I Am the Door of the Sheep
Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. … If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:7,9)
In John 10 Jesus describes Himself as the door. In that time, the door was tended by a gatekeeper who guarded the sheep against danger, gave access to the shepherd of the sheep, and led the sheep out of the sheepfold for nourishment. Jesus is both the door and the gatekeeper who guards His flock against the enemy, gives access to the Father, and provides for the needs of the sheep.
Jesus is the door to salvation. The Gospel is exclusive in that Jesus claims to be the door rather than a door (John 10:7) and echoes this in John 14:6, “I am the truth, and the life, and the way. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus alluded to the reality that He was the door to salvation for Jews and also for Gentiles, the “sheep not of this fold” (John 10:15-16). As those who have a relationship with the Father through Christ, our reality is admission into His kingdom (Matthew 25:34). Di emou is the Greek phrase meaning “through me as the door.” Recognizing that we fall short of the glory of God, we can only enter the family of God through Jesus, the open “door of faith” (Acts 14:27). Because of His substitutional atonement and divine resurrection, He alone is the great Mediator between God and mankind, through whom we can enter into right standing before the Holy God (1 Timothy 2:5).
Jesus provides for His flock, the church. Our soul finds satisfaction when we seek fulfillment from the hand of God alone. While “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” we can take heart knowing our salvation is secure in Jesus. Because we have a relationship with God through Jesus as the door, we have the assurance that “when the chief Shepherd appears, we will receive the unfading crown of glory” and will cry out with all the saints for eternity, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (1 Peter 5:4, 8; Revelation 7:10)
Author
Meredith Cummings joined Nashville First Baptist Church in September 2020. She serves in the student ministry alongside her husband, Caleb Cummings. They have an 11-month-old daughter, Hadley. Meredith grew up in Atlanta, graduated from Mississippi College, and moved to Nashville in 2017. She is a registered perioperative nurse at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and is a singer/musician/songwriter for The Lowly Heirs.
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