“ ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.’ So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’ ” –John 8:56-58
Last month we looked at the first three “I AM” statements of Jesus, as recorded in the book of John, ending with His direct claim of deity in John 8. We’ve seen that Christ is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, and the I AM. Today we’ll pick off where we left off and examine the next three statements.
Door of the Sheep
So Jesus again said to them, “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 listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by 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
Twice does Jesus declare that He is the door, indicating the importance of this fact. He uses the Greek word “thyra” both times. This Greek word is defined in Strong’s as “a portal or entrance (the opening or the closure, literally or figuratively.)”
“Thyra” is used many times throughout the New Testament in both literal and metaphorical instances, notably, the same word is used as Luke 13:24, in which Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Entering by and through anyone but Jesus will not bring the abundant life He promises. Quite the opposite in fact. Jesus expounds more on this concept in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Though the way is narrow and hard, it leads to abundant life, and we must be those who enter by Jesus alone, the Door of the sheep!
Good Shepherd
When we do enter by Christ the Door, He becomes our Good Shepherd. Immediately after He explains that He is the Door, Jesus says this:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” -John 10:11-18
Again, Jesus communicates the importance of this reality by stating twice that He is the Good Shepherd. This, and the stark contrast between Him and those who care nothing for the sheep but leave them to the wolves, harkens back to a prophecy that Jesus was at that moment declaring His fulfillment of. In Ezekiel 34, the Lord prophesies against these false shepherds and foretells who will be the good shepherd of His sheep. The entire chapter is a beautiful picture of the Lord seeking and saving His sheep, but here are just a few key verses (look to see if you can find the charge from the Father that Jesus spoke of in the above passage):
“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. … I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. … I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16, 22-24, 30-31)
How amazing and encouraging that Christ is the fulfillment of this One Good Shepherd! Unfortunately, the Jews did not seem to see this full picture—their response to Jesus claiming to be the Good Shepherd is sobering. In John 10:24-33 we read that they confront Jesus again in unbelief:
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Jesus again claims deity, and this time claims to be One with the Father. In His next I AM statement, we see just how true this is, and what that means for us.
Resurrection and the Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” -John 11:25-26
Jesus makes this statement to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, whom He was about to raise from the dead. Through those whom He raised to life again, and through His own resurrection, Jesus proved that death has no power over Him. He is the source of Life, which is only possible if He is fully God. In a way, this statement of His is no less than another I AM statement. As John says when introducing Jesus as God Incarnate at the beginning of his Gospel, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)
The darkness of death can never overcome the One who is the Resurrection and the only source of Life, and everyone who believes in Him will never experience the agony of the darkness in ultimate spiritual death, but shall live in the Light of Jesus. So the question for us is the same as Christ’s question for Martha—Do you believe this?
Written by NBB Alumna: Bethany Boone
