The truth only hurts when you are clinging to lies. One could argue that this statement was the religious leader's primary motivation all throughout Jesus’ ministry. It explains why they fought so hard against every truth Jesus proclaimed to the point that they plotted to have Him killed and finally succeeded. They knew what they wanted in life and were using religion to accomplish it by manipulating the masses to believe the lies they had embraced themselves in order to get it. Because of this, they were able to keep the power and money that they so desired for hundreds of years, but then Jesus came onto the scene. The light of His truth was bringing people out of the darkness and giving them freedom they couldn’t find anywhere else. His light was exposing the religious leaders by showing everyone who they really were. The battle between truth and lies was what brought about the conflict we will see this morning as we look at our text. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to John chapter 10. Before we talk about chapter 10, we need to understand what happened in chapter 9 because that is what sets up the conflict we will see.
At the beginning of chapter 9, we see Jesus walking with His disciples. They came upon a blind man and His disciples asked Him, why this man was blind. Was it his sin or his parents’ sin? Jesus gave them an answer they did not expect. He told them it was neither, but this man was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him. Jesus then proceeds to mix together spit and dirt and place it on the blind man’s eyes and commands him to wash himself in the pool of Siloam. The man listened to Jesus and followed His command in obedience and because of that he was able to see for the first time in his life. The people around did not believe what had happened and were in shock. They even spent some time trying to figure out if the blind man had a twin or doppelganger. However, they were soon convinced that this was indeed the blind man who they saw daily and it was Jesus that had healed him. However, they responded to this glorious miracle by taking the healed man to the Pharisees because this miracle no doubt caused a lot of questions. Who is this Jesus? Why was this miracle performed on the Sabbath? How should we respond to this miracle from God? They had been told their entire life that these religious leaders were the gatekeepers to God, so they went there to have all their questions answered. If you are unfamiliar with the idea of a gatekeeper, they are ones who control access to something — just like a gate to a fence. In our culture, gatekeepers can be both good and bad. I remember going through sales training years ago and we would talk about gatekeepers in a business we were trying to sell to. They were the ones (usually at the front desk) that you had to get through in order to reach the person who could make a decision on what you were selling. These are a type of good gatekeepers. They protect the organization by keeping things out that might cause a loss of productivity. Then you have the other types of gatekeepers — the elitists. They are the ones who don’t want you to have or enjoy what they enjoy without doing everything that they tell you to do. It’s like going down to the fishing hole and someone makes fun of you because you didn’t whittle your fishing rod out of a tree you felled with your own hand or makes fun of you because you used bait to catch a fish and the fish didn’t jump into your boat out of pure respect. Now these examples are pure hyperboles, but I’m sure you have experienced this in some way in your lives. These religious leaders were the elitist gatekeepers. When they received the healed man, they did not marvel that Jesus healed him and in turn glorified God, but were more concerned with why Jesus did it on a Saturday. They questioned this man over and over. They even brought his parents in and questioned them as they thought there had to be something wrong. The religious leaders never thought Jesus could have performed a miracle like this. The man got tired of their questioning and responded that Jesus must have been sent by God because only God could have healed him and maybe they were asking all these questions because they wanted to follow Jesus too. He didn’t have all the knowledge that the religious leaders did. All he knew was he was once blind, but now he was able to see and it was all because of Jesus. He wouldn’t stop proclaiming Jesus in their midst and they kicked him out of the synagogue.
We are told that Jesus heard what happened to the man He had healed and went and found him and called him to put his faith in Him. This healed man did and began to worship Jesus. This was an act that was reserved for God alone because only He is worthy of praise — Jesus accepted his worship. The truth demonstrated in the life of this blind man was making the Pharisees uncomfortable by the end of chapter 9 because it was in direct contrast to the lies they had been holding on to. Jesus confronted them and spoke to them in allegory, using the imagery of a shepherd and His flock to confront their false teachings and their false authority. However the religious leaders didn’t understand it the first time, so Jesus told them again. This time He did so by proclaiming a very powerful “I AM” statement they would have no problem understanding.
John 10:7-8
So He explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.
Jesus confronts them and tells them they cannot be the gatekeeper because they have never come into the fold by the way of the gate. He alone is the gate for the sheep. Anyone who tried to come to the fold without coming through Him were thieves and robbers, false teachers, and manipulators that were only going to harm the sheep for their own gain. The true sheep that belong to Him would never listen to them anyway. This would have infuriated the religious leaders, but Jesus wasn’t done yet. This morning I want to briefly look at two points He made with this “I AM” statement that we all need to understand.
There is No Other Way. - John 10:9a
Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.
When God gave the law to Moses in the Old Testament, He gave 613 commands that were to be followed. However by the time Jesus came there had been thousands and thousands more laws added by man. The exact number was hard to nail down because it kept being added to in their oral tradition. One example of this is the law concerning working on the Sabbath — it was the law the Pharisees were so concerned about before this passage. That one law was taken by man and they added 39 separate categories to define work. Each category contained hundreds of sub-rules that distorted God’s original law. Therefore because of this, there should be no wonder people considered these leaders to be the gatekeepers of God. The leaders had given themselves the authority to add to God’s Holy and perfect Word and portrayed themselves in a way God never meant for them to be portrayed as. They were holding on to a lie. In the Gospel of Matthew we see Jesus confront the leaders many times for holding the traditions of man higher than the commands of God and that’s what was happening here as well. The religious leaders told others they had the most noble of reasons for doing this. They loved to say they were “building a fence around the law”, but in reality what they were doing was telling others, if you want to be a part of God’s family, a part of His flock, you will have to obey OUR rules and do as WE say. This is why Jesus’ statement of truth shook them so. He was declaring it is not the law nor is it by the rules of man that you come into God’s family — it is only through Me. Jesus is telling them something about the nature of God’s law that we see expounded upon in Romans. Romans 3:20 tells us “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” The law with all its rules, can never save you, it is only Jesus who can save you. As Peter proclaimed in front of these same religious leaders after Pentecost, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” You see the religious leaders were trying to seek salvation on their own terms, with their own ways, and their own rules. However Jesus’ I AM statement destroyed that idea. Not only were they not the gatekeepers to God, they hadn’t even come into the fold themselves. They had not come by the way of Jesus. Salvation cannot be obtained by sincerity in your beliefs. It cannot be obtained by following rules or traditions. It cannot be obtained through an emotional experience. It cannot be obtained by knowledge. It can only be obtained through faith in Jesus Christ alone, it is by His grace we are saved through faith and not of our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). You cannot get to heaven any other way than through Jesus. He is the gate and welcomes all who enter through Him and be saved.
There is No Better Way. - John 10:9b-10
They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Jesus goes on to speak about the life of those who come to Him through faith, those who have called upon Him as Lord and Savior. He does so by contrasting motives between the religious leaders and Himself. He speaks of the thief. These were the ones who came into the flock any other way than through the door. These were the very ones whom Jesus was speaking to — the Pharisees. Their motives were selfish, only seeking after what their hearts wanted. They didn’t care what they did to others to get it. Just like thieves, they don’t mind stealing, killing, or destroying just as long as they get what they want. They come into the flock for their own benefit and those who tried to follow them would suffer. Then there is Jesus, the one who willingly laid down His life for the sheep, the selfless Messiah, the one who came for the sheep's benefit. He is the exact opposite of these leaders. Not only did He offer salvation for whosoever will call upon His name, but when we are in His flock, we are given freedom from sin that you cannot know outside of Jesus. You are given a rich and satisfying life. The picture Jesus uses here is like an artesian well. Its a well that keeps flowing and flowing no matter the time, no matter the circumstance. It's always flowing because of the source. The source of His abundant life is the gate in which we enter — it is Jesus. However, we cannot be confused here, because the life that Jesus promises is not an easy one, nor is it a constantly happy one. What He is speaking of is a life filled with unending joy. Joy is a natural response to God’s goodness and work in our lives. The closer we walk with Him the more we see Him at work and the more joy we have because we will see no matter where we are. Jesus is working. If we are with the flock and we become hurt by others, we can still see God working in those moments for our good and for His glory. We worship Him, sometimes through tears, but always with joy. When we are outside the flock we walk with Him and carry out the mission He has trusted us with. We will see Jesus work in the lives of others and we will respond in joy as we see those dead in their sins come through the gate and be brought to life despite their circumstances. This abundant life that Jesus wants us to experience can only be found through Him.
There is only one door to enter by and that is in Jesus Christ alone, all others must stay outside. There is no third option. However, for those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we have salvation. We are made whole for the first time. We experience freedom like we have never experienced before and have unlimited joy in Him. Therefore, this morning, we are going to celebrate that freedom as we observe the Lord’s Supper and remember what Jesus did for us on the cross.
