Thoughts on the Gospel of John (80) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:7-9.

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (80)
The Jewish faith and service of God was a religious system that God Himself had instituted. But when the Messiah came to His people, He encountered a dead system with much hypocrisy (Matthew 23:23). Then a big majority of the nation rejected its Messiah. The time had come for the "sheep", those who acknowledged Jesus to be their Messiah, to be led out.

The Lord extended the interpretation of the parable: He was Himself the door. Leaving the fold of Israel and its law and entering the field of blessing that He had appointed for His sheep was possible only through Christ.

The first blessing mentioned here is salvation. As the door is open for all, it is a matter of the salvation of the soul and freedom from sin and judgment that every sinner needs.

A second blessing is that the Shepherd leads the sheep to freedom. The Jews were enclosed in the fold of the Mosaic law and its commandments. The Christian flock, by contrast, has the liberty and privilege to approach God directly ("going in") and proclaiming the gospel to the world ("going out").

A third blessing is the provision of "pasture" for the flock under the guidance of Christ. In the New Testament we find an abundance of blessing and spiritual food that exceeds by far what the Old Testament could offer.

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today's reading: Exodus 31:12-18 · Luke 13:10-17