Advent - Day 18

Jesus - The Gate

John 10:7

KJV - Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

NLT - so He explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.

From IVP New Testament Commentary Series via BibleGateway

In this second statement Jesus says, I am the gate for the sheep(v. 7)...So when Jesus says he is the gate for the sheep (v. 7) he is still using the image of a shepherd, 

but applying it directly to himself. 

From this picture of a shepherd sleeping in the entrance we would expect Jesus' role to be the protector of the sheep. Jesus does indeed protect his own (cf. 6:39; 17:12), but the image is developed here in a surprising way. 

The sheep are to enter through Jesus (v. 9), 

something not true of the shepherd sleeping in the entrance of a summer shelter! 

So the image is not that of a door as a barrier for protection, but of a door as a passageway.

What does Jesus, The Gate, mean to you?