Title: THE GATE, THE SHEPHERD, THE SHEEP
Focus: Uphold and cling to the uniqueness of Christ; he is the only way to God and eternal life.
Function: To warn people against false teachings today, and to urge people to embrace the uniqueness of Christ.
Text: John 10:1-31
This past week, something startling happened: In an unprecedented open letter signed by 138 leading scholars from every sect of Islam, a plea was issued to Christian leaders “to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions.” (Fox news, October 11) These Muslim leaders wrote this letter to Pope Benedict XVI, to the Orthodox Church’s Patriarch of Constantinople, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to the leaders of all other Protestant churches worldwide.
My initial reaction was one of “good, let’s talk together about the threats we face and about finding ways to live together in harmony.” For I agree with the Muslim leaders’ statement in their letter that says: “With the terrible weaponry of the modern world, with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world’s inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.” Good, I thought, finally some sane voices from the Muslim world looking for common ground in a world of terror.
But then I noticed something else in the press report. We should come together as Christians and Muslims because we have common essentials, such as a “Holy Book” (the Bible and the Koran), and we worship the same God, referred to in Arabic as “Allah.” That’s when I became worried.
Lots of people in this postmodern age (where all truth is relative, and where there is no absolute truth) will say such things as “All religions lead to God; they are all the same!” Or, “All spirituality leads to the same God. Therefore, all spiritual expressions of faith are legitimate and acceptable to God.” Or, “Jesus and Mohammed are both prophets of God, and both are to be revered and respected.” And over the years I have observed that many Christian leaders are eager to accept such statements as common grounds for interfaith dialogue.
In fact, there are many Christians today who embrace these postmodern assumptions and expressions. They seem to think that such claims are in line with Christian spirituality and biblical teaching. As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, however, I say, Baloney! Beware of such notions! Rather, uphold and cling to the uniqueness of Christ, for he is the only way to God and eternal life.
I say this in light of the scripture reading for tonight. We find the Lord Jesus talking to some Pharisees and a man whom Jesus had healed from blindness. The Pharisees were offended by this man’s expressions of thanks to God and praise to Jesus for healing him. In their confrontation with the healed man, the Pharisees are trying to figure out the identity of Jesus: Who is he? By what authority does this Jesus perform miracles? The blind man went so far as to say that “if this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (9:33). In fact, the blind man ended up worshiping Jesus as God (9:38).
The Pharisees confronted Jesus and Jesus implied that they were blind: “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” The Pharisees protested and were offended by Jesus’ remarks.
But Jesus replied with a figure of speech. In chapter 10:1-5 the Lord Jesus makes use of an agricultural metaphor to make some very important statements about himself, about who he is and about how he relates to his followers, his sheep. “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman 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.”
The Pharisees, however, did not understand what Jesus was saying in this figure of speech. So, the Lord Jesus addresses them (and us) again. And in essence the Lord Jesus makes three claims about himself and his followers, his sheep:
· I am the gate for the sheep: Here Jesus points to his unique identity: “I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
Now a gate provides access; it opens and closes; it’s a door that allows us to enter a special place or space or world called “the kingdom of God.” And when Jesus points to himself as “the gate for the sheep,” he also invites his hearers to enter into his world.
Jesus is the doorway into the world of eternal life. That’s why he says: “…whoever enters through me will be saved.” And to be saved by Jesus means to be free from the bondage of sin and death, free from slavery to the Law; it means to find nurture for the soul—nurture from God’s Word and Spirit. That’s why Jesus says: “…whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Also, note that Jesus warns us about thieves and robbers who wish to lead us away from the gate: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers….” In other words, there is no other gate, no other way to the world of God’s kingdom, to eternal life, but the way of Jesus. It’s Jesus or nothing! He is the gate for the sheep. Hear now the second claim that Jesus makes about himself:
· I am the good Shepherd: Here the Lord Jesus points to his unique identity established by care for the sheep. That care is centered on Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross and by his victory over death in his tomb. Listen to him: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” In these words of Jesus Good Friday and Easter Sunday come together. Death and resurrection—resulting in eternal life for the sheep—are all found in this good Shepherd. No one else can make this claim. No one else comes even close to what Jesus has done for his sheep. He is the good shepherd.
When Jesus claims to be the gate for the sheep and to be the good shepherd, he appeals to his unique identity as the Giver of eternal life and as the Savior of the world, who gave his life for his sheep.
The third claim that Jesus makes concerns his sheep. Listen:
· I know my sheep and my sheep know me: Here Jesus points to his relationship with all his followers. His relationship involves knowledge—a personal knowledge of his sheep. It’s a knowledge based on fellowship, where the good Shepherd abides with his sheep, and where his sheep relate to their Shepherd with trust and with a spirit of obedience, recognizing, discerning, and following the voice of their master. Intimate fellowship, worked by Christ’s Spirit in our hearts, characterizes Jesus’ relationship with his sheep.
More than that: Jesus is the good shepherd, not only for the sheep pen called “the Jewish nation Israel,” those who are the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but Jesus is also the good shepherd of those who live in the sheep pen called “the Gentiles, or the nations of the world.” Listen: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
In other words, Jesus is the gate and the good Shepherd for all people who turn to him—Jews and Gentiles, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, and Muslims as well. All who turn to Christ Jesus in faith and profess him as Savior and Lord will have eternal life. But in order to follow him as his sheep and in order to have this life in abundance, we must be clear about Jesus’ identity and work. In a postmodern world, where truth is relative, where religious compromise is welcomed, and where intolerance for absolute claims reigns, I draw the following applications:
APPLICATIONS
1. Christ is the gate: I appeal to all of us NOT to go the route of religious pluralism that takes away the uniqueness of Christ. Let me give you an example: If you say that Christians worship the same God as the Muslims, then in essence you are denying the uniqueness of Christ. Why?
Christ is both truly divine and truly human. He, along with the person of the Father and the person of the Holy Spirit, is God—One God who reveals himself in three persons. Islam denies that God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Spirit. Islam rejects the triune essence of God. Thus I say that the God who reveals himself in the Scriptures is not the same god who appeals to the Muslims. The god of Islam called “Allah” is not the same God who reveals himself first in Scriptures and foremost in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Yes, of course, Christians can enter into dialogue with Muslims and any other religious person. But at no point should Christians deny the divinity and uniqueness of Jesus Christ. He is the gate; Jesus is the ONLY way to the throne room of God, to eternal life.
2. Christ is the Good Shepherd: Again, this is very important to remember: if you bypass Jesus Christ in your search for God, or in your search of doing God’s will and thus finding eternal life, you bypass the work of Jesus.
Then, in essence, you have no Savior of sin; then in essence, we are still dead in sins and trespasses; then we are still under a cloud of judgment; then we are still subject to the wrath of God on our sins.
More than that, if we bypass Jesus and marginalize him and consider him just another prophet like Mohammed, then we are like blind sheep, or like deaf sheep. Then we do not see Jesus’ work on the cross as essential and significant; then we are deaf to his beckoning voice to give our hearts and allegiance to him. Then we are blind (like the Pharisees) and deaf like so many who refuse to listen to the teachings of the Bible.
The Allah of the Koran competes with the God of the Bible. Allah is not the same as the Triune God who reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And Mohammed (like any other so-called prophet or savior figure) does not even come close to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. Jesus is unique. Never deny his uniqueness, for if you do, you forfeit (give up) your only Savior. Rather, uphold and cling to the uniqueness of Christ; he is the only way to God and eternal life.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.