I am the gate/door 

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV

Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV
It’s always fun to read scripture in context. I never realized that when Jesus said “I am the door,” which really means “gate,” he had just finished healing the man at the pool near the sheep gate. And in my ever living curiosity I wanted to find out more about the sheep gate.

It turns out that the sheep gate was the first gate to be rebuilt in Nehemiah’s temple. They could have started to rebuild at any point in the walls, but the sacrifice for their national sin had to be paid first. Brick by burnt brick, the priests actually rebuilt that gate with their own holy hands. Unwitting sheep filed into this gate and, of course, never returned through this gate because they were lead to the altar for sacrifice. As a song once claimed, you can check in any time you want but you can never leave.

So I think the disciples found it relevant when Jesus said He is THAT gate and the sheep COME and GO through Him. Come to think of it, the lame man at the pool may have exited through that very gate.

Early on, John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus, as the gatekeeper, calls his sheep in, but then GOES AHEAD of them. (More about that next week) Then in a finishing act, he becomes the only living sacrifice we will ever need. We enter His finished work through Him and only Him, the Gate, and we exit that door in the life and power of His resurrection.

He is the door I want to stay in, waiting patiently for His Voice.

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV

“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”