Push don't pull! (part 3 in the "I AM" series)

I’ve been thinking about doors…

They are everywhere.

French Doors. Garage Doors. Attic Doors. Shower Doors. Wardrobe doors. Folding Doors. Squeaky doors. Badly needing to be painted doors!

A door can be an exit, an entrance, a bridge or a barrier.  Doors can keep things separate, protect things, provide access, or prevent entry.

“Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep’” John 10:7

So why does Jesus start talking about Himself as the door of the sheep? And what on earth does He mean by that?

With this reference, Jesus is addressing his listeners using a familiar metaphor. Sheep pens out in the Judean countryside were nothing more than a circle of rocks piled up into a wall, with a small open space through which to enter. The shepherd would drive the sheep in at nightfall and then he’d lie across it, either falling asleep there or staying watchfully awake. He was effectively a door for the sheep pen, preventing predators from getting in, but also stopping the sheep from wandering off.

The context for our verse is found in the previous chapter. This is where Jesus healed a man who had been born blind, by making a mud paste and smearing it on his eyes.

After the man had washed his face in the Pool of Siloam, he was able to see. The Pharisees, always looking for a way to trap Jesus, called his parents over and began to grill them with questions, asking them to verify their son’s identity.

They argued with the man for a short while, and then sent him away. Instead of rejoicing that the blind man had experienced the goodness of God, they acted as a block or obstacle to Him. They were, in effect, acting as a door to God .They believed that this man was such a broken and sinful individual that he couldn’t possibly have been supernaturally healed.

This is why Jesus then replied in John chapter 10:7, “I am the door of the sheep.” You see, there is no real break between chapters nine and ten. It’s still the same scene, and Jesus is addressing the same people.

He is essentially saying to the Pharisees “I am the door, not you. I am the one who decides who comes in and who goes out, and who experiences the compassion and mercy and grace and love of God the Father”.

Later Jesus goes on to say, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” John 10:10

I wonder if you would describe the life you are living now as being abundant? Is it characterised by peace, joy, rest, contentment? If your answer is ‘no’, I’d like to suggest two possible reasons…and we are still on the door theme!

Firstly, all of us, even as followers of Jesus, we might have chosen to open doors that were better left closed. If the promised abundant life somehow still eludes us, perhaps our trust and faith in Him is not absolute - we may seek fulfillment by opening and entering through all sorts of doors, believing that on the other side there is the something that will make us feel better.

But true and lasting meaning is only found in Jesus. Outside of Him, it’s all an illusion, a shadow. Placing our hope in anything else to satisfy and fulfill our deep longings, is then, idolatry.

Down through their long history, no issue more threatened the wellbeing of the Hebrew people than the idolatry of the nations surrounding them. Again and again, the prophets warned them to avoid idolatry. And again and again, God’s messengers were ignored with devastating consequences.

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol … You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:3-4).

We may say self-righteously that we would never worship the image of a golden calf - the contemporary western Christian, however, might be as idolatrous as the children of Israel were. It just looks quite a bit different!

Secondly, then, there are some of us who are not living the abundant life because we haven’t properly closed the door behind us. We‘ve stepped through the door that is Jesus, but the door to our past remains wide open.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” John 10:9

If we don't seek full closure to what’s behind us in our past, then we can’t fully step into, and experience the green pastures of rest and provision that lie ahead, with freedom from anxiety and dread.

We all have baggage from our past that we would rather not revisit. But, often the door to all that cannot be fully closed because we haven’t dealt with betrayal, rejection, disappointment and other hurts in a godly way. These wounds therefore now inform the decisions we make, the way we choose to think about ourselves, and how we view God, and so the past continues to influence us.

Only Jesus has always known us, and only He can truly bind up our wounds, saying of Himself, quoting Isaiah 61:1

“the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted”.

The man who was born blind would have known only stigma and humiliation from a society that believed sickness was a punishment from God for sin. Jesus has compassion on him and heals him. This act of love sets the blind man free - from blindness, yes, but also from the trauma of a shame-filled life. He can now enter society, find a place of belonging, be significant, make friends. He is healed.

SO…I am the door is an invitation of access into an extraordinary relationship with God, where He alone can fulfil our deepest longings.

And, I am the door, is an invitation to closure through redemption, forgiveness and healing, for all that has gone before, so that unhindered, we can truly step into what’s ahead and experience the green pastures of abundant life that are promised to all who believe in Him.