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I AM the Door (John 10:1-10)

Read Ezekiel 34:1-16, 23-24 then read John 10:1-10.

Why does this chapter start as it does? How is it related to the previous chapter?

What would Jesus’s hearers conceptualize the “Shepherd of the sheep” – who he is, why is he important? (See Psalm 23; Psalm 28:8-9; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ezekiel 34:23.)

In the following figure of speech, who do the “thieves and robbers” represent? Jesus said, “All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers…” Who are these people that came before him? He’s not including the patriarchs and Moses and David, is he? How can you tell?

In what sense (verse 4) do the sheep know the shepherd’s voice? How does this apply to us today? How do we know the shepherd’s voice? (See John 8:47.)

Does verse 5 mean that false teachers cannot make inroads among true disciples? Why or why not?

When Jesus said, “I AM the gate (or door)” what might people have understood him to mean?

If Jesus is the gate or door to the sheepfold, how should that affect the way we think about people who have entered the fold?

 

Do you think some Christians and some churches try to make their own gates or appoint themselves as gatekeepers? How might this work?

 

When Jesus says in verse 9 that the one who enters through him will be saved, what does he have in mind? Saved from what? Saved for what?

 

How does a person enter through the gate/door that is Jesus?

 

What does “he will come in and go out and find pasture” suggest?

 

Describe the life Jesus speaks about in verse 10. What is it like?

 

What can we learn about Jesus from this passage?

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