I AM the Gate…not the Gate Keeper.
The Gospel of John is full of I am statements. I am the bread of life. I am the Way, the truth and the life. I am the vine. I am the resurrection. I am the light. I am the gate. I am the good shepherd.
And to be honest, I am pretty tired of all the I am statements.
Actually it’s probably not the statements themselves but it is for sure the way these I am statements are deployed in our culture and our 2,000 years of history. Today the “I am” statements take on a ‘gate keeper vibe” I mean literally in John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved.” Consider John 14.6, when Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Have you ever heard someone quote this in a way that felt loving and life affirming and kind? If you have I am so glad but for me the “I am” statements tend to be the most poetic way to suggest some folks are going to hell.
I am the Gate
The thing is when Jesus says, “I am the gate.” It means something different to him and the folks sharing his story in the Gospel of John. Folks who kept sheep would have known exactly what Jesus means when he says I am the gate. While all households might have kept a few sheep for their wool and collectively herded them to pasture in the day time then home at night (Baily p. 213). Folks with larger flocks typically had large stone circular enclosures to protect the flocks at night, closer to home there may be a door but out in the wilderness, these shared stone enclosures, sometimes with thorns along the top edge didn’t have a door (Baily p. 213). The Shepherd would draw the flock inside and then lay down as the door. The shepherd becomes the gate. It is the only point of vulnerability and they lay down to protect the flock over night. They might build a fire and they might have a trusty sheep dog to help but for the most part, the work of shepherding is lonely and vulnerable.
When Jesus says I am the gate, he means he is willing to lay down in that vulnerable space. It is not about a gate that keeps people out, but a space of safety, care and love. It is a poetic way that Jesus names his call to love people so much that this love makes you vulnerable.
Thieves, Bandits and Wolves, Oh My
The sheep are vulnerable to predators; two and four legged predators. Jesus names the threats to the shepherd and the sheep as thieves, bandits and a wolf. Jesus names this once and folks need another chance to understand it so he names it again in this passage.
“So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
We can probably imagine the interest of wild animals in an easy meal as a threat to the sheepfold. But the bandit and thief metaphor may not mean as much to us because we are not really fighting bandits on the regular. But in the day of Jesus if someone stole a sheep, they butchered it right away. They had to sell the evidence and turn a quick profit. So when Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd he names the courage and risk and reliance of the shepherd to protect the sheep in the face of threats like bandits, thieves and the hungry wolf.
Then he goes further to talk about the leaders who won’t.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because the hired hand does not care for the sheep.”
Bandit Who?
My friend, Rev. Chris Jorgensen talks about hearing this verse in Catholic School and wanting so badly to not be the thief or the bandit in this story. Knowing Chris at nearly 50, I find the story a little hilarious, and completely tragic. Our tradition has become so built around shame and sin, so focused on who is good and bad, who is in and out. So focused on getting into the sheep gate the right way, that a child assumed they were the bad guys. The notion that Jesus’ story about being a good shepherd could make a child afraid they were bad rather than inspire them is exactly the kind of problem Jesus might be trying to right.
When Jesus is debating or challenging folks, they are not school kids and they are typically not even every day folks. Jesus spends his time challenging the political-religious leaders of his day. They are the hired hands who won’t fight for the world their communities so deeply deserve. The empires that dominate, they steal and kill and destroy. See the Gospel of John is the last gospel to be composed and the state of the world is uneasy. Rome sacked Jerusalem. 70 years after Jesus’ death they destroyed the city. They lead masses of people out into slavery, you can see the results of their labor to this day in Rome. The people are scattered. They are torn. They are butchered. And the hired hands ran away.
Coded Language and the Shepards Call
The Gospel of John is full of coded language. It is written to and by and for deeply oppressed people. People who find life and abundance and hope in the story of Jesus. So maybe they can’t come right out and say, Rome is the worst. Maybe they can’t come right out and question the King. Maybe they can’t come right out and talk about DEI. But they can tell stories about what a Good shepherd.
3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’
The Good shepherd knows the sheep and they know the shepherd. They know the voice of the one who leads them on safe paths, who finds them calm water, who lays down at night as the door. Our extension agent named how even today shepherds will use a call and the sheep know the call. Bailey named seeing how shepherds call their sheep and the sheep know when to come, another can sing the same tune but the sheep will not follow. When sheep change from one fold to another, they are given time to know the new shepherd's voice and until they do they are often incredibly stressed out balls of wool.
A Historian, E.E. Bishop shares this hunting story of British occupation in Palestine. “During the riots in Palestine in the middle thirties a village near Haifa was condemned to collective punishment by having its sheep and cattle sequestered by the Government. The inhabitants however were permitted to redeem their possessions for a fixed price. Among them was an orphan shepherd boy, whose six or eight sheep…were all he had in the world for life and work. Somehow he obtained the money for their redemption.
He went to the big enclosure where the animals were penned, offering his money to the British sergeant in charge. The [guard] told him he was welcome to the requisite number of animals, but ridiculed the idea that he could possibly pick out his “little flock” from among the confiscated hundreds. The little shepherd thought differently, because he knew better…and giving his own “call”… “his own”[sheep] separated from the rest of the animals and trotted out after him….” (Baily, 42).
This passage requires a lot of us, listening for the good shepherd is one part. Taking a breath, listening to our guts, pausing the noise to notice. This might be one of the most challenging aspects, tuning in for God’s call in our lives. Maybe that’s why some christians like to use it to shame and limit folks, it’s easier than actually listening.
This passage isn’t about a gate that keeps people out and it sure isn’t about worthiness to be included in the fold. It’s about the loving and vulnerable role of the shepherd. There is great risk and trust and love involved in being a part of the Good Shepherd’s work. Over and over the good shepherd offers abundance and safety and connection. Over and over the Good Shepherd risks everything, they are vulnerable.
And over and over we are asked, will we follow?
May it be so. Amen.