I AM THE GATE – The Sermon from April 26, 2026
April 27, 2026
April 26, 2026
I am the Gate
Devotions for this sermon
John’s Gospel- Slowing down
Last Sunday, I shared that John’s Gospel tends to slow down and reflect on the stories it tells. So I want to take a moment to explain more about that. In John’s Gospel, there is a pattern. There is a sign, a miracle that reveals something about who Jesus is. And then Jesus explains what the sign means.
And we see this in the feeding of the 5,000. Every three years, in late summer, we spend five weeks in John chapter six. First, we hear the story of the feeding of the 5,000. And then in the following weeks, we listen as Jesus explains the significance of that miracle.
The Man Born Blind
This morning, our gospel begins with the explanation, the sign. In chapter nine, John tells us the story of the man born blind, a man who, after receiving his sight, is cast out of the synagogue. Because of what he says about Jesus, he tells the truth, and for that, he loses his place in the community.
Jesus responds by telling those who cast him out that they are the ones who are truly blind and unable to see their own sin. And then Jesus begins to teach John, chapter 10, verse 1. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. And then later in the reading, we hear Jesus say, I am the gate for the sheep.
I am the gate.
I am the gate.
In ancient times, the shepherd would gather the sheep into an enclosure at night. There wasn’t always a physical gate. Instead, the shepherd himself would lie down in the opening, placing his body between the sheep and whatever dangers may lurk in the night.
In the dark of night, any predator who wanted in or any sheep who wanted out, would wake the shepherd.
Playing Gatekeeper
Jesus says to us, I am the gate. Meaning that we cannot be the gate or the gatekeeper. I mean, it would sound absurd to us if we expected the sheep to appoint their own gatekeeper.
And yet, how often do we, as the people of God, the sheep of God’s pasture, play gatekeeper on our own?
This isn’t anything new. The leaders of the synagogue casted the man born blind out of the synagogue. Because he spoke the truth about Jesus, he had ample opportunity to change his story. His own parents refused to answer the questions. And the response of the elders of the synagogue to the man born blind was, you are born entirely in sin, and are you trying to teach us?
And they drove him out.
Throughout history, the Church has done the same. We have driven people out for having the wrong theology, the wrong practices, for what we have labeled immorality or Simply because they were not like us.
Driving People Out
Maybe it wasn’t wrong, maybe it wasn’t. But it was what we perceived as wrong. But who among us truly knows the mind of God?
Who am I to say that any person is outside of the grace of God? Who am I to claim that I know God more fully than you?
Again and again, we fall into what I call the sin of certainty. The sin of certainty is the belief that faith is about having the right answers and the true beliefs and the right understanding, and that anyone who disagrees with us must be wrong or somehow less faithful, bless their hearts.
The sin of certainty turns us into gatekeepers, and in doing so, we usurp the role of Jesus. But Jesus alone is the gate.
Jesus alone is our judge and our Savior. Now, that doesn’t give us permission to do whatever we want.
I am the gate for the sheep.
Love one another
In the Gospel, we are called to love one another. And loving one another means treating one another as beloved children of God. Loving one another means that we do not harm one another in thought, word or deed.
God gave us the Ten Commandments to show us how to live in loving relationships, relationship with God and relationship with one another.
The good Shepherd, Jesus as the gate means that judgment belongs to him alone and not him to us. Our minds are too small, too limited to grasp the fullness of God’s mystery. Therefore, we cannot be the gate. We cannot be the gatekeeper. For there is only one gate.
There is only one shepherd. The good shepherd. The good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
It is Not Up to Us!
Brothers and sisters, it is not up to us to decide who is inside the closure and who is not.
On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment. Love one another as I have loved you. Love one another.
How did Jesus love us?
Who Jesus Loved
Jesus loved the Samaritan woman at the well, a woman rejected by her community and dismissed by others. Jesus loved the woman caught in the act of adultery, reminding us that we are all in need of God’s mercy.
Jesus loved Zacchaeus, who as a tax collector, cheated his neighbors and served the occupying government as a collaborator.
Jesus loved Nicodemus, who struggled to understand and asked his questions in the dark.
When Jesus says love one another, he invites us to go out and love as he did. Love the sick, the stranger, the imprisoned men and women, children and elders, Jews and Samaritans, Romans and Gentiles, the poor and wealthy alike. Jesus loved them, And we are called to love them as well. Remember that Jesus ate with those who doubted him. Jesus welcomed those whom others rejected.
And. And he fed the hungry with what little was offered and made it enough. This is what it means for us to love one another.
Allow Jesus To Be The Gate
And loving one another means that we allow Jesus to be the gate.
Let Jesus be our good shepherd. Trust Jesus to decide who belongs. Trust Jesus to guard and protect his flock.
Because in the end, the sheep are safe.
Not because of anything that we have done, but because of Jesus.
Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus is our good shepherd. Who leads us from behind and beside still waters. Who leads us through the darkest valleys, the valleys of the shadow of death.
And then who leads us into the promised land. Amen.