The gate

God is ...

                    … the gate for the sheep

 

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that
they may have life, and have it to the full"

READ - John 10:1-10

Being a little late with this entry means I have had some time to ponder the gate. Gates are a place of entry, an opening, a thing of security but they are also a barrier. Coming up against a closed gate is a deterrent to go further, in both directions. It can be a deterrence from coming in and also (in our personal context) a symbol to children not to go out. And so I have struggled with this negative connotation of the gate, especially in reference to Christ. The result of this struggle was a reminder of the power of the gospel and the extent of grace. A gate is only a barrier to those who should not cross it, it does not stop the postman at home or the hiker who knows they are allowed through in to that particular field. For centuries, across religions, the debate has raged over who can come through the gate, but Christ indicated that he is only a barrier to the thief and the robber, all others are his sheep and welcome in that place. The offer of grace and salvation is universal and all who want to, can enter through this particular gate.

Briefly turning to the context of this passage, Christ’s statement here cannot be taken in isolation. The gate and the shepherd work together. We could get caught up in endless reflection on what it means to be just a gate, and yet Christ immediately qualifies it with his identification as the shepherd (see next post). In practical, physical terms, a gate cannot open itself, the shepherd must seek the sheep and bring them through the gate, making “I am the gate” the first half of a unified statement. Jesus regularly spoke to the people in the midst of a faming community, people who would have applied the analogy to the world around them. We see at the start of this passage that Jesus is talking to the pharisees, people who will have known the context but will also have been immersed in the scriptures and the history of Israel, knowing a nation constantly on the move, taking their flocks and animals with them and creating safe spaces along the way. Some of the pharisees will even have seen the bigger picture as Christ intended and, now settled in the land of Israel, this was their safe space. What they needed was a messiah to come and guard the gate and be the shepherd and despite Christ fulfilling this role they were blind to see it. 

Thankfully we have seen the truth and know Christ as the messiah living this purpose out. With Christ as our gate I want to think about two things - safety and nourishment. For years the church has been a safe place for the vulnerable, offering sanctuary to those within its walls. This ministry is an important fulfilment of Christ’s own ministry to the vulnerable, but in focusing on the vulnerable we have often forgotten that at times we all need safety, non of us are immune to falls along the way and the threat of attack (physical and spiritual). Christ’s ministry is not just to the weak and the security that he offers is for all who come within his fold. We need to remember the next half of the passage, he is the shepherd and he will find the lost sheep, sometimes we need to stop seeking the weak and focus on resting in His presence. 

I was then struck by the fact that Christ specifically describes the gate as a two way thing - we come in and go out. I do not believe that Christ is limiting his analogy to salvation here. He, quite explicitly, says that those who enter by him will receive salvation and then immediately says that people will come and go, words that are sometimes extended in to the offer of eternal life. Although people do fall away from Christ, I believe that the coming and going is exactly as Jesus describes it - to find pasture. It is again part of that relationship with the shepherd who will take us out from the pen to “lay us down in green pastures”. He will nourish us and feed us and ensure that we are healthy, the gate is not just our way to security, He is also our way to nourishment, echoing the fact that he is the bread of life.

Do you need to rest in God for a while?

Our natural food is often broken down in to ‘food groups’. What specific nourishment do you need from God at the moment?