The Door to Abundant Life - John 10:1-10

We’re looking at the verses leading up to Jesus' famous statement, “I am the good shepherd.” And that passage is so famous that we often forget that there’s a second “I AM” statement that comes before it in verse 7. Jesus says, “I AM the door.” No doubt, the two “I AM” statements are deeply interconnected, after all, Jesus makes both “I AM” statements in the context of his sheep/shepherd metaphor.

And because there are two “I AM” statements essentially right next to each other there’s a temptation to blend or combine their meaning. After all, how can Jesus be a shepherd and a door at the same time? 

But here, I must pause to offer a word of interpretive caution. With any biblical parable, metaphor, simile, or allegory, there is a temptation to over interpret the text and assign every little detail meaning. And so, it’s important that we analyze the details of biblical figures of speech appropriately.

When Jesus says he is both “the door” and “the good shepherd” he is using two analogies in order to help his listeners better understand the nature of who he is and what he came to do. He’s a door because he is the way to salvation. He’s a good shepherd because he keeps, protects, and guides his sheep. He’s describing two aspects of his nature and so, we need to resist the temptation to overanalyze and over-interpret this passage.  

But with that in mind, what do you think of when someone mentions a shepherd and his sheep? I’ll tell you what comes to my mind. What I envision is a beautiful open field of luscious grass as far as the eye can see. Sheep grazing in the open field, and as the shepherd lays down for an afternoon nap as a warm breeze blows across face. The shepherd does not have a care in the world, because what could possibly be stressful about being in an open field on a day in which there isn’t a cloud in the sky? It’s a relaxing image. Do you have a similar picture in your mind?

I’ll also tell you what I wouldn’t include in my shepherd day dream: thieves and robbers. Maybe a wild animal? Like a bear, lion, or fox. King David dealt with wild animals as a shepherd boy. But thieves and robbers? I’d be willing to bet that that’s not the first thing you think of either.

And yet, the Lord in his infinite wisdom specifically mentions a thief and robber before telling us how he is our good shepherd. 

And it’s crystal clear that Jesus is using the sheep/shepherd metaphor in order to explain to us something about the nature of his relationship with us. 

What we learn from this passage is that the good shepherd, Jesus, offers each of us abundant life. He is the door we must pass through in order to receive spiritual nourishment, protection, and guidance, because there are thieves and robbers who want to lead you and me astray. There are three points that I want to highlight this morning: First, we see the role of the shepherd (vv. 1-6), second, we see the threat of thieves (vv. 7-8), and lastly, we see the provision of the good shepherd (v. 9-10).

Jesus compares the true shepherd to thieves and robbers and when you see the comparison suddenly John 10 begins to open up. But even if you’re able to recognize that, it’s still difficult to trace the connection between John 9 and John 10.

We go from a healed man that’s been excommunicated from his synagogue and makes a dramatic profession of faith, to suddenly, talking about sheep, a shepherd, along with thieves and robbers. How did we get here? Because John isn’t necessarily giving us a neat chronological timeline of Jesus. That’s not his goal. His goal is to show us all of us that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah. So what’s the connection?

Jesus is contrasting himself as the good shepherd over against the false teachers of his day: the Jewish religious elites. They are thieves and robbers. Which makes sense when you consider what happened in chapter 9: the Pharisees tried to intimidate and drive the healed man away from Jesus Christ! They successfully did it to his parents! They silenced them. 

So it makes sense that after that whole situation Jesus would want to further distinguish who he is over against the Jewish religious elites. 

The Role of the Shepherd (vv. 1-6)

Before we dive into all the details, it’s important to have a general idea of what Jesus is describing here. There’s a sheepfold, which is a sheep pen and the sheep go into the pen each night for their protection. The sheepfold isn’t a barn with a roof or anything like that. The sheepfold is out in the open exposed to the elements. Maybe a good way to think of it is as a fenced in backyard. 

There is a gatekeeper or watchman who allows the shepherd to lead his sheep out of the pen each morning. So there's a big sheep pen, with a guard stationed at the gate at night. That’s the general idea. 

Notice how Jesus begins the passage. He doesn’t begin by describing the good shepherd, rather, he begins with a thief and a robber. Look at verse one with me:

“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.”

I hope I don’t sound condescending because it’s so obvious, but the thief and robber are there to steal the sheep! It’s why they avoid the door and jump the fence. Undoubtedly, they want to lead the sheep astray! They want to take them away!

But notice how Jesus contrasts the thief and robber with himself, the good shepherd in verses 2-5:

“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The shepherd goes about his business tending his sheep correctly. He walks through the gate, and the gatekeeper lets him in. He knows the sheep and his sheep know him. The sheep recognizes his voice and follows him.

And the sheep don’t follow strangers. They can tell between their shepherd and an imposter. 

This is quite the contrast from the thief and robber from verse 1. They had to break into the sheep pen without getting caught in order to take the sheep by force.

But with the good shepherd, there’s familiarity between himself and his sheep. There’s trust between him and his sheep. He gently leads them out and they willingly follow him. He doesn’t have to take anyone against their will. 

At the beginning of last week, a family (the Walters) asked my family to watch their dog, and we were happy to help out. Their dog Coco is a pretty big dog, a Newfoundland, to be precise. And, she’s as sweet as she can be. Big, but super sweet. 

And the first time we went over there to let her out, I opened the door to where she was and she was just staring at me. She was looking at me like, “who are you?” “Do I know you?” Initially, she was a little apprehensive, but because she’s such a sweet dog, I was eventually able to convince her to go along with me. 

But I’m sure when the Walters’ got home she was excited to see them and followed them around and did exactly what they asked her to do! Because she knows them. She knows their voice, and they know her. 

At least, that’s what needed to happen so my sermon illustration can work! 

For most pet owners there’s an unspoken familiarity. Any pet owner has experienced the situation where a friend has tried to boss your dog around and they didn’t listen to them because they’re not you. Or sometimes you’ll have friends over and you’ll hear a weird noise and your friends are like, “what was that?” And you’re like, “oh just ignore that - that was the dog. Or that was the cat.” There’s a level of familiarity or intimacy between a pet owner and their pet.

The same idea is being communicated in John 10. The sheep and shepherd know one another. They recognize each other. The shepherd leads the sheep and the sheep willingly follows him. 

Because you’re here this morning, I’ll let you in on a little secret about myself: I haven’t spent a lot of time around sheep. You all looked shocked, but it’s true. I’m talking about the actual animal. I’m trying hard to avoid a corny church joke right now about shepherding the flock of God or something like that. I do not claim to be a sheep expert. 

But one thing that I’m consistently told by people that are sheep experts is that sheep are not the most intelligent animals. In fact, what I hear is that they are quite dumb. They wander off, they get stuck, and they’re basically defenseless. They don’t have sharp claws or teeth. So it seems appropriate for Jesus to refer to the people of God as sheep. 

But what’s interesting is the anecdotal note in verse 6: “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

I might not understand everything about tending to sheep, but in the ancient world, shepherding was a common job. Moses spent some time as a shepherd, Rachel was a shepherdess, and obviously, David was a shepherd. 

You and I might not understand every fine detail related to shepherding, but I do understand one thing: the sheep/shepherd metaphor is one that comes up over and over and over particularly in the Old Testament.

And John is making a rather significant statement in verse 6, which is, the Jewish religious elites, the people who claimed to be experts in the Old Testament, didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about!

Just think about all the sheep/shepherd metaphors in the Old Testament:

Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”

Psalm 79:13, “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture…”

Or Psalm 80 that we sung earlier: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.”

Isaiah 40:11, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many others that employ the sheep/shepherd analogy. It runs throughout the Old Testament.

And yet, the Pharisees completely missed it. They didn’t understand because they weren’t believers. 

The role of the good shepherd is to take care of the sheep. To protect the sheep. To love the sheep. And what better metaphor is there that describes the nature of Christ’s bond with his people? He is a gentle shepherd who leads his sheep. 

The Threat of Thieves (vv. 7-8) 

But the Old Testament doesn’t only say good things about shepherds In many places it also says bad things about bad shepherds.

The Old Testament frequently warns against evil or false shepherds. For example, the Lord says in Jeremiah 23:1-2: 

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.”

Or Ezekiel 34:1-3:

“The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep!”

It was a terrible thing for a leader of Israel to be compared to a bad or evil shepherd. The Old Testament warns against shepherds who were only concerned with their own self interest, and neglected God’s people. 

And this is precisely the comparison that Jesus is making with the Jewish religious elites. The very people that were supposed to spiritually nourish and protect the people of God were the very ones trying to lead people astray. They are the thieves, robbers, and strangers. They are false teachers. 

False teachers aren’t anything new. But what makes false teachers so dangerous isn’t their novelty as much as it is their subtlety. 

Because no false teacher just comes right out and just says, “Hi my name is John Doe and I’m a false teacher!” Oftentimes, they’re popular! Their books fly off the shelves. They fill up huge arenas. 

There are, of course, leaders of false religions that are false teachers and they’re generally easier to spot. But when a false teacher stands behind a pulpit, and says, “thus saith the Lord” it gets a little more confusing, doesn’t it? Because many false teachers speak of Christianity, use Christian language and even quote the Bible.

Gentlemen, isn’t this precisely what we’ve seen in the book of Colossians? The false teachers aren’t usually outside the church, they’re oftentimes in it! 

And this too describes the Jewish religious elites! They looked the part. They had the position, the resumes, the degrees, the eloquence. But Jesus tells us they were strangers trying to lead sheep astray because they didn’t know God nor his people.

Again, they’re the ones climbing into the sheepfold to lead people astray. 

It’s worth noting that they avoid the door, isn’t it? 

After all, Jesus tells us in verse 7, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” Again, Jesus is applying God’s covenantal name to himself through his use of the two little words, “I AM.” But he’s using a metaphor to help us better understand his nature and mission. 

Consider what he’s saying here. Jesus is saying salvation comes through him. There is only one way into his sheepfold and it’s through him. He’s claiming exclusivity. Salvation only comes through him. It’s only through faith in him - that you have hope for eternal life.

And again, he contrasts that truth with thieves and robbers in verse 8. Jesus said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.” That’s not a reference to false Christs or Messiahs. Rather, I think this is best understood as a reference to the false teachers who had gone immediately before him. 

It’s another reference to the Jewish religious elite. They were trying to intimidate people away from Jesus. Remember, how they intimidated the healed man’s parents into silence? 

There are lots of ways to define a false teacher, but the easiest way to define a false teacher is someone who wants to direct you away from Jesus Christ. That’s precisely what happened in chapter 9! The religious leaders were doing everything in their power to turn people away from Jesus Christ! And what were they doing when they did that? They were deliberating directing people away from the door to eternal life! 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” isn’t best understood as the devil. No doubt, it’s applicable to the devil, but, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” is best understood as false teachers. 

Because false teachers don’t lead people to eternal life, they lead people to eternal death. And this is precisely what makes false teachers so threatening! They don’t teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Provision of the Good Shepherd (v. 9-10)

Which is why the words of Jesus in verses 9 and 10 develop such a stark contrast. Look at verse 9:  “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Notice what Jesus says here. He repeats, “I AM the door” and then says, you will be saved, and you’ll find pasture. As I already confessed to you all, I’m not a sheep expert but I do know something else about sheep: the pasture gives sheep their life sustaining sustenance. Feeding on the grass of a pasture is how sheep survive! The pasture for sheep is life. 

Again, notice the contrast between verse 9 and 10. “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

You see, Jesus will give you life, but false teachers will lead you to death. The message that Jesus teaches and preaches about himself is so different from what the world would have you and me believe about him. The world wants you and I believe that Christianity is life draining. Or at least life-restricting.

They certainly don’t want you to believe that faith in Christ is life-giving.

But again what does Jesus say? Look at the second part of verse 10. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” 

Jesus doesn’t lead you and me into a desert and say, “figure it out.” He doesn’t even lead you and me into a field with only a one-by-one patch of grass that all the sheep have to fight over. 

Jesus leads his followers into a lush meadow that stretches as far as the eye can see. If you’re truly living for Christ, you’re not perpetual spiritual life support, just barely hanging on!

Because he provides life for you in the fullest possible sense. Of course, faith in Christ grants eternal life, but doesn’t your faith in Christ give meaning, purpose, and fulfillment here and now!? 

He sustains your life.

Have you ever told someone that you're a Christian and they respond with total indifference? They say something like, “whatever works for you!” 

They don’t know what they’re missing do they? They’re spiritually blind! 

The Christian life isn’t a life of mediocrity, the Christian life is one of abundance! Amen? It’s not just a flippant thing to have your faith in Christ. It’s not just a “whatever works for you” sort of thing. 

Being in Christ gives you a deep seated, inexplicable joy that’s present even in the hardest of times! Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

It’s not just an average thing to be a Christian. It’s a glorious thing to be a Christian! Being in Christ, turning from your sin and having your sins forgiven, having Christ’s righteousness given to you, which ultimately restores your fellowship with God. 

To be a Christian is to be fully human! You see if you’re here today and you’re not a Christian you’re not really living! Christ has come to give you an abundant life. May you and I glory in the shepherd and door of our faith.