In the previous study we considered a door or, as some translations have it, the gate to the sheep and a doorkeeper (or gatekeeper), and we found this was spiritually discerned as the heart (door) and will (doorkeeper) of the believer (John 10:2-3). However, in John 10:7 Jesus mentions another door or gate, and he claims that he, Jesus, is that Gate (or Door; John 10:7), but what does this mean? In the context of the parable being spiritual language about the Kingdom of God, a spiritual Kingdom (John 3:3), what would it look like to enter such a kingdom, where Jesus is its Gate (John 14:6)?
I believe in order to understand what is going on here, we must return to the time when the rebellion against God first began. Adam and Eve (the whole of mankind) rebelled, but a Savior was promised (Genesis 3:15). Up to that time mankind had enjoyed intimate fellowship with God in the Garden, symbolized by the Most Holy Place in the Temple at Jerusalem. After the rebellion, however, man was thrust from the Garden (the presence of God) to live in Eden, which is symbolized by the Holy Place in the Temple. Entry back into the Garden, however, was guarded so man couldn’t return (Genesis 3:22-24), and this is symbolized by the curtain or veil in the Temple separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, and it represents the flesh or body of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-20), which he gave to give us eternal life (viz. the Tree of Life in the Garden).
In John 10:8 Jesus mentions the thieves and robbers once again (cp. John 10:1), saying they came before him, implying they weren’t sent by him, but those sheep who are his won’t listen to their voice. This, of course, doesn’t mean sheep can’t be forced against their will to do the bidding of the thieves and robbers, but their message is one of fear and intimidation (John 7: 13; 9:22), and through this and similar means, they are able to have their way with the sheep. Next, Jesus once more describes himself as the door or the gate, implying that entry into the Kingdom of God (cp. John 3:3) can be made only through him (John 10:9; John 14:6).
After describing the way of the false teacher and the way of the man of God (1Timothy 6:1-10), Paul told Timothy to be a man of God (1Timothy 6:11) and put distance between himself and the things of this world (cp. John 18:36). Instead of struggling for a better place in this world, fight (G75) the good fight (G73) of faith (1Timothy 6:12), namely, “follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness” (1Timothy 6:11). Putting distance between the believer and the world means not permitting the pull of this world to squeeze him into its mold (Romans 12:2). Nevertheless, striving to enter the strait gate (Luke 13:23-30) does not mean allowing oneself to become narrow minded.
On the contrary, the believer feels the pull of the wisdom of this world. He understands its point of view. Its authorities seek only to steal, kill and destroy, for this is the way of the world—survival of the fittest (John 10:10)! Nevertheless, its wisdom isn’t our Wisdom, and its way isn’t our Way. Only Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and only he is able to offer life in abundance. Therefore, Christ is our Way (John 14:6) or gate (John 10:7, 9), and he has become our Wisdom (1Corinthians 1:23-24, 30). What others say and do may be wise in the reaping of the short-term benefits of Adam’s world, but, as for believers, Jesus’ sheep, we look for a Kingdom, which cannot be analyzed in a laboratory or traveled through in order to know its limits (Luke 1:33; 17:20). We agonize in prayer in order to enter its narrow Gate (Luke 13:24; John 10:7, 9) seeking, knocking and asking (Luke 11:9-10).
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