“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The background to this Sunday’s gospel is the widespread use of the image of the shepherd in the Old Testament to speak both positively and negatively of Israel’s leaders. Jesus tells us at the start that there are two ways to enter the sheep pen – depending on whether one wants to help or hurt the sheep. A thief or robber must use subterfuge since their intention is harmful, but the shepherd, who seeks only to protect the sheep, goes in through the gate. In verse three, a new character appears, the gatekeeper. He immediately lets the shepherd in who calls his sheep by name. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice, immediately respond to it, and follow him without question. Of course, the opposite happens when a stranger calls the sheep. They refuse to follow him, panic and run away. We should note that there is a difference between western and eastern modes of shepherding. We’re used to shepherds driving sheep from behind but in the east sheep follow the shepherd.
Throughout this passage, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, who, John tells us in verse six, do not understand his meaning. In the gospel, John repeatedly shows us Jesus healing people: the blind, the deaf, lepers, etc., but the Pharisees continue to scorn him (and those he heals). The Pharisees cannot hear Jesus’ voice because they refuse to listen to it. For John, they are like the robbers who seek only to use the sheep for their own advantage.
In verse seven, Jesus announces himself as the gate for the sheep. Earlier we were told that the gate was the legitimate way to reach the sheep and so only though him can one have rightful access to the sheep and only through him can the sheep find good pasture. In the next verse, Jesus goes further and condemns all those who came before him as “thieves and robbers”. Here, once again, he is targeting the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders who have rejected Jesus. They are false leaders who search for a Messiah that accords with their ideas, not God’s. They do not love the sheep but only themselves. We can see this in their treatment of the handicapped, casting them out rather than caring for them or their readiness to stone the woman taken in adultery. On the other hand, Jesus gives new life to those rejected by society – indeed, to all who seek him.
In verse nine, Jesus repeats again that he is the gate and explains what this means. He provides all that the sheep need for life. The thieves only seek to hurt the sheep for their own advantage and are the opposite of lifegiving. Jesus seeks to give us life in abundance. He is the gateway through which we, the sheep, find good pasture but he also keeps us safe. All who enter through that gate will be saved. Jesus thus offers us both nourishment in this life and salvation. We have life through him.
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