THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
"I Am the Door of the Sheepfold”
Rev.
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prca.orgDear radio friends,
In the Gospel According
to John, our Savior Jesus Christ identifies Himself with the statements: “I am.
I am the bread of life; I am the good shepherd; I am the light of the
world.” Today: “I am the door of the sheepfold.” You may find that in
John 10:9.
It is another one of the “I am” sayings of
Jesus, sayings in which Jesus is telling us who He is and what He is to
us—beautiful, wonderful statements, in order that our faith might embrace Him
and that He might be precious to us as our Savior and our God.
The context in
which Jesus says “I am the door” is extremely important for us to
understand. That context goes back into
John, chapter 9. You will remember that
there Jesus saw a man who was blind from his birth and the Lord miraculously
healed him. The man rejoiced. We read in verse 25 of
John 9,
“One thing I
know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
The neighbors began
to ask him questions. They knew that he
was blind from birth. How did this
happen to you? They took him to the
Pharisees. The Pharisees, however, were
blind spiritual leaders of the blind. And the Pharisees, we discover in
John 9,
were not at all happy about
the healing of this man. They asked him,
“Who healed you? How did he do it?” And when they found out that it was Jesus of
Nazareth, they began to mock and ridicule and threaten him when the man would
not say that Jesus was a sinner.
The Pharisees,
then, turned to an interrogation of the man’s parents. The parents did not say much. They responded to the Pharisees, “Our son is of
age. Ask him.”
So the Pharisees
returned to the man who had been healed, who had been given his sight, and they
asked him about Jesus. He responded
(9:30): “Marvelous this is that a man
has opened my eyes and yet you do not know who he is.” Further, the man went on to say: “If he were not of God, he could do
nothing.”
It was then that
the Pharisees, we read, cast the man out of the
synagogue. They were dealing with the
sheep of the Lord, with God’s children, in a harsh manner. They claimed that they were the religious
leaders. But they did not care for the
sheep. They ridiculed the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they persecuted those who would confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Now it is in that
context that Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I am not like these false shepherds, the
Pharisees. I love the sheep. I lay down My life
for the sheep.” And then, in that
context, He says, “As the good shepherd, I am also the door of the
sheepfold.” He says, “I am the
door: by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture.” Jesus is not only identifying
Himself to us as the true spiritual caretaker of every child of God, but He is
going on and is saying, “I am the one, the only one, through whom any can come
into the fellowship of God and find life eternal.” That is the precious truth that Jesus is
teaching. “I am the door: by me, if any man enter
in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Those are beautiful
words of Jesus. You might read different
commentators on that passage and you will find that they have no end of
difficulty in trying to explain the passage.
Nevertheless, Jesus’ words are abundantly clear. They are so clear that all the children who
are listening right now can easily understand exactly what Jesus means. He means that only through Him, only through
Jesus, can we ever enter into the safety of God’s care and love that is found
in His church.
Jesus is using a
parable. In fact, He says that in
John 10:6:
“This parable spake
Jesus unto them: but they understood not
what things they were which he spake unto them.” Jesus is using a figure, or an example, that
was very familiar in His day. In His day
shepherds would bring their flocks at night into one fold or corral. The land was very good for pasture. There would be many flocks upon the
hills. But there were
also many wolves and enemies. So
at night the shepherds would all lead their flocks into one fold.
This fold would
have a corral or fence made of stone. It
would have to be high enough to keep out thieves and robbers and wolves. And it would have a gate. At the gate there would be stationed a porter
or a gatekeeper who would open the gate to allow the sheep into the fold and,
in the morning, the shepherds were return to their different folds and would
come to the gate and call out their sheep. Jesus goes on to say in
John 10
that the sheep would know the voice of
the shepherd. The shepherd would know
each one of his sheep by name and would be able to identify them. The sheep would follow their respective
shepherds out of the fold. A very beautiful example of Jesus Christ, the One who calls His
people to Himself by His mighty and powerful word.
Then Jesus says, “I
am the door.” He means to say that the
sheepfold to which He is referring is the church. It is the place where we are kept safe and
protected. Later on, in verse 16, Jesus
will say, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear
my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” The fold of Jesus Christ is the church. In the church, through the Holy Spirit and
the Word, we are given fellowship with the living God. Within the fold of Jesus Christ we enjoy
life, we enjoy salvation. Jesus says,
“By me, if any man shall enter in, come into this fold, he shall be
saved.” Then, later on, He is going to
say, “I am come that ye might have life and have it more abundantly.” Within the
To enjoy this, you
must go through the door, through Christ.
When Christ saves you, He brings you into His fold, into His
church. And within the church you have
fellowship with God, a living fellowship.
Through Jesus you have access to God.
That is what He is saying. As the
door, Jesus is the only One who can bring us into the fellowship of God, and
bring us into abundant life—so abundant that it is much more than you could
ever suppose, far more than you could ever deserve. It is fellowship and life with God and to
live in God’s presence.
Jesus said, “I am
the door. Through Me you enter not
merely a meager spiritual existence, but abundant, heavenly, eternal fellowship
with God, peace with God, in the presence of God.”
Within the fold,
within the church, is where Jesus brings us.
There we are brought into the rich, loving embrace of God. And there, within that fold, Christ cares for
us through His Word and through sacraments, through elders and through
ministers, through fellow believers.
Jesus does not say, “Well, there are wolves all over these hills. The last days are filled with spiritual
peril. So I want all of My believers, all of My sheep, to camp out in little groups
and leave the church.” No. But He says, “I want them within the
fold.” That is why it is so distressing
when the heresy is promoted that in the last days the end of the church-age has
come. What folly! How unbiblical. How ungodly.
No, in the last days, when the wolves abound, when the perils against
the Christian’s soul multiply, Jesus Christ says, “Enter, through Me, into the fold, into the church, which is the body of
Jesus Christ. Enter into that church in
its local place, under elders and deacons, under the faithful preaching of the
Word. For there I will care for
you. And there you will have fellowship
with Me.”
“But make no
mistake,” said Jesus. “I am the
door. Access to life, access to God,
access to the blessings of salvation found within the confines of the church,
is all through Me.
By Me,” He says, “you must enter in.”
Jesus is the door because He is the Savior in our flesh.
This is the heart,
then, of what Jesus is saying to you and to me today. He says this:
“Through Me, through My blood, through My
cross, you enter into the riches of salvation that you enjoy within the
In the Bible we read in
Hebrews 9:12
these words: It is
“neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” There you have it. That is what Jesus is saying. “By Me, if any man shall
enter and go in.” Oh, the rich
fellowship for us with God. Can you
imagine the safety and the care and the love of God, for God to embrace you,
for God to be your God, for God to watch over you, for God to be committed to
you eternally! Oh, what a wonder!
But how can we
enter in? We are unworthy. Still more. We do not even desire of ourselves to enter
in. We have to be changed. We have to be forgiven. How? Through the blood of Jesus alone. Only through Jesus. Not because we have done something, something
that made us worthy to enter into the fellowship of God. No, we cannot do that. And, I remind you again, we do not want
to—not of ourselves. The Lord must work
a miracle within us whereby we are drawn to Him to covet and to enjoy and to
live for the fellowship of God. But all of this, all of this, through Jesus. Jesus is the door. You enter into fellowship with God and
salvation through Jesus Christ alone and through the merits, the wonderful
merits, of His cross.
There is a danger,
says Jesus. There are false
shepherds. There are
sheep-stealers. There are hirelings,
says Jesus, who do not care for the sheep. There are thieves and robbers who climb up
another way so that they can steal and kill.
They do not come through the door, said Jesus. They may appear to be so very good. But they are not interested in the
sheep. They destroy the sheep.
Our Lord, as I said
in the beginning, is talking here of the false shepherds, the Pharisees. That is the importance of chapter 9. You must read chapter 9 of the gospel of John in order to understand
John 10.
The
Pharisees said there is another way into the presence of God than Jesus
Christ. They said that the way into the
presence of God, the door through which one enters into the wonderful care and
protection of God is a way of one’s works, a way of one’s merits. They were saying that God had better accept
what we give Him and on the basis of what we give Him we may enter into His
fellowship. Jesus said that they are
thieves, robbers. They are trying to
climb up some other way. They will not
be allowed in.
All through the
ages there have been attempts to enter into the fellowship of God by human
merit. But Jesus said that you shall not
enter that way. You cannot enter into
the fold of God’s presence by the merits of any other than Jesus Christ. You cannot enter by your own works, by your
own obedience, or by your own prayers.
Yes, prayers and repentance and good works are very important for the
Christian. They are the fruit of what
Jesus creates within us. They are the
fruits of being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. But do not think that your very best things,
your very best spiritual works, open the door into the fold. “I am the door,” said Jesus. “By Me, by Me
alone.” Salvation is only (surely, but
only) in the work of Jesus Christ alone.
The Pharisees said
to Him, “We don’t need you. We don’t
need Christ’s blood alone. Oh, maybe
we’ll concede that you are very exemplary.
Maybe we’ll concede that you can get us a head start in this. But we don’t need you. We can do it on our own.” That is the proud word of sinful flesh. “We can do it.” No, you cannot. Not your best work. No, it will not bring you into God’s
presence. Are good works important? Of course they are. But if you trust your good works as being the
basis whereby you are received into the fellowship of God, you will
perish. Jesus says that you are nothing
other than a thief and a robber then, trying to climb up some other way. Trust in Jesus alone.
“By Me,” He said,
“by Me.” The
words are clear. A child can understand
them. Embrace them by the power of a God-given
faith. Embrace them—through the work of
Jesus alone we enter into the fellowship of God.
Be very clear. Do not say, “Well, of course, I have access
to God because my parents are in the church, my grandparents were in the
church. I was baptized.” No, the way into fellowship with God is
through faith, God’s gift, personal faith in Jesus
Christ. There is no other way.
To seek another way
into the fellowship of God, to seek another way into fellowship in life with
God, is to blaspheme. To seek another
way than Jesus is to blaspheme. It is to
say to God, “Jesus was not necessary.”
It is to say, “Christ died in vain.”
It is to say, “The cross was not all that important after all. There is another way. God did not need to give His Son to that awful
death if there is another way for us to be brought into the fellowship of
God.” To say that Jesus did not have to
die on the cross is proud blasphemy arising out of hell itself. Will someone say, “Lord, Jesus, what you did
thirty-three years after you were born, and especially for six hours on the
cross, was very nice. It is very
inspiring. Boy,
is it inspiring to me! But it was not
necessary, for I can make it myself.
There is another way, perhaps, through saints or through the virgin Mary
or through my good works.” Are you going
to say that? Then you say that it was
not necessary that Jesus go through the awful agony of the cross.
The gospel is
simple. But the Holy Spirit must humble
us as sinners, undone sinners. There is
one way, one sure way, to the safety of life eternal, into the fold of
God. The blood of Jesus,
shed for the covering of my sins alone!
Only Jesus.
Jesus does not take
His stand along with other saviors throughout the world. Jesus is not a Savior, He is the
Savior. He is the only Savior. There is no other savior than Jesus Christ.
Enter into the fold
through the gift, the marvelous, precious gift of faith. Enter into that fold. Trust in Jesus and receive by faith the
assurance that you have been received into the fold, or what we may say is the
covenant of the living God. Enter by
faith and enjoy fellowship with God. Sit
down and rest and be assured of the smile of God. All through Jesus. The Bible says we may do that with
boldness. Enter in with boldness, says
the Bible. Come boldly, by faith,
depending upon Christ.
But be sure that
you enter in through Jesus. Apart from
Jesus the door is not opened. Apart from
Jesus there is no access. The door is shut. If you look for a way into the fellowship of
God today other than in Jesus Christ; if you look for a way to the fellowship
of God that does not include your utter confession of your own unworthiness,
your inability to do anything to merit God’s presence—if you do not believe
that, then the door is shut to you.
Then, as in the days of Noah when there were thousands around the ark
and it began to rain and the water came up and God closed the door after Noah
and they scratched their fingers raw but they could not enter in—so also today,
apart from Jesus, you shall not be saved.
It is through Jesus Christ alone.
Throw down your pride, by the grace of God. Throw down trust in your own merits or trust
in the merits of any other than Jesus Christ.
Confess: “I am a sinner. I am worthless. I am blind.
I am naked. I am leprous. I can do nothing. It is Jesus, my Savior. I need Him.”
Give all glory to God, all glory to God in Christ. The door is open unto the rich fellowship of
God, life eternal, life forevermore. The
smile, the embrace of God is given to us through Jesus Christ. Now enter, by faith, through grace and enjoy
abundant life, life in the fold and the tender care and love of God through
Jesus.
Let us pray.
Father in heaven,
we do thank Thee for Thy Word. We do
confess that in our own heart and nature we are constantly looking to
ourselves, lifting ourselves up as the way.
We pray that Thou wilt give us to repent and by faith to embrace this
Savior Jesus Christ, the only Savior who is the door and through whom we may
enter and be saved. Grant it, Lord. Grant us to place all of our trust in Him and
in Him alone, today and always. We pray
in Jesus’ name, Amen.