LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Sheep Door
"I am the door of the sheep" (John 10:7).
After healing the man born blind, Jesus speaks to the Jews about the Good Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd knows his sheep and they know him; and because they did not believe in him, they showed that they did not belong to his sheep. By this he also showed his heart, which included all his disciples, and not only the Jews, as sheep that had no shepherd (Mark 6:34).
There are many teachings of the Lord in this chapter 10 of John, but in this opportunity we would like to highlight two of them. The first is the restoration of the sheep gate of the ancient temple of Israel as a figure of the House of God, of the church of the living God; and secondly, its practical aspect.
The first gate to be restored in the temple in Israel, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, was the sheep gate (Neh. 3:1). This clearly shows us that everything is for Christ and everything begins with Christ; but there is also an implicit reference in this door, for it is the door of the sheep, and this refers first of all to Him as the Lamb of God and also to us Christians, as sheep.
Another characteristic of this door is that the word of God does not mention that it had locks and bolts. In all the others the restoration of locks and bolts is recorded, but not in the sheep gate. Jesus testifies to this when he says: "I am the door; he who enters by me shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture" (Jn. 10:9).
The Lord's church has no doorkeepers and no locks. Among the Pharisees there were those who would not enter and those who would not let in, but not in the church of Christ. It is a House of Prayer for all nations. She opened and remains open to all men; men of every tribe, tongue, people and nation. The Lord is the door through which we enter, go out, and find pasture. He is like the gates of the new Jerusalem which shall not be shut day or night (Rev. 21:25).
The second, practical, aspect of the person of Christ as the door of the sheep that has neither bolts nor locks, is its inclusiveness. It is the door that gives entrance to men and women, slave and free, barbarian and Scythian, to be one in Christ (Gal. 3:28). Through Him, through the sheep gate, all kinds of men enter: those of renown and those considered as scum, rich and poor, healthy and sick, religious and unbelieving. All enter, and go out, and find pasture. All find a place. We see a clear example of this among the twelve apostles he chose. One of them, Matthew, was of the worst kind of publicans (Luke 5:27), hated by the Jews; another, Nathanael, a true Israelite in whom there was no guile (John 1:47).
This door, as in the temple of Israel, is the first to be restored in the Lord's church. Not in theory, nor by doctrine, but in fact and in truth. In case this door is not restored first, we will not differ in any way from the Pharisees. In this sense, the word of the Lord tells us: "Wherefore receive ye one another, even as Christ also received us, unto the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7).