I live in a gated community. Every day, people drive past a guard shack and chose either the right lane, where residents can trigger a green light with a bar code attached to a side window, or the left lane, where you have to stop and get a paper pass from the guard that allows you to enter. There is no actual physical gate, however, so anyone with a fast car could just blow right through. It seems in this situation, the “gate” is more for appearances than for providing an actual barrier to prevent someone from coming in. Perhaps its real benefit is in making people feel safe rather than actually keeping people safe. But it is a false sense of security.

When Jesus declares that he is an open gate, he is offering himself as a real place of refuge and security. The sheep who follow him know that when threatened, he would actually lay down his life to defend and protect them. Indeed, that is exactly what happened on the cross.

John 10 (Common English Bible)

⁷ So Jesus spoke again, “I assure you that I am the gate of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me were thieves and outlaws, but the sheep didn’t listen 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 enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.

The safety of entering through Jesus’ gate is an eternal promise of salvation. If you consider this illustration as referring to the gates of heaven, it makes sense that Jesus is the gate. In John 14:6 we read: ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But for his first followers, he was offering himself as the way back to understanding the Father, something that the outlaw Pharisees could not do. They had forgotten about God in their never-ending pursuit of the Law. They were the thieves who were bent on destroying the abundant life that Jesus offered.

We understand verse 10 to represent Satan for modern readers. The Evil One hovers above us with the sole intent of stealing, killing, and destroying. Jesus is the only gate that can keep Satan out. Only the Good Shepherd can protect us.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him.

Sometimes we put too much trust and hope in hired hands. When we elevate politicians, news commentators, television personalities, and even pastors to positions of leadership and influence, we risk putting our lives in the hands of someone who will easily leave us to the wolves.

This illustration of gates opens up a question for us today. How open are the gates of the church? Do people feel as though they can come in, just as they are, or do the “gatekeepers” of doctrine and tradition prevent people from entering? What does Jesus, our Open Gate, want?

May our lives reflect the openness that Jesus offers the world.

Live Life to the Fullest by Michelle Robertson