Here in our reading Jesus said, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” And later he says in vv. 27-28, “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.” I’m inclined to think that when we of the well-churched variety hear those words we, like Pavlov's dog, are conditioned to think he’s about that pop-Christian gospel which says if you make the self-saving decision to believe the right things about Jesus, your immortal soul will go to spend eternity in Heaven when you die.
Well, there’s a problem when we hear these passages that way. Basically, we miss what Jesus is actually saying. He is not talking here about what happens to us after we die. He is talking about our life in him right now. Yes, Jesus says that whoever enters through, with, and by means of him will be saved, but saved doesn’t necessarily have to mean “going to heaven when you die.”
A better way to think of these passages that fits more with the context of this whole passage is that whoever enters through, with, and by means of Jesus will be kept safe. Jesus is the gate by which the sheep come safely into the fold and safely go out to find pasture. He is also the shepherd who keeps them safe, safe from thieves while they are in the fold and from the wolves while they are at pasture. He is both the gate and the good shepherd of the flock. Safe keeping in life for his followers, for us, is at the heart of what Jesus is getting at here.
You see, God’s people at that time were not being well kept and protected by those who were shepherding them and keeping the gate so to speak. Something we need to take into account here is that Jesus is saying all this Good Shepherd and Gate stuff in the context of a dispute with the religious authorities, particularly the Pharisees. The dispute arose because Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, a man who had been born blind. We have to wonder why that was an issue rather than something to celebrate.
Well, the religious authorities back then believed that because this man was born blind, he was utterly cursed. He was born punished by God because his parents had committed some terrible, secret sin(s). So, the authorities wanted to know who had done this act of healing on the Sabbath because there was something not quite right about it in their eyes. One, it overturned an apparent verdict by God to utterly punish the man’s parents for their secret sin. Two, it was done on a Sabbath when everybody including God should be resting. This healing was at face value something only God could do, but does God change his mind acquit the really guilty and does God work on the Sabbath. Thus, they were suspicious that this healing was not of God, if you can imagine that. They just couldn’t see, couldn’t perceive that it was God present and at work in their midst. They were blind.
Well, they had the healed man brought before them. They put him through the 10th degree and in the end, they drove him out of the synagogue making the verdict that only someone working by the power of the devil could have healed a man so cursed on the Sabbath. They were so totally wrong so Jesus calls them blind themselves as they could not see that the healing was an act of God. When we look at the passage that we read, it is these religious authorities who are the thieves, the wolves, the hired hand that flees in the face of danger that Jesus refers to. That man, the healed child of God, was not safe among them.
In response to the failings of the Pharisees, if I might understate it that way, Jesus begins to explain that he is the gate by which people can find the safe life, the blessed life, the abundant life, the life that God promised to his people and that, of course, begs the question, “What is abundant life?”. If we were to get our definition for “abundant life” from the context of Jesus’ healing this blind man on the Sabbath, then life abundant has something to do with participating in God's own Sabbath rest, God’s reposing over his good Creation and saying “This is the way it’s supposed to be.” Also, because this healing was of a man utterly cut off from community, we can say that abundant life has something to do with restoration to full human dignity and community. And, from the way Jesus came to the defence of the man, we can say that abundant life has something to do with being kept safe from those who would destroy our faith and our relationship with God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Finally, as Jesus is the Gate, this abundant and eternal life is only available in, through, and as Jesus Christ. So, abundant life, eternal life is healing, rest, restored dignity, participation and belonging in true community, and safety and it’s all available in fellowship with Jesus.
If we want to take another passage into account, in John 17:3 Jesus blatantly defines eternal life saying, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life, life abundant is rooted in a relationship with God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit and it is available to us now.
When I think of what this abundant and eternal life looks like in real life, I think of the description of the common life that the early church shared as it’s described in Acts 2:42-47, which reads: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
The abundant life is the common life of Christian community. It is filled with worship, sharing meals, even sharing our stuff so that none of us has need. It's life gathered around the table to learn, eat, pray and to share in the Lord's Supper his Presence among us. It is life filled with awe in which God frequently does signs and wonders and answered prayers that point us towards the day when he puts all things to rights. It is life filled with hospitality as the Lord brings more and more people to himself through the community of faith and we welcome them in his name.
Abundant and eternal life is the fellowship that grows when Christians get together and God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is in our midst. Jesus is the gate to human community that is filled with the communion of God the Trinity. Community filled with God's own Fellowship is what Jesus in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit creates and safeguards among us forever. Abundant community filled with the presence of God is what the Christian faith is all about. It is salvation present with us now.
So, to wrap it up, this passage isn't about dying and going to heaven. It is about the fellowship that God has placed here in the midst of our congregations. The way we love one another is the face of God to the world. As small congregations, we are intensely relational in nature and this can be our boon or our bane. Large congregations have to work really hard to have the sense of community that comes easy for us but so also we can be hard for new people to settle into. Regardless, the abundant life, eternal life, the safe life is in our midst at present, at this very moment. As that’s the case, in these post-Covid days of isolation we need to be especially keen to do things that share our God-indwelt fellowship with the community around us. Throughout Covid there were plenty of churches and individual Christians that did not look, act, or talk like Jesus and the media was quick to point it out. But there were so many fellowships like our own who grew closer and we learned how to love one another more deeply from the heart. We need to let that shine. You are good people with a lot of love to share. Your faith is not in vain. This Christian fellowship is a glimpse of God. Amen.
