SECRET #48 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Within the very same context in the 10th chapter of John as the shepherd motif Jesus introduces another "I AM" signature. Let's look at it. So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:7-10) This brings us to SECRET #48: The follower of Jesus relates to the Master as the door.

Every detail of the shepherd's life lights up the picture of the Good Shepherd whose sheep hear his voice and whose constant care is for His flock. The Jews did not understand the meaning of the story of the Good Shepherd. So Jesus, plainly and without concealment, applied it to Himself. He began by saying: "I am the door." In this parable Jesus spoke about two kinds of sheepfolds. In the villages and towns themselves there were communal sheepfolds where all the village flocks were sheltered when they returned home at night. These folds were protected by a strong door of which only the guardian of the door held the key. It was to that kind of fold Jesus referred earlier in this session when He said, "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

But when the sheep were out on the hills in the warm season and did not return at night to the village at all, they were collected into sheepfolds on the hillside. These hillside sheepfolds were just open spaces enclosed by a make-shift, wall. In them there was an opening by which the sheep came in and went out; but there was no door of any kind. What happened was that at night the shepherd himself lay down across the opening and no sheep could get out or in except over his body. In the most literal sense the shepherd was the door.


That is what Jesus was thinking of when he said: "I am the door." Through him, and through him alone, men find access to God. Jesus opens the way to God. Until Jesus came men could think of God only as, at best, a stranger and as, at worst, an enemy. But Jesus came to show men what God is like, and to open the way to Him. He is the door through whom you may make your way toward the God of gods.

This image focuses on the role of Jesus fleshing out the invisible God of gods. This is where I like to share this statement: "Jesus is God here. God is Jesus everywhere!" It's difficult, maybe impossible, to follow and relate to the invisible God. This is why Jesus is necessary! Jesus is God simplified!

I like to think of it this way. If there ever was a man that was God in human flesh, He would be like Jesus. It makes sense then that Jesus is the most attractive, irresistible and relevant person who ever lived!

Jesus claims that He came that men might have life and might have it more abundantly. The Greek phrase used for having it more abundantly means to have a superabundance of a thing. To be a follower of Jesus, to know who He is and what He means, is to have a superabundance of life. When we try to live our own lives on our own, life is a dull, dispirited thing. When we walk with Jesus, there comes a new vitality, a superabundance of life. It is only when we live with Jesus that life becomes really worth living and we genuinely begin to live life on purpose.

SECRET #48: The follower of Jesus relates to the Master as the door. Jesus as the door is much like Jesus is the way. However in the case of being the door, Jesus is the great protector of His sheep. He makes sure His sheep stay safely within the sheepfold and He makes sure that nothing that might threaten His sheep can come in. Jesus is the door for His sheep.