Lesson 6

THE DOOR

Table of Contents

– John 10:1-9
– God Speaks
– His Voice

Scriptures Cited: John 10:1-9; Job 38 to 40; John 14:6; 2 Corinthians 5:19; John 14:10; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Peter 1:10-1; John 5:1-35; John 5:36-40; Exodus 20:1-19; Deuteronomy 5:22-27; Acts 2:37-38; Psalm 95:7-8

This lesson is the first of a three-part “series” based on the teaching of Jesus in John chapter 10. As in all lessons, it is best to approach this as a Bible study, where you engage your mind and spirit as we focus on what God has to say to us through His word.

JOHN 10:1-9

John 10:1-9
¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. ² But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. ⁴ And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. ⁵ And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

⁶ This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

⁷ Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. ⁹ I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

That’s it, goodnight…. lol.

In all seriousness, there are so many levels of information in this passage of scriptures that it can leave one speechless. It reminds me of how Job must have felt after he was done talking and God began to speak. When Job heard what God had to say, it was just too much for him and all he could do was be quiet and listen (Job 38 to 40).

Many times when people read this passage on the surface level, the focus tends to be towards the end where Jesus says ‘I am the door…. if any man enter in, he shall be saved’. And usually this brings to mind John 14:6, where Jesus says “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. That’s somewhat of the straightforward understanding. But what I’d like to do in this lesson is go just one level deeper, into what Jesus is actually saying here.

Starting from the end of this passage going backwards, I want to point out a few things to keep in mind as we are going through the scriptures in this lesson. First to note is in verse 9, when Jesus says “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” When Jesus says that he shall go in and out, I just wanted to bring your attention to the function of a door – Jesus says ‘I am the door’ and when we look at any door, it has two way traffic. There is an “in”, and an “out”. But normally when this is read on the surface level, only one direction of traffic is typically looked at – and that is coming to the Father by Jesus. But again, every door has an in and out, and that’s what I want us to keep in mind.

The next thing I want to look at is in verse 4: “he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” This is going to be key. Jesus then continues by saying “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” The important thing to note here is that the sheep know the shepherd’s voice.

And now to get to the main point, we are going to go back to verses 1 and 2: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”

So we really have to think about what Jesus is saying here. He is telling us that He is the door, but then He tells us that there is someone who enters through the door to speak to the sheep – and that the one coming through the door, when the sheep hear His voice, they recognize His voice and they follow Him. By carefully considering what this means, it can lead us to a deeper understanding of what Jesus is saying.

It is truly amazing that in just these 9 verses (8 of which are words from Jesus and 1 that is a ‘commentary’) there are so many levels of information and knowledge revealed. In previous lessons we have used ‘not-quite parables’ to try to gain an understanding of biblical principles. The reason I call them not-quite parables is because they really cannot compare to the true parables of Jesus, this being a prime example. It’s hard to imagine anyone else being able to convey such revelation in just 8 sentences.

So when He says “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep”, what is He really saying here? He says “I am the door”… but there is the shepherd of the sheep that is going to be coming through the door to the sheep – and when the sheep hear His voice, they know His voice and they follow Him. So let’s be sure to keep this in mind as we continue on through the lesson.

GOD SPEAKS

Now let’s take a look at a few scriptures that might shed some light on what Jesus was speaking about here. The first will be 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 19. Remember, Jesus said He is the door – yes, but someone is going to be coming through Jesus to talk to the sheep, and the sheep will hear His voice. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 it reads:

2 Corinthians 5:19
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

So here we might be getting an idea of what Jesus means when He says ‘I am the door, but there is one coming through Me that is addressing the sheep’. And here in 2 Corinthians it says ‘to wit (that is) God was IN Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.’ As we continue, by adding scripture with scripture we will see more clearly how God speaks through Jesus as the door.

Next, I want to go back to the book of John and examine more of Jesus’ own words. In John chapter 14 verse 10 Jesus reveals this same truth, but in a different way. Keep in mind, this is just four chapters after Jesus said ‘I am the door,’ which we read earlier in chapter 10.

John 14:10
¹⁰ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

So now we are getting a little bit more of an idea and an understanding of what Jesus was saying back in chapter 10.

Another scripture that states this same truth clearly is in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 1:

Hebrews 1:1-2
¹ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,² Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

So there again we see that it was God who was speaking by Christ, or you can say through Christ. This gives us more of an explanation of what Jesus meant when He said “I am the door”. The shepherd comes through that ‘door’, and when the sheep hear His voice, they know His voice and they follow Him.

So far we’ve been focusing on God speaking through His Son, but you’ll also notice here in Hebrews 1:2 it says that in time past God spoke to the fathers by the prophets. By looking at how God previously spoke through the prophets, we can further understand the function of the door.

2 Peter 1:20-21
²⁰ Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.²¹ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Here we see it stated that God spoke through the prophets by the Holy Spirit – but in 1 Peter 1:10-11, a deeper revelation is given about who was speaking through the prophets in the past.

1 Peter 1:10-11
¹⁰ Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

¹¹ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

Now, as I said, there are lots of levels of information in John chapter 10. And these passages shed light on some of the deeper meanings within the words of Jesus.

HIS VOICE

Now in order to lay the final piece of the foundation, let’s go back to the book of John in chapter 5. I encourage that everyone reads the entire chapter – but here in this lesson, to give context we will summarize the events leading up to another profound statement made by Jesus.

John 5:1-18 – You may be familiar with the story of the lame man who Jesus healed, as he was waiting for someone to take him into the pool of Bethesda. Later, Jesus found that same man in the temple, where the Jews started to question and persecute Jesus because He had healed the man, telling him to take up his mat and walk on a Sabbath.
John 5:19 – Jesus begins to explain himself, by saying ‘the works that I’m doing, these are the works of the Father’. He was telling them that the miraculous things He was doing were the works of God.
John 5:20-30 – Jesus explains many details about His role as the Son and the relationship He has with the Father. One very important statement that Jesus makes is that all people should honor Him “even as they honoureth the Father”.
John 5:31-35 – Jesus then lets them know, ‘if I bear witness of myself, my witness is no good.’ This statement is a reference to Deuteronomy 19:15, which established the biblical principle that a claim is not considered ‘true’ unless it is backed by at least 2 or 3 witnesses. In verse 32, He continues: ‘there is another one that bears witness of me’ – here Jesus is speaking of John the Baptist as a witness to who Jesus is.

Now we get to our main focus in John chapter 5 for this lesson. After Jesus tells them ‘I’m doing the works of the Father. and John the Baptist bears witness of me’, He then says in verse 36:

John 5:36-40
³⁶ But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

³⁷ And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.

Note: Now He says the works that He does bears witness, along with John the Baptist – but then He says the Father himself has borne witness of Jesus. These are 3 witnesses. Continuing in verse 37, He says…

Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. ³⁸ And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. ³⁹ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.⁴⁰ And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

This is another incredible statement made by Jesus.

Understand what is happening here: Jesus is in the temple with the people who are persecuting Him for not upholding the law (healing on a Sabbath). During those times it was customary to read the scriptures in the temple, every Sabbath day. There were even some people who studied the scriptures everyday, not just on the Sabbath. Many dedicated their whole lives to studying the scriptures, but here Jesus says to those same people: “ye have neither heard His voice at any time“.

They had the word of God in their hands, they knew it as the word of God – but in the reading of the word of God, they never heard the voice of God. And what did we read in chapter 10? Jesus says His sheep hear His voice, they know His voice. So it is truly amazing that Jesus says this to the same people who had dedicated their lives to the scriptures, but had never ever, not even one time… heard the voice of God.

And what this makes me think of is the difference between hearing the ‘word of God’ and the ‘voice of God’. They are intertwined; they are together, but there is also obviously a difference. As Jesus said, ‘You can search the scriptures because in them you think you have life, but they testify of Me.’ They never had heard His voice at any time, even though they search the scriptures.

In trying to understand the difference between hearing God’s voice and hearing the word of God, it brings to mind when the children of Israel were led out of Egypt and were at Mount Sinai. God literally spoke to them from the mount, telling them His commandments and what they should do (Exodus 20:1-19). When hearing the actual voice of God the people basically said, ‘you know what Moses? Enough, we can’t take His voice – His voice is too much. You go up, you talk with Him, come back and tell us what He said because we will die from hearing His voice’ (Deut. 5:22-27).

If you really think about that dynamic, and how powerful the voice of God actually is… the voice of God is what said, when there was darkness – ‘Let there be light’. The voice of God that hung the sun in the sky, that formed the earth, piled the mountains up, told the seas ‘alright that’s far enough for you, you stop right there’. The same voice that when Jesus was out on the boat and there was a storm – the same voice that said “Peace be still” and the storm stopped. The same voice that when Lazarus was dead four days, said ‘Lazarus come forth’ and the dead man got up. That same voice being spoken through the scriptures, yet somehow the people Jesus was speaking to in the temple never heard that voice – in the word of God that they had, read, and knew.

Now that we’ve laid the foundation here, I want us to take a look in the book of Acts, and pay really close attention to what we read in chapter 2. Just to give a little bit of context to what’s going on in Acts chapter 2, this is on the day of Pentecost. This is when the Holy Spirit was first given to the church. Peter stood up, being full of the Holy Spirit, and gave the first gospel message. He preached who Jesus is, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and he even told the people that they were the ones who had crucified Him. And when we get to verse 37, after they had heard this very first gospel message (and we know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation – Rom 1:16); we read:

Acts 2:37-38
³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Note: listen very closely…

³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ³⁹ For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

The question for this lesson is: What did you just hear? Or better yet, who did you hear?

Did you hear your own voice? Did you hear the voice of Peter? Or were you able to hear the voice of God speaking through His word? So I’ll ask you once again – just read verse 38 of Acts chapter 2 slowly to yourself.

And with that, I will say as the scripture says ‘today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.’ This invitation is open to you if you can hear the voice of God calling you to repent and obey the gospel – which is basically God saying ‘Just turn to Me. Turn away from your sins, turn away from your selfish desires, and turn to Me. Come to Me by being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, that you may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’

If you hear the voice of the Lord calling you today, you can contact us by clicking here, and we will help you in any way possible to obey the voice of God.

Psalm 95:7-8
⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, ⁸ Harden not your heart…