Christology Through Imagery
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
In the same passage that describes Christ as the good Shepherd, He also is described as “the door of the sheep” (John 10:7) or simply as “the door” (v. 9), both statements being His own self-designation. The setting for this image was a sheepfold, an enclosure in which sheep could be enfolded for safety during the night. The sheepfold could have been a natural enclosure such as a cave. It might have been a constructed fold made of stacked stones. Common to either type of sheepfold was a singular entranceway or door, either the mouth of the cave or opening in the wall of the stone enclosure. Sheepfolds were often large enough to accommodate several flocks whose shepherds led them through the door at night for their safety.
Since hinged doors with locks were not part of a cave opening or stone enclosure, a shepherd might become the human door by bedding down across the opening. Intruders would awaken him if they sought to enter, just as a sheep seeking to stray through the door would rouse him. Drawing upon the common awareness of sheepfolds, Jesus spoke of Himself as the door. What does this imagery suggest to us about Christ’s person or work?
God’s greatness
Theologians often use some big words to express the greatness of the Lord, words such as omniscience (He knows all), omnipotence (He is all-powerful), omnipresence (He is everywhere present), immutability (He is unchanging) and infallibility (He does not make errors). To these, the imagery of Christ as the door of the sheep suggests another big word: exclusivity. Noteworthy is the fact that Jesus used the definite article to refer to Himself as “the” door, not just a door. He is the exclusive or only door. In a later well-known passage Jesus again invested significant truth in the threefold use of the indefinite article when He claimed, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The exclusivity of Christ as the door to the Father runs counter to a culture of inclusiveness, nondiscrimination and openness. While in many areas of human relationships these qualities are to be sought and cherished, when it comes to how a person comes into God’s family, Christ was expressly exclusive. In His Sermon on the Mount, He called to the crowd, “Enter by the narrow gate,” then explained, “narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it” (Matt. 7:13–14).
Protective ministry
As the door of the sheep, Christ’s work has a protective dimension to it. The shepherd stretched across the opening of the sheepfold fulfilled the role as protector from intruders who might harm or steal the sheep. He expressed His protective ministry in these well-known words: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27–30).
As the door of the sheep, Christ is not only the way into the Father’s flock, He also is the way through which the flock finds spiritual nourishment.
He put this dual work this way: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
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