that they’ll become very agitated if they get separated from the group, out on their own. They’re very social animals.

They have good senses. And while they don’t walk in straight lines, this is actually another means of preservation because the winding of their trails allows them to observe their backside first with one eye and then the other. Their instinct to “follow the leader” is very strong. Unfortunately it’s so strong they’ll follow even into danger, such as following right over the edge of a cliff. Oh, I’m sure no one has ever observed something like that in human behavior.

Sheep do have a very high tolerance for pain. But if for some reason they get knocked on their back, they can’t get up on their own – they require assistance. And they’re always seeking to establish, and re-establish, social order within the flock, using displays such as head butting, poking with their horns, shoulder shoving, or just flat out blocking with their bodies.

No, we may not like the similarities. We may prefer to think of ourselves as self-determining, independent beings in this life. And it is true that God has given us freedom to choose – to determine our own fates by either accepting or rejecting who he is and what he teaches. But if we’re going to learn anything from John’s lesson today, we have to accept that we’re the sheep.

So, given that we’re the sheep, what are our options? How do we interact with the other characters in the story? There’s really only two other primary players here. We have the sheep gate, and we have the thieves.

Now I realize that some of this is just lost on us. Maybe some of you with farming experience get it a little better than the rest of us, but let’s face it – none of us grew up in first century Palestine around sheep or shepherds. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still grasp the true meaning that Jesus was trying to communicate in this particular metaphor. Try to imagine that time and that place. Shepherding is very common, but you know it had to have been a difficult life. There’s not exactly a lot of prime grazing area in a desert region. Probably on the move a lot, trying to find the best food and water spots, as well as avoiding predators – both man and beast. But most nights you did return to a fixed location – the sheep pen. This was likely a rough stone or mud-brick structure, maybe even a cave, that probably only had minimal roofing. But it was a home for the flock and it was a safe place.

Part of the reason the sheep pen was so safe is there was only a single opening. It was the shepherd who stood in this gate entrance at night when the sheep returned and he inspected each one as it came through. If one had been scratched or wounded during the day, he tended it with oil. He gave water to the thirsty ones. Then when all the sheep were counted and safe inside, he lay across the opening so that none could enter without his knowledge.

Jesus says, “I am the gate.” In fact he says, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate…” He wants his audience to know that he’s making a particular point, in much the same way we might begin a statement by saying, “Now listen to this…” or, “Let me be honest with you…” It’s not to imply that you weren’t already listening or that we’re not being honest the rest of the time, but rather a way of saying, I want you to be absolutely assured about what I’m going to tell you. To further stress his intention, he also uses a particular pronoun “I” in the Greek, used when you wanted to make a very emphatic point. In other words he’s being quite adamant about this. Jesus wants the hearer to understand that he’s saying, I alone am the gate, not any one else.

I know we live in a world where it’s not very “PC” to make such statements, or even to claim you believe such statements. The world wants to say there are many gates, and any of them are equally valid. The important thing is you should respect my right to find my gateway to eternal truth, and I’ll do the same for you. But scripture challenges us to think otherwise, and this is not the only passage where it does so. Then again, neither does scripture teach us we should beat people over the head with our acceptance of God’s truth or make it our personal quest to prove the world in the wrong. We should respect others’ freedom to make their own choice about God, even if we’re convinced it’s not the right choice, while simultaneously remaining true to what we believe and being ever ready to provide a personal and valid testimony to those who are willing to hear the Christian perspective. Regardless of the choice you, I, or anyone else makes about God and Christianity, this remains true: everyone who encounters God and his story in some way has to ask himself the question, do I believe and accept this as true or not? Then he has to act on his answer to that question. Jesus says, I am the gate. You must decide how to respond to that.

If Jesus is the gate for the sheep, then what does that mean for us? John is pretty straightforward in his record of this parable. Whoever enters by me [Jesus, the gate] will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

So we’ll be saved. Saved from what? Well, have you got time for a whole other sermon, because that incorporates a lot! But in a nutshell Jesus is speaking in the Biblical terms of salvation here, which deals with justification (having the sin in your life dealt with effectively), regeneration (being made spiritually alive so that you can live a life obedient to God), adoption (being made a member in the family of God and a partaker of all familial benefits, including eternal life), and sanctification (being transformed into a holy being by being in right relationship with God himself).

Beyond all that we also find pasture – sustenance, all that we need for daily life. We do get to come into the sheep pen, so we have a place of belonging, a place where we can rest and be safe. Our shepherd will check us at the gate, tending to us and making certain all is well. But we’ll also go out again, and although it doesn’t say it specifically in this passage we know from other parables Jesus tells regarding sheep that this Good Shepherd always leads and guides his sheep. He watches over them when they’re away from the pen.

I don’t know about you, but sounds like a pretty good existence for a sheep. And all we have to do to experience this is go through the sheep gate, Jesus Christ. Yet this is not all the story has to teach us, because Jesus also makes mention of another primary character – the thief.

Again, we don’t have first hand knowledge of what it was like for the Palestinian shepherd, but we all understand the concept of a thief and what kind of threat he poses. A thief is someone out for his own gain, to take what is not rightfully his at the expense of another. Those of us in this local congregation know all too well the feelings associated with thievery, from when our church was broken into not many months ago. You remember how it made us feel betrayed and taken advantage of, and the disappointment in knowing that justice could not be done unless the thieves were caught. You know how we have to fight against negative feelings that could weigh us down when considering it could happen again.

Jesus understood all this, and knew his audience would as well. And especially in the context of this story, dealing with shepherds and flocks of sheep, is it any wonder that he states it so vividly? The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. He has no other purpose but to take, and to take at whatever cost. The well-being of the thief alone is all that’s at stake, and he certainly has no regard for the sheep. He won’t simply bring death either, his intent goes so far as to include destruction and ruin.

Jesus seems to be indicating some specific types of thieves in his story here (vs. 8), mainly false teachers and prophets or others who would claim to be messiahs. And if we are truly the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s flock then we’ll recognize these false ones for what they are, and not listen to them. But in the broader scope of this parable I don’t think we go wrong to ask ourselves what other thieves are a threat to us. Are there others besides false teachers who would seek our destruction for their own gain? Whether we want to consider the implications of this on some physical level, within the context of our day-to-day life, or we choose to look at it from the spiritual point of view where it’s the safety of our eternal soul on the line, it’s pretty clear that this warning is all to applicable. I’m just a sheep. You’re just a sheep. And there are dangerous thieves out there who have one goal – to take, to kill, and to destroy me and you.

Aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t end the story there? Yes, the thief is a reality. And sometimes he comes. But that’s not the only available scenario. Because this Jesus, this Good Shepherd who so adamantly declares, I am the gate, also has a clearly defined purpose. But his purpose is in stark contrast to that of the thief. Just as Jesus emphatically said I and I alone am the gate, he says I and I alone came that they [the sheep] may have life.

I’m certainly no Greek scholar, but with my husband’s help I’m trying to learn. And one of the things about foreign languages that interests me is you begin to figure out that much of what actually gets communicated by what someone says is all wrapped up in how the person says it. Such is the case here. Because John, with his Greek vocabulary, knew there was more than one word available that meant “life”. And if you do even a brief word study in John’s writings you’ll see that he used different Greek versions to say “life” in different situations. In this instance he’s making a definite statement, about something that goes beyond the mere state of physical existence. This life that Jesus comes to give has vitality and fullness. It’s genuine and involved, implying a sense of completeness or wholeness. It also carries connotations of the spiritual, as in eternal life and this vitality and fullness carrying over into the hereafter.

And just in case the audience misses it, doesn’t quite grasp what John’s trying to say here, he drives the punch line all the way home: and have it abundantly. Not just life, not just the good and full life, but this kind of life in abundance – surpassing, something more than is necessary, extraordinary, over and above.

Are you alive? Oh, you’re not going to be asked to prove it to me. I can look out and make a fair assessment that yes, indeed, most of you are living, breathing human beings. But are you really alive? Do you have life – life that is full and complete? Not because you’ve got plenty of money, or own the latest fashions, nicest house or newest car; not because you’re the smartest or the prettiest, the greatest athlete or have all the best friends; not even because you’re schedule is packed full of things to do, things that you enjoy and bring lots of good and happiness to yourself and so many others. But do you have true life? When you wake in the morning do you know that regardless of the circumstances of the day itself that it’s good to be alive? Do you find meaning and purpose in your existence? Are you walking, day by day, no matter what happens, in the joy and peace of abundant living?

If not, then John has offered us hope that your situation can change. The abundant life is a viable reality. All you have to do is accept this truth, and enter through the gate, Jesus Christ.

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