I am the Door of the sheep

“I am the Door of the sheep.”

JOH 10:7-18

Jesus begins with a broad figure of speech (verses 1-6) based on sheep-herding.

A shepherd and his sheep; the sheepfold with its door; thieves and robbers.

The religious leaders who heard Jesus could not grasp what this picture meant.

the door of the sheep (verses 7-10), and the good shepherd of the sheep (verses 11-18).

Jesus is
the door of the sheep.
Jesus is
the good shepherd.

JOH 10:7-10

I am the door of the sheep. I and no other.

Until that door opens, they are stuck inside the pen. No freedom. No food.

Life, nourishment, security -are on the other side of that door.

The open door means the shepherd is here.

He is identifying a certain class of men: the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

They were indifferent and even hostile to the needs of the sheep.

The sheep are the remnant of Israel, the ones who believed in Christ.

JOH 10:25-28

They did not speak with the authority that comes from God.

MAT 7:28-29

Peter recognized the voice of Jesus as the voice that speaks words of eternal life.

JOH 6:66-69

JOH 10:9

I am the door. If anyone enters through Me-and no other way! - he will be saved.

JOH 14:6

Any other way that is held out to the sheep is a path that leads to destruction.

MAT 7:13-14

ACT 4:11-12

You need only pass through the door of Jesus once for salvation.

But this Door remains as the one passageway to real nourishment, protection, and rest.

JOH 10:9

“go in and out” is a Hebrew idiom that refers to the free activity of daily life.

NUM 27:15-17
DEU 28:6

PSA 121:5-8

JOH 10:10

Verse 10 speaks both to the door, and to what comes next - the Good Shepherd.

The robber takes life. The shepherd protects life. The Good Shepherd gives life.

When Jesus says He came that they may have life, He is refering to eternal life.

The abundant life refers to the blessings of the spiritual pasture:

eternal security, spiritual food, contentment, hope, rest for the soul.

ROM 5:17