John 10:1-10 - Jesus Is the Door - May 3, 2020

On the church year calendar, this Sunday is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” It’s a wonderful picture of our Savior’s person and work. It’s one of the first ways children learn to know, to understand, to picture Jesus – that they are little lambs and Jesus cares for them. It appropriately depicts Jesus as a caring, compassionate and protective Lord and Savior. However, in these first 10 verses of John chapter 10, Jesus employs a different metaphor to describe his work for us. Today, Jesus calls himself a door.

It’s kind of a strange metaphor, isn’t it? If you were to visit someone’s home (assuming we can do that again someday), you might notice how green their lawn is, you might comment on the open concept design, your eye might be drawn to a piece of art or a family picture, but who comments on, appreciates, or even really notices a front door. (Here’s a test: do you know what color your own front door is?) Nevertheless, even if we don’t pay much attention to them, doors are vital, “essential”, to our safety, security and health. They keep the cold, dangerous people, and, today, the coronavirus out; and keep warmth, health, and happiness in. But the image Jesus is drawing on here is even more vivid than our front doors today. In Biblical times, after the shepherd would bring his flock into the pen for the night, he would lay down at the entrance; he literally served as a door to keep harm out and the sheep in. Nothing could get into the pen without going through the shepherd.

Actually, to be perfectly accurate, Jesus doesn’t just say that he’s a door. He says I am THE door for the sheep – in the original Greek he’s asserting in a not-so-subtle fashion that he’s the only door, the exclusive door…and there is no other. The context is key to unlocking this somewhat mysterious illustration. Jesus had just given a blind man his sight in John 9 – and what did the Pharisees, the church leaders do to this formerly blind man? They threw him out of the church, they excommunicated him for speaking the truth about Jesus (John 9:34). In response, Jesus called out the Pharisees as false teachers; as creating false doors based on obedience to the Law to lead people to strive to earn heaven. He warned that them that because of their impenitence and unbelief your sin remains (John 9:41). Sound harsh? Yes. But that is the only possible outcome for anyone and everyone who refuses to come to God through the only door, through Jesus. There is no other way in.

There was a time when most people, and certainly most Christians at least understood that truth – even if they didn’t like it. There was a time when it was widely understood that the claims made by the various religions – Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity – were clearly contradictory; they couldn’t all be true. But things have changed. Today, while many would still allow that Jesus is a door to God, to heaven, to eternal life, they would use the same breath to reject him as the only door. Today it is considered narrow-minded, intolerant, unloving, and even un-American to confess that Jesus is the only door; that Christianity is the only true religion.

What do you think? Is that true? Is it unloving and intolerant to proclaim Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, as the only door, the only way to God and to eternal life? Are you unloving and hateful if you insist that guests use your front door to enter your home and not a bedroom window? Unbelievers love to set up a false dichotomy, a deceptive “either-or” choice when it comes to Christianity. They like to make it seem like you can either love your neighbor or love Jesus – but not both; you can be an American patriot or a Christian – but not both; you can be a reasonable, intelligent person who appreciates the blessings of science or you can trust the Bible – but not both. This false dichotomy, this false choice is, I believe, one of the reasons that so many Christians are so hesitant to confess their faith before the world. We know that just like in every age, identifying as a Christian today will often also get you labeled as bigoted, anti-science, and unpatriotic.

But if you fall into that “either-or” trap, you’re completely missing the point. The issue is not whether you can be a good and responsible citizen and a faithful Christian at the same time (you most certainly can!), but is Jesus the only door or not? Is he the only way to salvation or is he just one option among many? The Bible is unwavering on this point. This is what Peter confessed while he was on trial before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem: there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Paul told Timothy: there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5). And Jesus himself says a few chapters after our text I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me (John 14:6).

So what does this mean for us? It means that while we certainly support and defend the First Amendment right of anyone to worship and believe anything they want (or choose not to believe anything) we also fearlessly confess that the Bible forbids believing in, worshiping, and praying to anyone or anything other than Jesus – not because we hate other religions – but because no other door leads to salvation. He is the only Door, no matter how many people believe otherwise. And that is, admittedly, a rather “un-American” concept. In America we have chosen to decide most things by counting votes, by popular approval. Thousands of Wisconsinites left their home lockdowns on April 7th to cast their votes in local and state elections. Whether a competitor stays or leaves a reality TV show is often left in the hands of viewers who can vote on their phones. And, it’s true, in many situations, popular opinion can be a helpful guide.

But not when it comes to God, to salvation, to eternity. If we allow popular opinion to shape our faith, we will – almost inevitably – wind up doomed and damned. Just consider how often the majority was dead wrong in Bible history. In Numbers 13 there were 10 spies who refused to believe God’s promise to give them Canaan, and only two, Joshua and Caleb, who believed (Numbers 13-14) and the Israelites paid the price for listening to the majority opinion by wandering and dying in the desert (1 Corinthians 10:5). In 1 Kings there were hundreds of prophets who said Baal was God while there was only one man, Elijah, who confessed the Lord as God (1 Kings 18:19, 22). Jesus stood alone against the entire Sanhedrin, the full leadership of Israel, and we certainly know who was proven right in that situation – and it wasn’t the majority (Matthew 26:59).

Majority opinion is not a valid test for the truth…and neither is sincerity. Without a doubt, the Muslim terrorists who drove airplanes into the Twin Towers on 9/11 were absolutely sincere about their faith. Jews and Mormons and Hindus can practice their religions more sincerely than many Christians. But, again, sincerity is not a valid test of truth. You can sincerely believe that you are immune to Covid-19, but that faith won’t stop it from killing you. The devil loves to lead us to look to other religions and other denominations and ask “Why aren’t we more sincere like them?” “Why don’t we host AA meetings in our church? Why don’t we send people to 3rd world countries to dig wells and build hospitals? Why aren’t we more outwardly pious: why don’t we mandate prayer times like the Muslims or have strict dietary laws like the Mormons or even carry out as many acts of charity as many non-Christians do?”

Do you know what the common error in each of those questions is? It’s simple really. Where’s the focus? The focus is inward; on us; on what we do; on good works. And it’s just a big distraction from the real, core issue. If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will never hear Scripture say that Christians are better than other people – or will be saved – because they are more sincere than unbelievers or because they do more good works. That’s not Christianity. Christianity teaches that good works cannot get anyone into heaven (Titus 3:5). Our confession is that the only way anyone can get into heaven is through Jesus. All the good works in the world, all the bold and religious sincerity, all the prayers in the world cannot save anyone. Only Jesus can.

Jesus is the only Door that leads to salvation. And the reasons for this should be clear. No one else left heaven to come into this world to give his life as a ransom for sinners (Matthew 20:28). No one else carried the sins of the world to the cross and spilled his blood there to pay for them (1 Peter 2:24). No one else was despised, beaten, and crucified in our place (Isaiah 53). No one else endured the wrath of God as our substitute (Romans 3:25). The blood of no one else can atone the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). And, most importantly, no one else proved the truth of his word by rising from the dead (Matthew 28:1-10). That’s what Jesus is saying in these words from John 10. He is declaring the absolute exclusivity of Christianity. He is stating in vivid terms – in terms that even a child can understand – that there is only one way to God, one way to be saved – and he is it! By God’s grace, you and I believe and confess this truth because Jesus has called [us] by name in Baptism and [we] know his voice as we hear it in the pages of Scripture.

At the same time, that’s only half of the equation. Yes, Christianity it absolutely exclusive; but it is also 100% inclusive. In other words, Jesus is the only door, but this door is open to all. Our prayer, then, is that the Holy Spirit would open first our eyes, hearts, and minds – and then, through our confession, the eyes, hearts and minds of many others – to understand and believe this truth about Jesus, the only Door. In Jesus, anyone can have forgiveness and life, not as a result of their own efforts or obedience but his. In Jesus, everyone can be certain that the wrath of God has been quenched forever by his death on the cross. In Jesus, every single person can be sure that they are included because he didn’t just come to suffer and die for some, he came to suffer and die for the whole world (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). In Jesus, it doesn’t matter how black your sins are, how woefully lacking your good works are, how weak your faith is – because it’s not about you, your works or your faith; it’s about him and his work. In Jesus, everyone in the world who is suffering from the reaction to the virus pandemic can find the comfort that even if Covid-19 were to take their job, their savings, their health – even their life – it cannot take eternal life from any believer.

That’s the difference between Jesus and all the imposters out there. He draws the contrast this way: A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. While imposters and false teachers come only to fleece the flock and enrich themselves, Jesus comes to give; to give abundant life. What is abundant life? Is it wealth, health, happiness? No! It’s the peace that comes from knowing that in baptism God called you by name, made you his child, and wrote your name in heaven’s book of life (Revelation 21:27). It’s the freedom from guilt that results from hearing that God has declared you “not-guilty” in the Absolution – so that you don’t have to spend your life trying to earn God’s favor. It’s the rock-solid and tangible assurance of Jesus’ redeeming life, death, and resurrection which he puts in your hand and your mouth in Holy Communion. No other religion has this. No other religion has a God who became one of us, gave his life for us, rose again for us – and now and until the end of time leads us like a Good Shepherd by giving himself to us in Word and Sacrament. Jesus is the only Door to heaven and the most unloving, hateful, and murderous thing we could ever do is deny that he is both an exclusive and inclusive Savior.

Jesus is the only Door. I know, it’s a kind strange metaphor – but, when you think about it, it makes sense. Doors keep bad things out and good things in. Doors lead you to people you love. Doors grant access that can’t be found anywhere else. Jesus is your Door – the only Door – to God and to eternal life. Continue listening to his voice, his Word, and know that whatever happens in our world and whatever happens to you, in him you have an open door to abundant life now and forever in heaven. Amen.