the door

In the Holy Land it was custom and practice for a good shepherd to guard his sheep in a protective enclosure, with only one opening, the width of a his own body. The sheep would pass into the enclosure and when they were all safely inside, the Shepherd would lie down across the opening. No thief could get in and no sheep could get out except over his body. Jesus used this scenario to announce that “He was the door, or the entrance."

When Jesus said that He was “the door”, the people listening to Him didn't think of a wooden gate swinging on hinges, but of the above picture. The people understood that He was really saying, "I am the entrance into the presence of God". Jesus said I am the Door that leads to at least two things:

Firstly, He is the only door that opens the way to salvation. Even to-day, those who are convicted by the Spirit of God to recognise sin in their lives and the need for a Saviour, can only come to God via the Door which is Christ. He went to the Cross, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, to open the way into the Holiest of Holies, into the very presence of God. He gives the promise that those who come to God by Him shall obtain forgiveness of sins and the blessed assurance of a home in heaven. Jesus is the door by which we come into the presence of God His Father.

In commenting about Noah’s ark, Spurgeon pointed out that there were many rooms in the ark but only one door. In Genesis 7:16 we read that it was God who shut the door to the Ark. It was God who had appointed a particular day of judgment. He had been longsuffering, waiting for many years. Sadly, only eight people were inside the Ark. You can almost hear the sound of the door banging shut against the side of the Ark. Similarly there is only one door in the ark of our salvation and that is Christ. God shut the door in the ark when those who believed His Word were safely inside. This gives a warning that an open Door into the presence of God through Christ will not always be available.

This claim of Christ to be the only way to God runs counter to the ideas of the modern thinking world in which we live, but we would not be good stewards of the Word of God if we failed to reiterate that Jesus is the Door into heaven. There is no other way in (John 14:6). It is impossible to sneak in through some other means because there is no other means, for "there is no other name, under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Secondly, Jesus is the only door that opens to security and to lasting nourishment. He is the door that allows the sheep to “go in and out”. This was a common Jewish phrase. If a man could "go in and out" without difficulty or danger, it meant he was safe and secure. A door leads both in and out; so it is with the door of the sheepfold. It was opened at night to let the sheep into the fold where they could find rest and safety, and in the morning it would be opened again to let the sheep out for pasture, for feeding.

Most doors that are used to enter a house or a building have locks on them. In order to pass through the door it is necessary to have a key to unlock it. The key to unlocking Jesus “the Door” is faith, believing that God the Father sent Him to open the way back to Himself. This He did by dying on the Cross for our sins. He is the Door, and the only Door, through which we must pass to get into heaven.

How do we recognize the Door that leads to forgiveness and life? It has blood on it! The Good Shepherd (John 10:11) gave His life’s blood on the cross, that we who are like sheep going our own way, might have eternal life and never perish.