I am the gate for the sheep REFLECTIONS TODAY
Jesus compares himself to the “gate” through which the sheep go out and enter. Like the sheep gathered within the sheepfold, those who belong to Jesus find rest and security. They “will come in and go out and find pasture” (v 9). The shepherd of the sheep enters through the gate and the sheep recognize him. Jesus, the “gate,” opens to the shepherd of the flock that he may care for them. Those who enter by another way other than the “gate” are thieves and marauders. They bring destruction, not protection. They are not true shepherds to the sheep because they refuse to enter through Jesus. Likewise, our shepherds can only be good shepherds by passing through the “gate,” through Jesus. Let us pray for our leaders that they may learn from Jesus to be good shepherds of God’s flock.
Gospel • JOHN 10:1-10
Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 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.”
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