The Gate

            Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.  (John 10:7-9)

What we think of as a sheep’s pen is not what the folks in Jesus’s time and area thought of. It wasn’t a fence with a wooden swinging gate. It was a wall of loosely stacked rocks, and the entrance was where the shepherd sat and slept. For Jesus to refer to Himself as the gate for the sheep would not have gotten a “Say, what?” from His audience. This also makes more sense of the notion that hirelings being not as likely to protect the herd. If the sheep weren’t yours, and you were being stared down by a pack of wolves, would you stand your ground? I suspect I wouldn’t, partly because I’m too weak to be more than one bite’s hinderance to them.

Another difference between then-and-there and here-and-now is that shepherds didn’t use dogs. The sheep knew the shepherd’s voice and they followed the voice. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that I need at least two dogs to hound me, just to get me where I’m supposed to be. Sometimes, I think Jesus provides the hounds in the form of people, things, and events, but He also calls, and His sheep hear and recognize His voice. I’d like to think I follow Him because I hear His voice – at least sometimes.

Please, Lord? At least sometimes?

Jesus explained that His sheep will go in and come out by Him. They’ll find pasture, meaning food, fresh water, room to frolic, and freedom. And all this with a sense of confidence that I envy. Yep, sheep are dumb. They either think the world is a big, terrifying place from which they must hide, or that it’s their playground in which nothing dangerous can happen. But His sheep can know that both are true, yet be confident because of Him.  He is not only the gate that doesn’t let them out when there’s danger, but is also the protector to whom they can run when they are afraid, even if the fear is of a worm, not a wolf, or a bug, not a bear.