John 10:7-10 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
In the
picture, there is a shepherd sitting at the entrance to a sheep fold. He is,
quite literally, the gate to the pen. No sheep can leave and no wild prey enter
without him knowing or letting it happen. And in these verses we consider
today, Jesus describes himself as being like that kind of gate. These verses
are found sandwiched between two chunks of John that give us that ultimate
picture of Jesus, as the Good Shepherd. And this short section ends with
possibly one of the top ten verses in the bible – ‘I came that they may have
life, and have it abundantly.’
She also
taught us about living life more fully. Many dog owners will attest to the fact
that a dog accepts you for who you are no matter what has happened in your day.
They give unconditionally (not perhaps like cats, who are perversely
independent until they want something from you – and I love cats too, for
this). My friendship with Jess (pictured above on Malvern with me last summer
in a photo taken by Isobel) has sustained me through the challenges of life.
She has taught me to enjoy the moment: there is nothing more joyous than seeing
a dog frisk through a light dusting of snow, or enjoy meeting a favourite
canine friend on the park, or simply just wag their tails on seeing you
approach them.
We read the 23rd
Psalm over Jess’s grave in our back garden last night. We found ourselves just
giving thanks for simple things about our lives woven together these last seven
years. And in the mystery of the love that exists between creatures and humans,
there is something of the mystery of the way a Good Shepherd weaves into our
lives that relationship of mutual love and thanksgiving and joy. For we are God’s
people and God’s sheep. Psalm 100 perhaps puts this sense of creaturely-ness
and thankfulness most truly:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is
God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the Lord is
good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Jesus is the gate to life in all its fullness. Others will try and lead and guide us, but they will not have our best interests at heart. They will want what they can get from us, not us ourselves. Jess taught me about this unconditional love that Jesus has to offer. The psalmist urges us to enter the gates of God with thanksgiving. For this is the way to fullness of life. And this praise is based upon the certainty that the shepherd who guards the fold has a love and faithfulness that endures for ever. The love and faithfulness that our lovely dog showed us all these years will endure in our lives.
The name "I am the gate" is raising questions for me today and I need the help of all blog readers. So if you're reading and haven't posted any comments yet, please do so, as your insights may be just what I need to hear to nudge me on my way.
ReplyDeleteRecognising that all analogies have their limits, my main question is, if Jesus is the gate, then is the Church a gated community? And that's why I have a problem. I've visited and stayed with relatives who live in gated communities in both France and Spain. These communities seem to be exclusive, for the rich and privileged. There are automatic barriers to drive through on to the private roads, even security guards in booths. It made me feel more like a prisoner compared to Jess' joyful friskiness in the Woods! And one evening, while my husband and I went for an evening stroll, we were even stopped by a security car to check on who this less salubrious couple were.
So what does it mean for the Church to be a gated community? Please share your ideas.
It's also made me reflect on that gates can be open or shut. Today the Prime Minister has said, or at least as I understand it, that Brexit means the UK will shut the gate to the single market. Time will tell if that is a wise decision.
With all the names of Jesus, though, I return to worship from where this blog began: "At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow", and can sing"I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise". Praise and worship are the hallmarks of Jesus' gated community.
There is much to think about in that picture of the shepherd in the only entrance to the sheepfold. Is he there to protect the sheep from danger? Is he to prevent the wolf getting in and attacking the sheep, and the sheep escaping to face countless dangers outside the fold? Does the shepherd simply protect and seal the sheep in safety. Is he solely a barrier to the threat of the wolf and the folly of the sheep?
ReplyDeleteBut is that really what Jesus is saying about himself here? He says, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Does this sound like someone who is penning us in? ‘Come in and go out’. It sounds more like a revolving door than a protective barrier, encouraging movement between the fold and the pasture. Jesus seems to be urging such movement, dialogue, and interaction between the protected space and the wild world beyond it. A free movement of workers throughout a world that is undivided in the eyes of God?
The protection that is on offer is not one of withdrawal and exclusivity, but of salvation – a new level of life that brings confidence both inside the fold and outside in the rough places. It enables us to accept that the world may be a dangerous place, but it is not abandoned by God. Things may happen there that are not of his will or making, and they may happen to us when we venture there. But the whole point about putting the sheep in a fold overnight is to release them back into the pasture the next morning, refreshed and strengthened to face the challenges and dangers of the open country.
When Jesus says he saves us, he is not talking about protecting us physically from material dangers. He was certainly not immune from the threat of his enemies. He is not an insurance against our injury by the material threats of the world. The fold is not a place of isolation like a monastery on a rocky island, or a church retreat, if those places mean withdrawal from the life of the world. The fold could be either a monastery or a retreat if it is entered through Christ for a while to provide us with new strength and insight to go back into the world. The fold is not a place to withdraw and hide because it’s nasty ‘out there’.
It’s a shame our church buildings have to have walls and doors, because we do fall into the danger of thinking of them as enclosed communities to which we ‘go’ (each Sunday morning) because of Jesus, and spiritually want to remain there. Instead, we should see ourselves just ‘popping’ into them briefly as refreshing, restoring and enabling places that make us ready to go back out again as soon as we can, through the gate of Jesus, and into the rough places outside. I think we call that ‘outreach’: passing through the gate of Christ and off to the far horizon.
Of course, Jesus doesn’t just stay at the gate chewing on a straw and waiting for the next wolf, he goes out there with us!
I found so much about the significance of gates that I would like to share it with you. Much of it is about city gates that Jesus is not really speaking of. However, I still think the significance is important enough to include in our discussion.
ReplyDeleteHaaretz.com
In biblical times, a gate was not just a passageway in a defensive wall around a city. It was a massive complex structure with an outer gate and an inner one, providing a second line of defence, with a space in between. It was the space between the two gates that the Bible calls " in the gates".
For ancient Israel, the one place where transparency was guaranteed was the city gate.
It was in the city gate, through which people constantly flowed, that agreements were sealed, in the presence of witnesses, a necessity in an era before the written contract.
In Ruth 4 , Boaz exercises his familial right to marry Ruth in the gate..
Gotquestions.com
Besides being part of a city’s protection against invaders, city gates were places of central activity in biblical times. It was at the city gates that important business transactions were made, court was convened, and public announcements were heralded. Accordingly, it is natural that the Bible frequently speaks of “sitting in the gate” or of the activities that took place at the gate. In Proverbs 1, wisdom is personified: “At the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech” (verse 21). To spread her words to the maximum number of people, Wisdom took to the gates.
The first mention of a city gate is found in Genesis 19:1. It was at the gate of Sodom that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, greeted the angelic visitors to his city. Lot was there with other leading men of the city, either discussing the day’s issues or engaging in important civic business.
In the Law of Moses, parents of a rebellious son were told to bring him to the city gate, where the elders would examine the evidence and pass judgment (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). This affirms that the city gate was central to community action.
Another important example is found in the book of Ruth. In Ruth 4:1-11, Boaz officially claimed the position of kinsman-redeemer by meeting with the city elders at the gate of Bethlehem. There, the legal matters related to his marriage to Ruth were settled.
As Israel combatted the Philistines, the priest Eli waited at the city gate for news regarding the ark and to hear how his sons fared in the battle (1 Samuel 4:18).
When King David ruled Israel, he stood before his troops to give instructions from the city gate (2 Samuel 18:1-5). After his son Absalom died, David mourned but eventually returned to the city gate along with his people (2 Samuel 19:1-8). The king’s appearance at the gate signaled that the mourning was over, and the king was once again attending to the business of governing.
The city gate was important in other ancient cultures, as well. Esther 2:5-8 records that some of the king’s servants plotted at the king’s gate to murder him. Mordecai, a leading Jew in Persia, heard the plot and reported it to Esther, who gave the news to the king (Esther 2:19-23). The Persian court officials were identified as being “at the king’s gate” (3:3).
To control the gates of one’s enemies was to conquer their city. Part of Abraham’s blessing from the Lord was the promise that “your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:17).
When Jesus promised to build His Church, He said, “The gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). An understanding of the biblical implications of “gates” helps us interpret Jesus’ words. Since a gate was a place where rulers met and counsel was given, Jesus was saying that all the evil plans of Satan himself would never defeat the Church.
Kotipetripaavola.com
ReplyDeleteSignificance of the various gates in the book of Nehemiah
The Sheep Gate proclaims forgiveness of sins through the blood of the Lamb . It proclaims grace of redemption which a man can encounter through the blood of the Lamb .
Fish gate
Fishermen brought through the Fish Gate fish to sell to Jerusalem. The spiritual meaning of the Fish Gate is there that after the Sheep Gate redemption in the blood of the Lord Jesus begins fishing of men.The Fish Gate means the preaching of the Gospel and fishing, the men to the kingdom of God.
Old Gate
Spiritual meaning is death of the old man. The Lord Jesus doesn't repair the old man, but makes the new man through the regeneration in the Holy Spirit.
Valley gate
Describes wandering of Jesus's disciples.
Ge 26:19 And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
Ps 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Eze 3:22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
By digging in the valley Isaac's servants found well water. Spiritually it means that we dig deeper spiritual things than the surface of the ground and we shall find holy and beautiful spiritual gifts of God.
Dung gate
The Dung Gate describes, how the flesh will die. Through the Dung Gate, the trash was taken out of Jerusalem, to a valley of Hinnom, in which it was burnt. In the same way sin must die from the heart of the believer. The spiritual meaning is that sin, which is foul smelling and destroys our heart and mind, must put away, by dying of the flesh.
Fountain Gate
The Fountain Gate located near the pool of Siloam,where water flows. The pool is the same place where Jesus said to the blind man to wash up, John 7:9. At the time of Nehemiah many washed themselves before they entered into the temple area. The spiritual meaning is the fountain of living waters, and its source, is God in the Holy Spirit through the Lord Jesus.
Water gate
In old testament water describes the Holy Spirit. The spiritual meaning of the Water Gate is practical life in the Holy Spirit.
Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Horse Gate
The Horse Gate located next to the horse stables. Horses were used in the wars against enemies. The spiritual meaning is spiritual warfare:
East gate
The East Gate is the place, where the Lord Jesus the Messiah of Israel arrives:Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
The spiritual meaning of the East Gate is returning of the Messiah and waiting on the Lord Jesus. Miphkad means numbering (census) and appointed place. The spiritual meaning of the Gate Miphkad comes into view from Eze 43: Eze 43:21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place (miphkad) of the house, without the sanctuary.
The spiritual meaning of the Gate Miphkad means the place, where is presence of God and His forgiveness by the blood and offering of the Lord Jesus.
Description of the book Nehemiah about repairing the wall and the gates starts from the Sheep Gate and comes to an end to the Sheep Gate, Neh 3:32. Everything begins redemption of the Lord Jesus and forgiveness of sins and comes to an end of it, because it is the foundation of our salvation. Glory and praise to our God!
I have not been able to put down my own thoughts because of the limit on characters in each comment, but will do so later on today.
ReplyDeleteAs I walked up and down Harborne road, opposite the woods, observing the gates people had, I felt very much like FEE did. I looked at the gates and thought ,
ReplyDelete" These gates shout ,' Keep Out! 'They are not welcoming. Why did Jesus say he was a gate? It would sound bizarre if I said I was a gate. "
I pictured different types of gates in my mind and came to the realisation that there could not have been electric gates in Jesus' time. There were probably not many gated homes at all in his time. Jesus was speaking of the type of gate you see in a farm yard, the wooden creaky ones, the kind that protects. They aren't there to hide anything from prying eyes. They are only there to keep the animals safe. Jesus is not the high imposing gate that shouts,
"Keep out! Private property!"
He is the humble farmyard gate that says,
"Come this way, and I will keep you safe."
I also remember how as a child I liked to climb over the fence , not using the gate. Taking the gate meant taking the longer route, being disciplined. It was much simpler to jump over the fence and break the rules. When Jesus speaks of the thief not entering through the gate, to me, it implies the short cuts we take in life as well as wrong doing: abusing alcohol and drugs to find pleasure, cheating, gambling, thieving, murder, slothfulness...
Using the gate implies being honest, choosing to do the right thing. It can appear simpler to take short cuts, but in the long run, obedience to Gods word brings more freedom than what might initially seem like the easy way.
Jesus says, "I stand at the door and knock."
If we allow him in, he enters our lives and then becomes the gate to our conscience. He allows what is good through the gates and helps us discern what to keep out. He is the gate that allows in all that is true, noble, pure, right, lovely, excellent, admirable, praiseworthy(Philippians 4:8) and keeps out evil. Jesus is the gate where truth is proclaimed. If we sit in the gate that is Jesus, we sit in honesty and openness, a place of safety.