So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
- John 10:1-10
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus refers to Himself as the gate for the sheep. As a teacher, Jesus knew the best way to share his message was to relate it to things his listeners understood. In referencing things and ideas that his listeners were already familiar with Jesus is able to make difficult concepts and ideas easier to comprehend. All first century Israelites would have firsthand experience with sheep and shepherds. Even today you can still find shepherds tending their flocks near many of the holiest sites in the Holy Land. His audience, therefore, would have immediately understood the idea that the gate is the only legitimate way to enter and exit the sheepfold. They also would have witnessed the way shepherds are able to lead their flocks with only their voices. The relationship between a shepherd and his sheep is an intimate one, similar to that of a mother and her children. The sheep need only hear the shepherd’s voice to know who to follow, and, like children, they trust that the shepherd will lead them where they are supposed to go.
In a similar way, Jesus is supposed to be both the shepherd and the gate in our lives. As Christians, we must place our trust in Him completely. If we listen for His voice – in prayer and the Scripture – He will lead us where we must go. If we place our trust in Jesus, He will not lead us astray. Yet, like the sheep, we must know our shepherd’s voice and not be led astray by thieves and robbers. These thieves and robbers are the temptations we encounter to turn away from God and sin. It is that quiet voice we hear telling us it is okay to miss Mass this one week or that it’s okay to make a joke about someone just this one time. If we listen to these voices instead of Christ’s, we will follow the wrong path.
But if we attune our lives to Christ’s voice we can be assured of following the path to heaven. This is what Jesus meant when He calls Himself “the gate.” Just as it is only through the gate that one can enter the sheepfold, it is only through Christ that we are able to enter heaven. It is by following Him and establishing a relationship with Him that we will find ourselves in the pasture that is paradise. This is the core of our Christian faith – that it is through Christ alone that we shall be saved. He is both the shepherd and the gate, and we are His flock. If we trust in Him, he will always lead us home.