Transcript

I am the Gate · Faith at Work

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We're thinking this morning about John chapter 10 verses 1
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through 10 as was read this morning.
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SPEAKER_00: And the story is almost funny if it wasn't so relatable.
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So Jesus has just finished telling this vivid story about a
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shepherd and a sheep
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pen and a gatekeeper and thieves who climb over the walls and
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sheep who know their
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SPEAKER_00: shepherd's voice.
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It is a rich,
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layered image drawn from everyday world in first century
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Palestine.
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SPEAKER_00: So Jesus tells this story and then John writes,
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SPEAKER_00: they did not understand what he was telling them.
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SPEAKER_00: Not the Pharisees, not the crowd, not the disciples, nobody.
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They stood there with what I imagine were furrowed brows and
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sideways glances at
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SPEAKER_00: each other and they probably were like,
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SPEAKER_00: are you following this because I'm
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SPEAKER_00: I'm really not.
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SPEAKER_00: So Jesus explains, I am the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: What?
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I want to suggest to you this morning that if we are being
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honest with ourselves
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2,000 years later with seminaries and commentaries and a whole
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industry of biblical
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scholarships behind us I'm not entirely sure that we really
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understand the story or
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SPEAKER_00: the explanation
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SPEAKER_00: We have heard this passage preached probably dozens of times.
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We know the vocabulary,
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we've seen the paintings of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the
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Gate,
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but
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I really believe that we have misunderstood the strangest and
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most provocative
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SPEAKER_00: thing that Jesus says in this section of Scripture.
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SPEAKER_00: Not that He is the shepherd, but that He is the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's the claim I want to explore with you this morning.
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SPEAKER_00: Now,
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SPEAKER_00: to get anywhere with this,
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we have to go back to the physical reality that Jesus is
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describing in this story.
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Because Jesus is pulling from imagery that His listeners would
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have or should have
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SPEAKER_00: recognized instantly.
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SPEAKER_00: The way you or I might recognize the image of a silo or a tractor.
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A sheep pen in first century Palestine was not a fancy
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structure or anything like
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SPEAKER_00: what we imagine today.
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SPEAKER_00: It was a rough stone enclosure,
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SPEAKER_00: walls maybe four to six feet high,
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SPEAKER_00: built without mortar,
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SPEAKER_00: the stones stacked on top of each other,
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SPEAKER_00: and they were fitted together,
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SPEAKER_00: just happenstance here and there.
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SPEAKER_00: And along the top of the walls, shepherds would weave in sharp threads
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SPEAKER_00: thorn bushes, the ancient equivalent to barbed wire.
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SPEAKER_00: And the walls and the thorns together,
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they created a reasonably secure perimeter against animal
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predators and thieves,
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SPEAKER_00: bandits.
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SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing, the sheep pen
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SPEAKER_00: It had no gate,
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SPEAKER_00: at least not any physical gate,
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not a wooden or a steel gate that was attached to the rocks
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with hinges that would
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SPEAKER_00: open and close.
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SPEAKER_00: It had an opening,
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a gap in the wall just large enough for the sheep to pass
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through single file.
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SPEAKER_00: and as I said, it had no structural gate.
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SPEAKER_00: Instead, the gate was the shepherd of those
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SPEAKER_00: And at night,
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SPEAKER_00: when the sheep were all counted and settled into the pen,
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SPEAKER_00: the shepherd would literally lie down across that opening.
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SPEAKER_00: His body became the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: And if a wolf or a thief wanted access to those sheep,
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SPEAKER_00: they had to go across,
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SPEAKER_00: go through the shepherd.
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SPEAKER_00: He was not metaphorically the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: He was literally,
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SPEAKER_00: physically,
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SPEAKER_00: bodily the line of defense between safety and destruction for the flock.
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SPEAKER_00: And this was just normal practice in Palestine.
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SPEAKER_00: It's even the case now.
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A researcher traveling in the Middle East in the early 20th
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century was shown a
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sheep pen like the one I just showed you by an Arab shepherd
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who was not a
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SPEAKER_00: Christian and had not read the New Testament.
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And the scholar noticed that there was no gate on the pens
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opening and asked the
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SPEAKER_00: shepherd about it.
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SPEAKER_00: And the shepherd replied without hesitation, I am the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: because he lay across that threshold every single night.
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SPEAKER_00: His presence was the barrier.
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SPEAKER_00: His body was the protection.
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SPEAKER_00: So,
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SPEAKER_00: when Jesus says,
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SPEAKER_00: I am the gate for the sheep,
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he is claiming the most physically present and personally
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costly form of protection
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SPEAKER_00: imaginable.
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He is saying,
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I put myself between you and everything that wants to harm you.
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SPEAKER_00: You come in and go out under my protection.
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SPEAKER_00: My body is what stands between the flock and its destruction.
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SPEAKER_00: Let me retell John 10 with Jesus inserted as the gate,
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SPEAKER_00: not just described as the gate,
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SPEAKER_00: so we can,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: hopefully better understand what he is claiming here.
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SPEAKER_00: There is a place where the sheep sleep at night.
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SPEAKER_00: The walls are stone and rough thorn, and the air smells like wool.
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SPEAKER_00: and dry grass.
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SPEAKER_00: It is a simple place.
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SPEAKER_00: It was never meant to be beautiful.
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SPEAKER_00: It was only meant to be safe.
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SPEAKER_00: The opening in the wall has no door, but it is guarded.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is there.
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SPEAKER_00: He has stretched Himself across the threshold,
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SPEAKER_00: His back against the stone,
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SPEAKER_00: His eyes open in the dark.
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SPEAKER_00: He is not a gate you can push or pull.
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SPEAKER_00: He is not a gate you can unlock with a key.
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SPEAKER_00: He is a gate that you unlock through a relationship.
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SPEAKER_00: He is a gate who breathes,
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SPEAKER_00: who watches,
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who knows the sound of every sleeping animal inside and every
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threat outside.
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SPEAKER_00: I hope you feel the difference.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate is not a theological concept.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate is a person.
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Present,
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bodily,
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awake in the dark,
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willing to take the hit if the wolf comes.
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SPEAKER_00: He is there to keep the sheep safe and alive.
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SPEAKER_00: The church has,
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SPEAKER_00: for most of its history,
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SPEAKER_00: taken this passage and used it primarily in one direction.
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SPEAKER_00: as a statement of exclusivity.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the only gate.
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SPEAKER_00: You must go through Him.
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SPEAKER_00: There is no other way into the pen.
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and you know there's truth in that John 14 6 is a real verse
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Jesus does claim to be
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the way the truth and the life exclusive claims are embedded in
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the gospel of
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course but that is not what Jesus is saying here in this
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passage we have made the
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SPEAKER_00: gate
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SPEAKER_00: image almost entirely about who gets in and who doesn't.
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SPEAKER_00: We have used it as a kind of a theological border control,
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SPEAKER_00: a determinant for what religious system is the right one.
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And in doing that I think we have misunderstood the message of
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this passage.
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SPEAKER_00: The message of what Jesus is saying here.
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SPEAKER_00: Notice what the gate does in this passage.
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SPEAKER_00: Yes, it keeps certain things out, thieves and bandits and predators.
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They cannot get in through the gate because He is the gate and
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Jesus does not
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SPEAKER_00: collaborate with destruction.
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SPEAKER_00: But the gate, it also opens deliberately.
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repeatedly to let the sheep go in and come back,
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let the sheep go out and come back in.
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SPEAKER_00: The language in verse 9 is essential to our understanding here.
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SPEAKER_00: They will come in and go out and find pasture.
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SPEAKER_00: In and out.
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SPEAKER_00: In and out.
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and as Yvonne so beautifully said last week,
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the God of and,
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in and out,
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in and out.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate is not a one-way turnstile into a holding pen for the sheep.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not describing a fence that keeps his people locked in or out.
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The gate is a threshold of a living rhythm for the sheep,
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who are,
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by the way,
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already sheep.
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SPEAKER_00: Safety at night,
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SPEAKER_00: freedom and nourishment in the day,
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SPEAKER_00: and the ability to return to safety once again.
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SPEAKER_00: The pen is not the only destination.
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SPEAKER_00: The pasture is also a destination.
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The pen is just where the sheep are safe while they are
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sleeping,
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and then they go out again.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a parable about the safety of the flock,
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SPEAKER_00: not a vision for controlling who is part of the flock.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate does not convert non-sheep into sheep
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SPEAKER_00: It just protects the flock from death or abuse.
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Now we have to go somewhere that may be a little bit
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uncomfortable for some.
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Jesus says in verse 8,
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all who have come before me are thieves and robbers.
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SPEAKER_00: And then in verse 10, the thief comes to kill and steal and destroy.
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SPEAKER_00: We hear this and we think of the obvious villains,
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SPEAKER_00: the Pharisees with whom Jesus was arguing with.
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We picture the people who are obviously the bad actors in this
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story,
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right?
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SPEAKER_00: The scholar who studies Ezekiel will recognize this immediately.
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In Ezekiel 34 God tears into the shepherds of Israel with some
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of the most
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SPEAKER_00: scorching language in the entire Old Testament.
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Remember these are not pagans or foreign oppressors that God is
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talking with in Ezekiel.
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SPEAKER_00: These are Israel's very own religious leaders.
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SPEAKER_00: God says through Ezekiel,
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SPEAKER_00: you eat the curds,
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SPEAKER_00: you clothe yourselves with the wool of those poor little sheep,
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SPEAKER_00: you slaughter the choice animals,
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SPEAKER_00: but you do not take care of the flock.
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SPEAKER_00: They are feeding
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SPEAKER_00: off the sheep rather than feeding and protecting them.
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They were using their position of shepherd as a vehicle for
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personal power and gain.
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And Jesus in this passage is standing in that same prophetic
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tradition when he
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SPEAKER_00: speaks to the Pharisees in John chapter 10.
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Some scholars go as far as to suggest that Jesus is actually
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referring not only to
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SPEAKER_00: the Pharisees,
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but also to messianic pretenders who came before with and will
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come after Jesus,
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SPEAKER_00: the true Messiah.
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SPEAKER_00: And we have seen this too.
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SPEAKER_00: It has happened across the entire sweep of Christian history.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's happening today.
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We are living in a moment where story after story is breaking
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about religious
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SPEAKER_00: leaders who use their platforms,
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SPEAKER_00: their authority,
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and their spiritual power to exploit the very people they were
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supposed to be
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SPEAKER_00: taking care of.
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We have watched institutional churches cover up abuse rather
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than confronting it.
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We have watched celebrity pastors surround themselves with
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people whose only
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function is to ensure that the leader's comfort is protected
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and his reputation
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SPEAKER_00: remains clean.
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We have seen people weaponize the language of spiritual
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authority to silence
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SPEAKER_00: questions,
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SPEAKER_00: isolate the vulnerable and demand the loyalty that only belongs to God.
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SPEAKER_00: We have even seen convincing messianic pretenders come our way.
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SPEAKER_00: As Jesus said in Matthew 24,
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SPEAKER_00: 24,
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for false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform
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signs and wonders to
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SPEAKER_00: deceive,
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SPEAKER_00: if possible,
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SPEAKER_00: even the elect.
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SPEAKER_00: These are the thieves and the bandits climbing over the wall
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SPEAKER_00: in the dark.
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SPEAKER_00: These are the people who bypass the gate and charge admission.
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SPEAKER_00: They turn the threshold of grace into a toll booth.
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SPEAKER_00: They decide who is in and who is out.
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SPEAKER_00: Not on the basis of the good shepherd's way,
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SPEAKER_00: but on the basis of their own preferences,
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SPEAKER_00: purses,
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SPEAKER_00: politics,
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SPEAKER_00: and power structures.
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SPEAKER_00: and the sheep suffer for it.
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SPEAKER_00: Many of them still carry deep wounds.
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This is why it matters so much that we understand what Jesus
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means when he says,
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I am the gate.
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SPEAKER_00: And for me, it's not what I've always heard.
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SPEAKER_00: It is not a statement about who is in and who is out.
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It is a promise of safety and an abundant life for all
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interested followers.
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There is one more layer here that I don't want to rush through
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and I'm very excited
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about because it connects directly with Easter which we have
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just walked through
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SPEAKER_00: and to what we believe about the resurrection.
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SPEAKER_00: If the shepherd's body is the gate,
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SPEAKER_00: if Jesus literally,
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SPEAKER_00: physically places himself between the flock and destruction,
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then the cross is the ultimate expression of what it means for
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Jesus to be the
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SPEAKER_00: gate.
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SPEAKER_00: to put one's life at risk for those in one's care.
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When Jesus died on the cross as the gate,
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He was not simply paying for the sheep's sins.
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He was absorbing the full weight of everything,
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seeking to destroy the sheep.
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SPEAKER_00: The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy the sheep
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SPEAKER_00: and it had to go through him.
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SPEAKER_00: And he let it.
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SPEAKER_00: He took it.
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SPEAKER_00: He stood in the gap bodily and held the line and it killed him.
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SPEAKER_00: And then the resurrection
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The gate that was attacked on Good Friday was re-established on
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Easter Sunday.
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SPEAKER_00: Not just re-established in this realm,
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SPEAKER_00: but re-established in a way that death itself cannot control any longer.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate held.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate survived.
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The gate opened in a way for the sheep to enter the pasture of
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abundant life.
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When Jesus said,
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I am the gate,
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he was saying,
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I am here to keep you safe.
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SPEAKER_00: You can trust me.
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SPEAKER_00: I am not here to pin you up.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm here to
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SPEAKER_00: to set you free amen