In a conversation with the religious leaders of His day, Jesus used an illustration that is lost on many in our non-agrarian culture. “I am,” He explained, “the door, if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9, NASB)

With this statement, not only did Jesus explain that He is the only path to salvation but also assures those who come to Him that they will have security within His fold.

Jesus was not, apparently, referencing any wooden barrier as the nearby photo verifies. There is no man-made door on the sheepfold Jesus invites us to. He, Himself, is the door. As Tolkien’s Aragorn assured the men of Gondor who were concerned that the city’s gate had been destroyed, “[M]en are better than gates, and no gate will endure against our Enemy if men desert it.” Hope in any manmade barrier is vain, for every gate, every door can be breeched by the Enemy.

However, the man Jesus is better than any door. For He will not desert His position when the Enemy attempts to assail His sheep. His sheep can rest in the security that only God come in the flesh can provide.

If you would have this security, then Jesus bids you to the entrance of His sheepfold. If you come, He will step aside and welcome you in. There you will find life. Not only that but the life He offers is not some what-rule-do-I-have-to-keep-now tedium; rather it is joyous life, a life of freedom, life in abundance. (John 10:10)