Jesus as the Gate

4 Easter a         May 11, 2014  

Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a 51-60   Ps. 23 

1 Peter 2:19-25    John 10:1-10               

Lectionary Link

  Today we have read another riddle of Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the Gate.”  I am the Sheep Gate.  That is quite a riddle to say, “I am the Door.”  How can Jesus be a Gate or a Door?

  Well in the time of Jesus a Shepherd was a Gate.  A shepherd would sleep in the gate opening to the sheepfold.  The shepherd would not let the sheep out during the night.  And the shepherd would not let the foxes and the wolves attack the sheep because the Shepherd slept in the doorway of the sheep fold.

  We call Jesus the Good Shepherd and one of the roles of a good shepherd was to be gatekeeper.

  Today is mother’s day and your mom is a good shepherd for you; she is a good gatekeeper for you.  And she is the best looking door or gate you have ever seen.  But please don’t say to your mom, “Mom, you are the best looking door I’ve ever seen.”

  But let me try to show you how a human door works.  I stand in this door way here.  And I won’t let you go through this door because there is something dangerous in this next room and I want to protect you from it.  It may be a snake or an alligator or it may be a busy street with lots of traffic and so I am going to block you from going into the street because I want to protect you.  Do you think that I would be a good door if I could protect you and keep you from getting harmed or injured?

  But I am also another kind of Door.  I can also be an Open Door.  Come, into this room.  In this room there is the adventure of new learning.  There is beauty and truth and books and a museum.  There is sports and exercise and dance and stories.  So I am an open door for you to learn new things that are good for you.

  But I am a closed door to protect you from going to the wrong places.  But I am also a closed door to keep the bad things outside from getting inside to hurt you.

  So now do you see why Jesus as the Good Shepherd said, I am the Sheep Gate and I am the Door.

  Jesus is the one who opens good things up for us but he is also the one who teaches to protect ourselves from the bad things which can hurt us.

  We all need to have moms and dads and teachers and gatekeepers in our lives.

  You too need to be good doors and gates.  Is that silly?  How and you be a good door?

  You can be a good door when you protect babies and animals from getting harmed or hurt.  You can be a good door when you take good care of younger babies and children and when you help them to learn new things in their lives.

  So now we understand the riddle of Jesus when he said that he was the Gate to the Sheepfold.

  We need people in our lives who are good gates and doors; people to protect us from wrong things but people who open up for us new learning.  We also need to be good gates and doors and we protect those who need protection and as we share our learning with those who need it.

  So remember these riddles about Jesus.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus is a good gate-keeper.  And on this day, remember that your mom is a good gate keeper too.  But please don’t say to her, “you’re the most beautiful door I’ve ever seen.”