Jesus the Gate and the Shepherd

Let’s keep reading—John 10:11–15:

Jesus now says, “I am the good shepherd.”

He lays down His life for His sheep.
A hired hand runs when the wolf comes, but the shepherd stays. Why?
Because the flock belongs to Him.

Wait—so is Jesus the gate or the shepherd?

He is both.

He is the entryway to God (the gate), and He is the one who continues to lead us into the goodness of God (the shepherd).

This reminds me of Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul.”

Jesus gets us to God and keeps leading us back to God.
He leads us to life—true life.

As we move into the holiday season, this matters.
Because Jesus told us the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
But the first word Jesus uses is thief—someone who steals by stealth.

The Greek word kleptes means “a thief who steals secretly, by deception.”

The enemy’s tactics are often subtle.
Deception feels harmless.
It has a little truth wrapped in it.
It might even look good.

But the result is always loss.

The other words Jesus uses expand on the picture:

Kill (thuo): to sacrifice—something spiritual

Destroy (apollumi): complete ruin, cutting off entirely

The thief’s goal is not to sabotage your circumstances.
It’s to sabotage your connection with God.

I am not saying that the enemy comes to destroy the things and relationships in our life, HE DOES.  But we must realize that this is not his primary directive.  His primary directive is to steal, kill and destroy our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.  

Jesus came to restore that connection.
He came to give abundant life—not the American dream, not a perfect house or bank account, but soul-restoring, God-filled life.

This abundant life is found only through the Gate (Jesus) and under the guidance of the Shepherd (Jesus).
Green pastures.
Still waters.
A restored soul.

This is LIFE.

Continues in the next post.