What did Jesus mean when He said "I am the door" (John 10:7)?

"I am the door of the sheep." As He came in by God's appointed way, He is God's appointed way for everybody else, and so He is the door. "By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved" - now He is not taking them out - "and shall go in and out and find pasture." What you call folds are hardly intelligible here; there were wild beasts there, and the fold was many feet high, that animals should not jump over. Now He takes His sheep out of Judaism, and they are saved, and they are free, and they find pasture; before they were neither safe nor free, nor had they pasture. But if a soul go in by Christ, he gets salvation, liberty, and food. If I am entering, and they say, Where are you going? I do not know, but I am sure it is all right if Christ is the door; like Abraham going forth, not knowing whither he went; it is all right if Christ leads. Further, our safety comes from the personal care of the shepherd, and not from the prison of a fold. With Christ, we have salvation, liberty and pasture.

The Door of the Sheep. — The proverb was not understood (6). He proceeded, therefore, to open out His teaching. "Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them" (7, 8). He had just spoken of leading out of the fold (3). Attempts had been made previously to do that, but without success. And now the reason is vouchsafed. Christ, and Christ only, is the door of the sheep. There is no way out of the fold of Judaism but by Him. God placed His earthly people under law to await the coming of the Prophet like to Moses. To Him they were to hearken (Deut. 18:15-19). Till He should come, Israel were to continue under law; and that involved, in Divine governmental dealing with them, subjection in the Lord's day to the imperial power of Rome. Now efforts had been made to break that yoke — as, for instance, by Judas and Theudas, to whom Gamaliel referred (Acts 5:36-37). Each attempt ended disastrously, both for the leaders and their followers, and proved they were not of God. If God really worked, as Gamaliel wisely observed, it would be impossible to overthrow it. So, after the Lord's death, and the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Church was formed; and, the door of the fold being opened, thousands came out. Before that those characterised by the Lord as thieves and robbers might rise up; but the sheep did not hear them. The time to relinquish Jewish ground had not come. And no way out of Judaism, for those placed under it by birth, has God ever sanctioned, save by Christ, the door of the sheep. Only as Jews hearken to Him have they Divine authority for leaving the Mosaic ritual and the teaching of the synagogue.

Christ the Door. — But, led out of the fold, whither should they go? Would they be left to wander on the dark mountains, and ultimately be lost? No. He who would lead them out would provide richly for them. So now He presents Himself in another character. "I am the door: by Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (9). We have read of the door of the fold, through which the Shepherd enters it (1). We have read, too, of the door of the sheep, through which they get out of it (7). Now we read of Christ as the door, by which they can enter in for blessing. The door of the sheep for those in the fold in verse 7, He too is the door, but not of the sheep, in verse 9. Grace and its provisions are for any, for all, who will accept them. Hence the language changes, and the door here (9) is thrown wide open. "By Me, if any man enter in," etc. This is in character with our Gospel, which holds out blessing to all who are willing to receive it (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 6:35, 40, 51; 7:37; 8:12). But though the door is thrown wide open, to admit of those from Gentiles entering in as well as those from Jews, it is a narrow entrance after all; for only through Christ, the door, can any one enter in. He must be believed upon for entrance to be obtained. Abundant blessing there is. About that none are to be ignorant. The Lord states it simply. He states it fully, classing it under three heads — salvation, freedom, pasture.

Here, for the best reasons and the fuller display of the grace and truth which came by Him, He presents Himself as the Door of the sheep, rather than of the fold.

"Jesus therefore said to them again, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All as many as came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: through me if any one enter, he shall be saved, and he shall go in and shall go out, and he shall find pasture. The thief cometh not but that he may steal and slay and destroy; I came that they might have life, and have [it] abundantly" (vers. 7-10).

The fold is here left aside. What could Judaism avail for the saints any more than sinners? Christ is the door of the sheep. They might be cast out like the blind man whom He caused to see. Where were they to turn, and whither go? "I am the door of the sheep." He is the entrance to the new and abiding blessings of God for His own, the entrance to the God that blessed them, yea, to the Father, as they learn in due time. He is the object of faith now more clearly than ever; as He had been truly, if dimly, since sin came into the world. All believers looked to Him that was coming, the Messiah; but now He is revealed as incomparably more.

Had any claimed the sheep? "All as many as came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them." For God protects His own. They might boast and say that they were somebody, like Theudas; they might draw after them a people in revolt like Judas of Galilee. But they were thieves and robbers; and none followed whom the Son made free, only Abraham's seed but not his children.

The men whom the Lord addresses do not understand the parable He spoke to them; He Himself, in grace, furnishes the application. Resuming His discourse, He says, "I am the door of the sheep" (v. 7). God has set Me as the One by whom My sheep can go out without fear, for it is there that God has placed the way out. In following Jesus, he who believed in Him could leave the fold that God had set up. Jesus was Himself the door. If a Pharisee were to ask, "Where are you going thus?" the sheep could answer, "I am going where the Shepherd sent by God will lead me." He is the door, not of Israel, but of the sheep. All who had come before, and who pretended to present themselves as divine leaders of Israel, were but thieves and robbers; the sheep had not listened to them. Now, to go out, although authorised by the voice and conduct of the divine Shepherd, was a small thing; the Shepherd's Person implied something positive; He was also the door by which to enter. He had said nothing of this in His parable; only shewing that He called His own sheep, and led them forth, going before them, a sure warrant that they did well in leaving the fold; His voice was enough. Now He reveals the effect.

154 This is a new light in which He puts Himself, but it fills up the other. It is also simple and more decided. They did not understand how He came in by the door, nor what the thing meant. Now He tells them what remains. He had entrance into the fold. The sheep, indeed, heard Him, but none else. Now, He was the door of the sheep, the door out, a door by which they might get out of the fold, when His voice led out. But He was the door generally to the sheep, the appointed way of access. He came in by the door, and therefore was the door. That is, He, and He alone, came in by God's appointed way, and therefore was God's appointed way to others (the sheep). None, indeed, else could come to that door. He was the door of the sheep.

He was the door. Thus far then was the path or the way marked. They were right; assured thus far. This was most important. "To a land that I will shew thee." The "I" was the security, the point of faith; the "shew thee" the promise. So here: "I am the door." Where or what the fold would be was not yet shown. But He was the door of the sheep. As He came in fulfilling the way, He was their way out. Still the Person, and personal care, of the Shepherd was the security, and thus shown.

John 10:7. Men may not understand His words; nevertheless, they are left without excuse, for the Lord proceeds to apply His allegory, and enlarge upon the blessings of those who follow Him. Christ Himself now becomes the door of the sheep, The Jewish fold, though corrupted by man, had been established and sanctioned by God. What right, then, had the sheep to leave the judgment-doomed nation, unless God Himself opened a way of escape? Christ was God's door, and in following the Shepherd the sheep could, without fear, take a place outside the nation. So, indeed, in this our day, believers can safely follow the Shepherd outside every imitation Jewish camp devised by man.

In John 10, Judaism is likened to a fold, where sheep were kept in by walls, that is by rules and regulations. Our Lord entered the fold in order to lead His Jewish sheep OUT, and called them to follow Him. Those, who followed, got what the fold could never furnish, characterized, as it was, by the law, the ministry of types and shadows, by sacrifices of the blood of bulls and goats, which could never take away sin. In contrast they found in Christ the Door, not the door to return to the fold from which they were called OUT, but the Door into spiritual blessings such as the fold could never furnish—salvation, liberty, food, life abundant These blessings could only come to them through the Good Shepherd giving His life for the sheep, laying it down in an atoning, vicarious, sacrificial death.

Never was divine love so shewn forth as in Christ coming down so low; and it was because He is what He is that He could do it. If Adam left his first estate, it was sin; but Christ could humble Himself, and it was the perfectness of love. While He entered in Himself by the appointed way, He is the door - the entrance to the way for every one else. They would not, as Jews, have been warranted in leaving the Jewish fold, if Christ had not come as the door into another thing. He was the warrant, and so with us. By Him we may come out and enter in and find peace and blessing. What marks the sheep is that Christ is their door. He is the door for the sheep. They could not say they were saved because Jews, though they had God's oracles and much advantage every way; it was only by Christ they could be saved. Mark, it says, "If any man enter in, he shall be saved." It does not say, if they follow on well, but if they "enter in." There must be the real hearing the voice of the good Shepherd. If he enters in, he is saved; and he cannot enter in without being saved. Then there is a path to follow, doubtless; but that is the result of being saved. We shall find it difficult oft-times, Satan tripping us up, the world and the flesh; but the door is to "go in and out" by. There is liberty of heart. I can go out into the world to testify of Christ, because my soul is in the safeguard of Christ Himself; not pent up in ordinances, nor in monasticism. There is food also, and they "find pasture." They enjoy all the truth of God's word.

319 Christ's sheep thus have safety too. "None can pluck them out of my Father's hand." They have liberty, "go in and out," and they have all the food God can give. They "find pasture," and what more will they have? They will have the glory by-and-by. Then He contrasts Himself with all these false teachers that have gone before, and says of Himself, "I am come that they might have life." Not content with giving life only, He gives it "more abundantly"; as in Romans, "They that receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ." Here we serve in life; then we shall reign in life. What liberty, what abundance of all things it gives, when we see that He is our life! He gives life more abundantly. Cost what it will, He is intent on saving them. "He giveth his life for the sheep." As though He said, I am devoted to you, and I am determined to get you out of this wretched place in which you are: I will get you out, cost what it will. "I am the good shepherd, and I lay down my life for the sheep." He has so given His sheep life, and now He will give all that they want in life. (See the contrast of these hireling shepherds.) It might be said, if He has given His life for them, He can do nothing more. But no! it is not so with Him. See verse 14, "I know my sheep and am known of mine." There is not only caring for the flock as a whole, but for the individual sheep: "and am known of mine." Paul knew He "loved the church, and gave himself for it" and he knew also that He loved him, and gave Himself for him. Then there is as true a relationship of love between Christ and the sheep now as there is between Him and His Father (v. 14, 15).

Now the happy results are given to us - the position of the sheep that follow this voice. If any one enter by that door, he shall be saved. Salvation was found in the Shepherd, that which the fold could not give. The sheep should be free; the fold afforded it a kind of security, but it was the security of a prison; it would find pasture, it would be fed in the rich pasturages of God: it is Christianity in contrast with Judaism. Christianity was salvation, liberty, and divine food. Security is no longer imprisonment, but the care of the Good Shepherd. Free under His care, the sheep feed in safety in the vast and rich pasturages of God.

218 This is the general position, but there is more (v. 10). Jesus, in contrast with all the false pretenders, who only came to steal and to kill, came that we might have life, and that we might have it in abundance. The first expression is the object of His coming in general, which characterises the Gospel, and also the Epistle, of John: it is the Son of God come down, that we might live through Him. He is the eternal life which was with the Father, and gives life, and becomes Himself our life. (Compare 1 John 4:9; ch. 1:2; ch. 5:11-12; John 3:15-16; one might multiply quotations.) The second part of the sentence shews the character and fulness of this life: this life is in the Son. Having the Son, we have life, and we have it according to the power of His resurrection. The faithful in old times were quickened; but here it is the Son Himself who becomes our life, and that as Man risen from amongst the dead. We have it "abundantly." This 10th verse gives us the great purpose of the coming of the Son of God; but His love must unfold itself fully; He is not only the Shepherd, but the "Good Shepherd," and the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. His death has done everything for them; it has redeemed them, washed them from their sins, justified them, purchased them for heaven; however, I think the object of the passage is the love and devotedness of the Good Shepherd; rather than lose His sheep, He lays down His life. The hireling thinks of himself, and runs away; and the wolf comes and seizes the sheep, and scatters them. In Gethsemane, Jesus said: "If ye seek me, let these go their way." Those who have the place of shepherds, abandon the sheep when the enemy comes; He lays down His life, rather than leave them a prey to the wolf. But there is yet more: the Good Shepherd knows His own, and His own know Him, as the Father had known Him, and He had known the Father. Wonderful position! Wonderful relationship! Jesus had been the object of His Father's heart; in the same way His sheep were the objects of His heart. Taught of God, His sheep knew Him, and trusted in Him, as He trusted in the Father; and He lays down His life for them. But in laying down His life, He opens the door to the sheep from amongst the Gentiles, which He must also bring, and they should hear His voice. With both one and the other, all should be the fruit of His heart and of His mouth, and there should be but one flock, and one Shepherd. As to man, this completes the fruit of the Lord's work, at least down here.

Again we see in the epistles, that in the last days, when the profession of Christianity would be associated with all kinds of evil, and "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," the path of the faithful is clearly marked out, "From such turn away." The Lord thus leads His own out. (2 Tim. 3:1-5.) Elsewhere the faithful are enjoined to "go forth therefore unto Him (Christ) without the camp, bearing His reproach." (Heb. 13:13.) It is in the very last epistle Paul wrote that He contemplates terrible corruption and departure from the truth, and declares that things will be so bad under the name of Christianity, that "seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." It is there he appeals to saints for individual faithfulness to the Lord, and urges them to separate themselves from evil. "If a man therefore purge himself from these (vessels to dishonour), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." (2 Tim. 2:21.) These and other Scriptures show that when evil and corruption have come in, the faithful are to purge themselves from it, because it cannot be purged out, and that the Lord would still, by His word and Spirit, be leading them out. In this the Lord is "the door of the sheep," as well as their Leader. Therefore no one can possibly be in a right position here without having personal intercourse with the Lord - the door of the sheep - and being subject to the guidance of His word and Spirit. Difficulties and uncertainty soon become removed when souls really get before the Lord, and are willing to be led by Him. It is easy enough to mingle with others who are taught of the Lord, and led by Him; but how can any one be really honouring Christ, except he is acquainted with His mind, and subject thereto, because it is His mind, and is acting on it for His glory, whatever the reproach may be? The Lord is the Leader; the Door, and the Object for those who go forth unto Him; and we may be assured that His special presence and blessing will be outside of that which men try to accredit with the name of Christ, but which is corrupt and evil. Thus we see that Christ being the door of the sheep for leading His own out of corrupted Judaism is in accordance with a divine principle of action, which is equally incumbent in these days of corrupted Christianity. The path of the faithful now is surely to go outside of that which dishonours His name, and there to find His presence and His blessing. Happy indeed are they who know what it is to be before the Lord, what it is to be led by Him, and to be outside with Him, in separation from everything which dishonours His name.

The third door mentioned by our Lord in this discourse is THE DOOR OF SALVATION. He said, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." (John 10:9.) This door is Christ. Thus the Lord presented Himself as the only way of salvation, the only door of escape from coming wrath; and the door stands wide open now, not to Jews only, but also to Gentiles - "any man." It is, "Whosoever will, let Him take the water of life freely." His arms are here thrown open, and He welcomes all, and casts, out none that come to Him. Observe, He is "the door;" there is no other. It is not a long, dreary, circuitous passage, but a door; and we know that to enter a door, one step only is needed. A person who is outside the door takes one step, and he is inside; he has entered in. And so the soul that now believes God's testimony to the truth of salvation by Christ alone at once enters into God's presence by faith, through Jesus the Saviour, who died to save sinners. Salvation then is only by Christ - "By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." It is also free to all; no exception is made. No one who desires it is debarred from this wondrous blessing; for it is open to "any man." "If any man enter in, he shall be saved." Having received Jesus as the door, and having entered in by faith, he is entitled to salvation - salvation from sins, from condemnation, from wrath, from hell; he is saved with an everlasting salvation. "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5:9.) When the soul thus knows the blessedness of having entered in by "the door," taking the Lord at His word, he finds peace with God, is reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and is a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus. He knows the Good Shepherd, having heard His voice; and being willing to be led by Him, is blessed indeed.