Friday, January 9, 2026
Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead, they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers. John 10:1-5 CSB
I am the gate. If anyone enters me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. John 10: 9 CSB
The Gate
Jesus had been talking to the Pharisees about a man that had been born blind, and was healed by Jesus. Jesus continues his conversation with them using a parable about a sheep fold - to show them the difference between the heart of a true shepherd for the people and the religious leaders of the day. Jesus tells them, “I am the gate”. What did He mean since a sheepfold in that day had no “gate” but only an opening? In this kind of sheepfold, after the sheep had entered it, the shepherd would sleep at the entrance. The shepherd became, effectively, the “gate” of the sheepfold. When Jesus said, “I am the gate”, he was saying, “Inside my sheepfold, my sheep are always safe. I guard the entrance so that no danger can come in. I am the door of my sheep.” There is nothing more peaceful than knowing not only does he literally go before us, but we can “hide” behind him as he stands between us and the wolves.
This analogy was not lost on the Jews He spoke to on that day. They were well aware of the presence of spiritual shepherds or pastors provided to care for God’s people. But the Prophet Jeremiah denounced the selfish and damaging roles these shepherds had played. The sheep had scattered throughout the land and become lost in the peoples of the world. They had abused the people (the sheep) by coming in through the unprotected gate and feeding them with food that had no eternal value and stealing them away.
We are his sheep, and when have an intimate relationship with him we will know his voice so well that we can distinguish it from the many other voices around us. How do we learn His voice? We immerse ourselves in his word and ask His Spirit to guide us in the truth as we read. That way, we will learn and know our Shepherd's voice above all others.
What a comfort it is to know that Jesus is our gate - standing between us and the world. He is the gate to our very hearts and everything that goes in and goes out of our hearts and minds goes through him. When we allow him to be the gate, we will bring glory to God and point others to him with our lives, not to mention have the greatest peace we will ever have – the very thing we are always seeking.
