Jesus, the Door

“”Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the gatekeeper opens.  The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” –John 10:1-3, 7, 9 (ESV).

The “I am...” statements of Jesus, “I am the door” and “I am the good Shepherd” are closely related because each of them uses the care and keeping of sheep as the metaphor to explain important truths about who Jesus is.  In New Testament times, the sheepfold was often in protected areas near where the sheep were led to pasture.  When my husband and I were in the Holy Land in 1978, we were taken to such a place by Mr. Tabish, a Christian Jew who lived in Bethlehem.  He invited us to drive with him out to what was called “Shepherd’s Field.”  It was the place held to be where the angels appeared to the shepherds on the night of the Savior’s birth.  There Mr. Tabish led us to a cave in the side of the hill, an indentation in the earth large enough for sheep to be gathered in out of the elements.  The opening at the mouth of the cave was the “door” of the sheepfold.  Mr. Tabish explained to us that the shepherd himself would lie down across that opening when all the sheep were safely inside and had been watered and their scratches and wounds tended with pouring on of healing oil.  As the shepherd reclined at the opening, he became the guard for his sheep.  Nothing outside could go over his body and harm his flock,  Neither could a sheep stray out of the safety of the sheepfold without the shepherd being aware.

With this beautiful picture of the “shepherd as the door” of the sheepfold, it is much easier for us to understand the metaphor Jesus had in mind when he said, “I am the door,” or “I am the door of the sheepfold.”  In the safety of the sheepfold, the flock was separated from the dangers outside the fold, like ravening wolves, or thieves and robbers.  The door also represents a decision.  “The sheep know my voice,” the shepherd said.  The sheep made a decision to follow the call of the shepherd. They could tell their own shepherd’s voice from all the other shepherds that grazed flocks where there was pasture.  When it was time to go to the sheepfold for the night, the sheep knew which shepherd was theirs and followed him.  I well remember a little chorus my pastor, the Rev. Claude Boynton, taught us children in Vacation Bible School when I was very young.  It speaks of the decision we must make to follow the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and the one door He is to our salvation:

            “One door and only one, and yet its sides are two:

            Inside and outside, on which side are you?

            One door and only one, and yet its sides are two:

            I’m on the inside, on which side are you?”

Jesus as the door is very akin to another “I am…” saying of Jesus:  “I am the way, and the Truth and the Life.”  Just as there is only one way to salvation, and that is repentance of sins and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, so there is only one door that leads to the safety of the sheepfold where the flock can rest in safety.  There is compassion through that door.  The good shepherd would care tenderly for his sheep, bind up their wounds, give them water to drink, see that they had proper food for their nourishment.  All of these things are provided by the one who lies at the door and guards His sheep.  Security is guaranteed as the shepherd places himself at the door.  Security of the flock is the shepherd’s number one responsibility.  Praise be to God!