Fifth Sign (2)

The English word Bible is derived from the Latin word for books. The Bible is a collection of 66 books. When each book was written, it was one continuous narrative. There were no chapters, or verses. Several hundred years ago, someone decided it would be a good idea to facilitate reading to divide the books into chapters. Then, a couple of hundred years later, someone divided the chapters into verses.

And sometimes it causes confusion. 

After Jesus discusses spiritual blindness with the Pharisees, the chapter ends, and in the next chapter, Jesus begins another message, with a completely different metaphor. As it was written, originally, with no breaks, it might be easy to conclude that it is all one message.

~o0o~

A fairly common occupation in Jesus' day was shepherd. Sheep were valuable, because they provided raw material for making cloth, and for provide food.

And, evidently, there was a practice of making a fenced in area, combining multiple flocks overnight. If there was one shepherd for each flock, the shepherd would care for his flock during the day, and he could sleep at night. And the flock would be protected in the sheep pen by a person the shepherds would hire together. Each morning, the shepherd would gather his flock, and lead them out of the gate, and into pasture.

So, the correct way to achieve safety, and pasture, was going through the gate. Not going through the gate meant something was wrong. A predator, or a thief, would try to get into the sheep pen, any other way, but the gate.

Jesus used the gate as the first part of this metaphor. For sheep, there is only one way to get to pasture, safety, and life. And Jesus is that gate.

We have posted before that people need the right kinds of physical fuel to thrive physically, and they need the right kinds of spiritual fuel to thrive spiritually. We can get some spiritual fuel from people, or certain spiritual practices. But other necessary, vital fuels we can only get from the Father of all. To get these fuels, we need to have a relationship with the Father, and be in fellowship with him.

It is the creation of a relationship with the Father, that positions people to receive life from the Father. And like sheep in the sheep pen, there is only one way to get to pasture, and to safety.

Jesus is proclaiming that he is that way. To get to the Father, establish a relationship, and find life, we need to come to Jesus. It is his sacrifice that opens the gate for us.

The ultimate goal is to fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. One of the Son's "jobs" is to open the door, and allow us to come into the Family. It is in the center of the family, that people return to life, as it was designed; it is in the center of the family that peope return to love, grace, and purpose.