Part 1 What Jesus Christ reveals about Himself

What Jesus Christ reveals about Himself
    Here we will find the principles and the truth that followed Israel in its history and which Jesus taught were not to be mixed with the new that was on the horizon. (Mat. 9:16-17) In the following we will see from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ what He could reveal concerning the narrow path that is required of us to pass through. That this path is less followed as the narratives that will be attached at the end will point out. We need to become, in fact we are required to become a spiritual being, as at the beginning a divine creature though still in this flesh, more on this when we look at Paul’s letters concerning the secret things. These can be found in more detail in the link to “Paul’s Mysteries Revealed”. It takes spiritual eyes and ears to see and to hear what the Spirit of Christ is saying.

Mat 7:13-14 Enter in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leads to life, and few are they that find it.

Mat 19:4-6 Jesus answered and said, Have you not read, that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

What is of note is that the two become one flesh going back to Genesis chapters 2 and 3. This is a mystery that will be opened for us by Paul’s letters.

Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

This is spoken by Jesus in the garden on the night that He was betrayed, speaking not only of Himself but also of all mankind. Because mans flesh is not willing to take a path that denies it self.

Luke 3:6 All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
This is the witness of John the Baptist, the one who was to prepare the way of the King of Israel their redeemer.

Luke 4:42-43 When it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose." He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 12:49-50 "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it was already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

Luke 13:23-27 One said to him, Lord, are they few that are saved? Answered them, strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not who you are; then shall you begin to say, We did eat and drink in your presence, and you did teach in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I know not who you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.
What can be heard and seen here is that the religious, workers of iniquity, as well as the unbeliever will be standing outside looking toward the Master when He removes the church. As He closes the door after their departure.
 
John 1:12-14 For as many as received Him, to them gave He (God) the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on (into) His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word became (put on) flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, of a truth, I say to you, except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God! For that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said, you must be born anew.

The wind blows where it will, and thou hears the voice thereof, but know not whence it cometh, and whither it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Many do not notice the change here to the kingdom of God and not the kingdom of heaven. For many these are but the same  in meaning and design.

John 6:47-48 Of a truth, I say to you, He that believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

John 6:51-58 I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yes and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, of a truth, I say to you, except one eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood; you have not life in yourselves. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has (receives) eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat (bread, ie..word) indeed, and my blood is (true, passage way) drink indeed.
He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eats of me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers ate, and died; he that eats this bread shall live for ever.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, they are life.

John 10:7-18 Jesus therefore said to them again, of a truth, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief comes not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that you may have life, and may have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, when the wolf is coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them: he flees because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.
Therefore does the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father.

John 12:23-28 Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.
Of the truth, I say to you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
He that loves his life loses it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.
Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify your name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by me.


From here we need to go to John chapter 17, the Lord’s true prayer, do we hear the direction of the ministry of Jesus and the heart of the Father. This is a free will reading left to your initiative.


Mat. 7:13-14 Christ the gate

The following is taken from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

Our Lord Jesus here presses upon us that righteousness towards men which is an essential branch of true religion, and that religion towards God which is an essential branch of universal righteousness.

I. We must make righteousness our rule, and be ruled by it, Mat 7:12. Therefore, lay this down for your principle, to do as you would be done by; therefore, that you may conform to the foregoing precepts, which are particular, that you may not judge and censure others, go by this rule in general; (you would not be censured, therefore do not censure), Or that you may have the benefit of the foregoing promises. Fitly is the law of justice subjoined to the law of prayer, for unless we be honest in our conversation, God will not hear our prayers, Isa 1:15-17, 58:6, 9; Zec 7:9, 13. We cannot expect to receive good things from God, if we do not fair things, and that which is honest, and lovely, and of good report among men. We must not only be devout, but honest, else our devotion is but hypocrisy. Now here we have,

1. The rule of justice laid down; Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them. Christ came to teach us, not only what we are to know and believe, but what we are to do; what we are to do, not only toward God, but toward men; not only towards our fellow-disciples, those of our party and persuasion, but towards men in general, all with whom we have to do. The golden rule of equity is, to do to others as we would they should do to us. Alexander Severus, a heathen emperor, was a great admirer of this rule, had it written upon the walls of his closet, often quoted it in giving judgment, honored Christ, and favored Christians for the sake of it. Quod tibi, hoc alteri - do to others as you would they should do to you. Take it negatively (Quod tibi fieri non vis, ne alteri feceris), or positively, it comes all to the same. We must not do to others the evil they have done us, nor the evil which they would do to us, if it were in their power; nor may we do that which we think, if it were done to us, we could bear contentedly, but what we desire should be done to us. This is grounded upon that great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. As we must bear the same affection to our neighbor that we would have borne to ourselves, so we must do the same good offices. The meaning of this rule lies in three things.
(1.) We must do that to our neighbor which we ourselves acknowledge to be fit and reasonable: the appeal is made to our own judgment, and the discovery of our judgment is referred to that which is our own will and expectation, when it is our own case.
 (2.) We must put other people upon the level with ourselves, and reckon we are as much obliged to them, as they to us. We are as much bound to the duty of justice as they, and they as much entitled to the benefit of it as we.
(3.) We must, in our dealings with men, suppose ourselves in the same particular case and circumstances with those we have to do with, and deal accordingly. If I were making such a one's bargain, laboring under such a one's infirmity and affliction, how should I desire and expect to be treated? And this is a just supposition, because we know not how soon their case may really be ours: at least we may fear, lest God by his judgments should do to us as we have done to others, if we have not done as we would be done by.

2. A reason given to enforce this rule; This is the law and the prophets. It is the summary of that second great commandment, which is one of the two, on which hang all the law and the prophets, Mat 22:40. We have not this in so many words, either in the law or the prophets, but it is the concurring language of the whole. All that is there said concerning our duty towards our neighbor (and that is no little) may be reduced to this rule. Christ has here adopted it into this law; so that both the Old Testament and the New agree in prescribing this to us, to do as we would be done by. By this rule the law of Christ is commended, but the lives of Christians are condemned by comparing them with it. Aut hoc non evangelium, aut hi non evangelici. - Either this is not the gospel, or these are not Christians.

II. We must make religion our business, and be intent upon it; we must be strict and circumspect in our conversation, which is here represented to us as entering in at a strait gate, and walking on in a narrow way, Mat 7:13, 14. Observe here,
1. The account that is given of the bad way of sin, and the good way of holiness. There are but two ways, right and wrong, good and evil; the way to heaven, and the way to hell; in the one of which we are all of us walking: no middle place hereafter, no middle way now: the distinction of the children of men into saints and sinners, godly and ungodly, will swallow up all to eternity.

Here is, (1.) An account given us of the way of sin and sinners; both what is the best, and what is the worst of it.

[1.] That which allures multitudes into it, and keeps them in it; the gate is wide, and the way broad, and there are many travelers in that way. First, “You will have abundance of liberty in that way; the gate is wide, and stands wide open to tempt those that go right on their way. You may go in at this gate with all your lusts about you; it gives no check to your appetites, to your passions: you may walk in the way of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; that gives room enough.” It is a broad way, for there is nothing to hedge in those that walk in it, but they wander endlessly; a broad way, for there are many paths in it; there is choice of sinful ways, contrary to each other, but all paths in this broad way. Secondly, “You will have abundance of company in that way: many there be that go in at this gate, and walk in this way.” If we follow the multitude, it will be to do evil: if we go with the crowd, it will be the wrong way. It is natural for us to incline to go down the stream, and do as the most do; but it is too great a compliment, to be willing to be damned for company, and to go to hell with them, because they will not go to heaven with us: if many perish, we should be the more cautious.

[2.] That which should affright us all from it is, that it leads to destruction. Death, eternal death, is at the end of it (and the way of sin tends to it), - everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Whether it be the high way of open profaneness, or the back way of close hypocrisy, if it be a way of sin, it will be our ruin, if we repent not.

(2.) Here is an account given us of the way of holiness.

[1.] What there is in it that frightens many from it; let us know the worst of it that we may sit down and count the cost. Christ deals faithfully with us, and tells us,
First, That the gate is strait. Conversion and regeneration are the gate, by which we enter into this way, in which we begin a life of faith and serious godliness; out of a state of sin into a state of grace we must pass, by the new birth, John 3:3, 5. This is a strait gate, hard to find, and hard to get through; like a passage between two rocks, 1Sam 14:4. There must be a new heart, and a new spirit, and old things must pass away. The bent of the soul must be changed, corrupt habits and customs broken off; what we have been doing all our days must be undone again. We must swim against the stream; much opposition must be struggled with, and broken through, from without, and from within. It is easier to set a man against all the world than against himself, and yet this must be in conversion. It is a strait gate, for we must stoop, or we cannot go in at it; we must become as little children; high thoughts must be brought down; nay, we must strip, must deny ourselves, put off the world, put off the old man; we must be willing to forsake all for our interest in Christ. The gate is strait to all, but to some straighter than others; as to the rich, to some that have been long prejudiced against religion. The gate is strait; blessed be God, it is not shut up, nor locked against us, nor kept with a flaming sword, as it will be shortly, Mat 25:10.

Secondly, That the way is narrow. We are not in heaven as soon as we have got through the strait gate, nor in Canaan as soon as we have got through the Red Sea; no, we must go through a wilderness, must travel a narrow way, hedged in by the divine law, which is exceedingly broad, and that makes the way narrow; self must be denied, the body kept under, corruptions mortified, that are as a right eye and a right hand; daily temptations must be resisted; duties must be done that are against our inclination. We must endure hardness, must wrestle and be in an agony, must watch in all things, and walk with care and circumspection. We must go through much tribulation. It is hodos tethlimmenē - an afflicted way, a way hedged about with thorns; blessed be God, it is not hedged up. The bodies we carry about with us, and the corruptions remaining in us, make the way of our duty difficult; but, as the understanding and will grow more and more sound, it will open and enlarge, and grow more and more pleasant.

Thirdly, The gate being so strait and the way so narrow, it is not strange that there are but few that find it, and choose it. Many pass it by, through carelessness; they will not be at the pains to find it; they are well as they are, and see no need to change their way. Others look upon it, but shun it; they like not to be so limited and restrained. Those that are going to heaven are but few, compared to those that are going to hell; a remnant, a little flock, like the grape-gleanings of the vintage; as the eight that were saved in the ark, 1Pet 3:20. In vitia alter alterum trudimus; Quomodo ad salutem revocari potest, quum nullus retrahit, et populus impellit - In the ways of vice men urge each other onward: how shall any one be restored to the path of safety, when impelled forwards by the multitude, without any counteracting influence? Seneca, Epist. 29. This discourages many: they are loth to be singular, to be solitary; but instead of stumbling at this, say rather, If so few are going to heaven, there shall be one the more for me.

[2.] Let us see what there is in this way, which, notwithstanding this, should invite us all to it; it leads to life, to present comfort in the favor of God, which is the life of the soul; to eternal bliss, the hope of which, at the end of our way, should reconcile us to all the difficulties and inconveniences of the road. Life and godliness are put together (2Pet 1:3); The gate is strait and the way narrow and up-hill, but one hour in heaven will make amends for it.

2. The great concern and duty of every one of us, in consideration of all this; Enter in at the strait gate. The matter is fairly stated; life and death, good and evil, are set before us; both the ways, and both the ends: now let the matter be taken entire, and considered impartially, and then choose you this day which you will walk in; nay, the matter determines itself, and will not admit of a debate. No man, in his wits, would choose to go to the gallows, because it is a smooth, pleasant way to it, nor refuse the offer of a palace and a throne, because it is a rough, dirty way to it; yet such absurdities as these are men guilty of, in the concerns of their souls. Delay not, therefore; deliberate not any longer, but enter in at the strait gate; knock at it by sincere and constant prayers and endeavors, and it shall be opened; nay, a wide door shall be opened, and an effectual one. It is true, we can neither go in, nor go on, without the assistance of divine grace; but it is as true, that grace is freely offered, and shall not be wanting to those that seek it, and submit to it. Conversion is hard work, but it is needful, and, blessed be God, it is not impossible if we strive, Luke 13:24.
Many will find if they will but look that the door is the door of their own heart as is that at which the Lord knocks. Why? Because for us to open it we must be as willing as the Lord to do the Father's will no matter the cost.

The following is taken from Robertson’s Word Pictures:
By the narrow gate (dia tēs stenēs pulēs). The Authorized Version “at the strait gate” misled those who did not distinguish between “strait” and “straight.” The figure of the Two Ways had a wide circulation in Jewish and Christian writings (cf. Deu 30:19; Jer 21:8; Psa 1:1-6). See the Didache i-vi; Barnabas xviii-xx. “The narrow gate” is repeated in Mat 7:14 and straitened the way (tethlimmenē hē hodos) added. The way is “compressed,” narrowed as in a defile between high rocks, a tight place like stenochōria in Rom 8:35. “The way that leads to life involves straits and afflictions” (McNeile). Vincent quotes the Pinax or Tablet of Cebes, a contemporary of Socrates: “Seest thou not, then, a little door, and a way before the door, which is not much crowded, but very few travel it? This is the way that leads unto true culture.” “The broad way” (euruchōros) is in every city, town, village, with the glaring white lights that lure to destruction.

The following is taken from Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary:
We have here the application of the whole preceding discourse.
Conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 7:13-27). “The righteousness of the kingdom,” so amply described, both in principle and in detail, would be seen to involve self-sacrifice at every step. Multitudes would never face this. But it must be faced, else the consequences will be fatal. This would divide all within the sound of these truths into two classes: the many, who will follow the path of ease and self-indulgence - end where it might; and the few, who, bent on eternal safety above everything else, take the way that leads to it - at whatever cost. This gives occasion to the two opening verses of this application.

Enter in at the strait gate — as if hardly wide enough to admit one at all. This expresses the difficulty of the first right step in our relationship, involving, as it does, a triumph over all our natural inclinations. Hence the still stronger expression in Luke (Luke 13:24), “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”for wide is the gate — easily entered. and broad is the way — easily trodden. that leads to destruction, and — thus lured “many there be which go in thereat.”


Luke 12:49-50 Christ the Fire and Baptism

Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
A further discourse concerning his own sufferings, which he expected, and concerning the sufferings of his followers, which he would have them also to live in expectation of. In general (Luke 12:49): I am come to send fire on the earth. By this some understand the preaching of the gospel, and the pouring out of the Spirit, holy fire; this Christ came to send with a commission to refine the world, to purge away its dross, to burn up its chaff, and it was already kindled. The gospel was begun to be preached; some prefaces there were to the pouring out of the Spirit. Christ baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire; this Spirit descended in fiery tongues. But, by what follows, it seems rather to be understood of the fire of persecution. Christ is not the Author of it, as it is the sin of the incendiaries, the persecutors; but he permits it, nay, he commissions it, as a refining fire for the trial of the persecuted. This fire was already kindled in the enmity of the carnal Jews (all mankind is included in this) to Christ and his followers. “What will I that it may presently be kindled? What you do, do quickly. If it be already kindled, what will I? Shall I wait the quenching of it? No, for it must fasten upon myself, and upon all, and glory will redound to God from it.”

1. He must himself suffer many things; he must pass through this fire that was already kindled (Luke 12:50): I have a baptism to be baptized with. Afflictions are compared both to fire and water, Psa 66:12; 69:1-2. Christ's sufferings were both. He calls them a baptism (Mat 20:22); for he was watered or sprinkled with them, as Israel was baptized in the cloud, and dipped into them, as Israel was baptized in the sea passing through on dry ground, 1Cor 10:2. He must be sprinkled with his own blood, and with the blood of his enemies, Isa 63:3. See here,

(1.) Christ's foresight of his sufferings; he knew what he was to undergo, and the necessity of undergoing it: I am to be baptized with a baptism. He calls his sufferings by a name that mitigates them; it is a baptism, not a deluge; I must be dipped in them, not drowned in them; and by a name that sanctifies them, for baptism is a name that sanctifies them, for baptism is a sacred rite. Christ in his sufferings devoted himself to his Father's honor, and consecrated himself a priest for evermore, Heb 7:27-28.

(2.) Christ's forwardness to his sufferings: How am I straitened till it is accomplished! He longed for the time when he should suffer and die, having an eye to the glorious issue of his sufferings. It is an allusion to a woman in travail, that is pained to be delivered, and welcomes her pains, because they hasten the birth of the child, and wishes them sharp and strong, that the work may be cut short. Christ's sufferings were the travail of his soul, which he cheerfully underwent, in hope that he should by them see his seed, Isa 53:10-11. So much was his heart set upon the redemption and salvation of man.

2. He tells those about him that they also must bear with hardships and difficulties (Luke 12:51): “Suppose that I came to give peace on earth, to give you a peaceable possession of the earth, and outward prosperity on the earth?” It is intimated that they were ready to entertain such a thought as this, nay, that they went upon this supposition, that the gospel would meet with a universal welcome, that people unanimously embrace it, and would therefore study to make the preachers of it easy and great, that Christ, if he did not give them pomp and power, would at least give them peace; and herein they were encouraged by divers passages of the Old Testament, which speak of the peace of the Messiah's kingdom, which they were willing to understand of external peace. “But,” said Christ, “you will be mistaken, the event will declare the contrary, and therefore do not flatter yourselves into a fool's paradise. You will find,”

(1.) “That the effect of the preaching of the gospel will be division.” Not but that the design of the gospel and its proper tendency are to unite the children of men to one another, to knit them together in holy love, and, if all would receive it, this would be the effect of it; but there being multitudes that not only will not receive it, but oppose it, and have their corruptions exasperated by it, and are enraged at those that do receive it, it proves, though not the cause yet the occasion of division. While the strong man armed kept his palace, in the Gentile world, his goods were at peace; all was quiet, for all went one way, the sects of philosophers agreed well enough, so did the worshipers of different deities; but when the gospel was preached, and many were enlightened by it, and turned from the power of Satan to God, then there was a disturbance, a noise and a shaking, Eze 37:7. Some distinguished themselves by embracing the gospel, and others were angry that they did so. Yea, and among them that received the gospel there would be different sentiments in minor things, which would occasion division; and Christ permits it for holy ends (1Cor 11:18), that Christians may learn and practice mutual forbearance, Rom 14:1-2.
 (What are the two gospels and to whom to they apply? Here we see a mixed gospel which is in truth no gospel at all.)

(2.) “That this division will reach into private families, and the preaching of the gospel will give occasion for discord among the nearest relations” (Luke 12:53): The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, when the one turns Christian and the other does not; for the one that does turn Christian will be zealous by arguments and endearments to turn the other too, 1Cor 7:16. As soon as ever Paul was converted, he disputed, Acts 9:29. The one that continues in unbelief will be provoked, and will hate and persecute the one that by his faith and obedience witnesses against, and condemns, his unbelief and disobedience. A spirit of bigotry and persecution will break through the strongest bonds of relation and natural affection; see Mat 10:35; 24:7. Even mothers and daughters fall out about religion; and those that believe not are so violent and outrageous that they are ready to deliver up into the hands of the bloody persecutors those that believe, though otherwise very near and dear to them. We find in the Acts that, wherever the gospel came, persecution was stirred up; it was every where spoken against, and there was no small stir about that way. Therefore let not the Disciples of Christ promise themselves peace upon earth, for they are sent forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
(They carry the truth of the finished work of the cross in their individual lives and are unshakable in it.)

Robertson’s Word picture:
I came to cast fire (Pur ēlthon balein). Suddenly Jesus lets the volcano in his own heart burst forth. The fire was already burning. “Christ came to set the world on fire, and the conflagration had already begun” (Plummer). The very passion in Christ’s heart would set his friends on fire and his foes in opposition as we have just seen (Luke 11:53.). It is like the saying of Jesus that he came to bring not peace, but a sword, to bring cleavage among men (Mat 10:34-36).

And what will I, if it is already kindled? (kai ti thelō ei ēdē anēphthē̱). It is not clear what this passage means. Probably ti is be taken in the sense of “how” (pōs). How I wish. Then ei can be taken as equal to hoti. How I wish that it were already kindled. Anēphthē is first aorist passive of anaptō, to set fire to, to kindle, to make blaze. Probably Luke means the conflagration to come by his death on the Cross for he changes the figure and refers to that more plainly.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary:
to send — cast.
fire — “the higher spiritual element of life which Jesus came to introduce into this earth (compare Mat 3:11), with reference to its mighty effects in quickening all that is akin to it and destroying all that is opposed. To cause this element of life to take up its abode on earth, and wholly to pervade human hearts with its warmth, was the lofty destiny of the Redeemer” [Olshausen: so Calvin, Stier, Alford, etc.].
what will I, etc. — an obscure expression, uttered under deep and half-smothered emotion. In its general import all are agreed; but the nearest to the precise meaning seems to be, “And what should I have to desire if it were once already kindled?”

John 10:7-18 Christ as the door

Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
Christ is the door of the sheep (John 10:9): By me (di emou - through me as the door) if any man enter into the sheepfold, as one of the flock, he shall be saved; shall not only by safe from thieves and robbers, but he shall be happy, he shall go in and out. Here are, First, Plain directions how to come into the fold: we must come in by Jesus Christ as the door. By faith in him, as the great Mediator between God and man, we come into covenant and communion with God. There is no entering into God's church but by coming into Christ's church; nor are any looked upon as members of the kingdom of God among men but those that are willing to submit to the grace and government of the Redeemer. We must now enter by the door of faith (Acts 14:27), since the door of innocency is shut against us, and that pass become impassable, Gen 3:24. Secondly, Precious promises to those who observe this direction.
1. They shall be saved hereafter; this is the privilege of their home. These sheep shall be saved from being disdained and impounded by divine justice for trespass done, satisfaction being made for the damage by their great Shepherd, saved from being a prey to the roaring lion; they shall be for ever happy.
 2. In the mean time they shall go in and out and find pasture; this is the privilege of their way. They shall have their conversation in the world by the grace of Christ, shall be in his fold as a man at his own house, where he has free ingress, egress, and regress. True believers are at home in Christ; when they go out, they are not shut out as strangers, but have liberty to come in again; when they come in, they are not shut in as trespassers, but have liberty to go out. They go out to the field in the morning, they come into the fold at night; and in both the Shepherd leads and keeps them, and they find pasture in both: grass in the field, fodder in the fold. In public, in private, they have the word of God to converse with, by which their spiritual life is supported and nourished, and out of which their gracious desires are satisfied; they are replenished with the goodness of God's house.

2. Christ is the shepherd, John 10:11, etc. He was prophesied of under the Old Testament as a shepherd, Isa 40:11; Eze 34:23; 37:24; Zec 13:7. In the New Testament he is spoken of as the great Shepherd (Heb 13:20), the chief Shepherd (1Pet 5:4), the Shepherd and bishop of our souls, 1Pet 2:25. God, our great owner, the sheep of whose pasture we are by creation, has constituted his Son Jesus to be our shepherd; and here again and again he owns the relation. He has all that care of his church, and every believer, that a good shepherd has of his flock; and expects all that attendance and observance from the church, and every believer, which the shepherds in those countries had from their flocks.

(1.) Christ is a shepherd, and not as the thief, not as those that came not in by the door. Observe,

[1.] The mischievous design of the thief (John 10:10): The thief comes not with any good intent, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. First, Those whom they steal, whose hearts and affections they steal from Christ and his pastures, they kill and destroy spiritually; for the heresies they privily bring in are damnable. Deceivers of souls are murderers of souls. Those that steal away the scripture by keeping it in an unknown tongue, that steal away the sacraments by maiming them and altering the property of them, that steal away Christ's ordinances to put their own inventions in the room of them, they kill and destroy; ignorance and idolatry are destructive things. Secondly, Those whom they cannot steal, whom they can neither lead, drive, nor carry away, from the flock of Christ, they aim by persecutions and massacres to kill and destroy corporately. He that will not suffer himself to be robbed is in danger of being slain.

[2.] The gracious design of the shepherd; he is come,
First, To give life to the sheep. In opposition to the design of the thief, which is to kill and destroy (which was the design of the scribes and Pharisees) Christ said, I am come among men,
1. That they might have life. He came to put life into the flock, the church in general, which had seemed rather like a valley full of dry bones than like a pasture covered over with flocks. Christ came to vindicate divine truths, to purify divine ordinances, to redress grievances, and to revive dying zeal, to seek those of his flock that were lost, to bind up that which was broken (Eze 34:16), and this to his church is as life from the dead. He came to give life to particular believers. Life is inclusive of all good, and stands in opposition to the death threatened (Gen 2:17); that we might have life, as a criminal has when he is pardoned, as a sick man when he is cured, a dead man when he is raised; that we might be justified, sanctified, and at last glorified.
 2. That they might have it more abundantly, kai perisson echōsin. As we read it, it is comparative, that they might have a life more abundant than that which was lost and forfeited by sin, more abundant than that which was promised by the law of Moses, length of days in Canaan, more abundant than could have been expected or than we are able to ask or think. But it may be construed without a note of comparison, that they might have abundance, or might have it abundantly. Christ came to give life and perisson ti - something more, something better, life with advantage; that in Christ we might not only live, but live comfortably, live plentifully, live and rejoice. Life in abundance is eternal life, life without death or fear of death, life and much more.

Secondly, To give his life for the sheep, and this that he might give life to them (John 10:11): The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
1. It is the property of every good shepherd to hazard and expose his life for the sheep. Jacob did so, when he would go through such a fatigue to attend them, Gen 31:40. So did David, when he slew the lion and the bear. Such a shepherd of souls was St. Paul, who would gladly spend, and be spent, for their service, and counted not his life dear to him, in comparison with their salvation.
But, 2. It was the prerogative of the great Shepherd to give his life to purchase his flock (Acts 20:28), to satisfy for their trespass, and to shed his blood to wash and cleanse them.

(2.) Christ is a good shepherd, and not as a hireling. There were many that were not thieves, aiming to kill and destroy the sheep, but passed for shepherds, yet were very careless in the discharge of their duty, and through their neglect the flock was greatly damaged; foolish shepherds, idle shepherds, Zec 11:15, 17. In opposition to these,

[1.] Christ here calls himself the good shepherd (John 10:11), and again (John 10:14) ho poimēn ho kalos - that shepherd, that good Shepherd, whom God had promised. Note, Jesus Christ is the best of shepherds, the best in the world to take the over-sight of souls, none so skillful, so faithful, so tender, as he, no such feeder and leader, no such protector and healer of souls as he.

[2.] He proves himself so, in opposition to all hirelings, John 10:12-14. Where observe,

First, The carelessness of the unfaithful shepherd described (John 10:12, 13); he that is a hireling, that is employed as a servant and is paid for his pains, whose own the sheep are not, who has neither profit nor loss by them, sees the wolf coming, or some other danger threatening, and leaves the sheep to the wolf, for in truth he cares not for them. Here is plain reference to that of the idol-shepherd, Zec 11:17. Evil shepherds, magistrates and ministers, are here described both by their bad principles and their bad practices.

a. Their bad principles, the root of their bad practices. What makes those that have the charge of souls in trying times to betray their trust, and in quiet times not to mind it? What makes them false, and trifling, and self-seeking? It is because they are hirelings, and care not for the sheep. That is, (a.) The wealth of the world is the chief of their good; it is because they are hirelings. They undertook the shepherds' office, as a trade to live and grow rich by, not as an opportunity of serving Christ and doing good. It is the love of money, and of their own bellies, that carries them on in it. Not that those are hirelings who, while they serve at the altar, live, and live comfortably, upon the altar. The laborer is worthy of his meat; and a scandalous maintenance will soon make a scandalous ministry. But those are hirelings that love the wages more than the work, and set their hearts upon that, as the hireling is said to do, Deu 24:15. See 1Sam 2:29; Isa 56:11; Mic 3:5, 11. (b.) The work of their place is the least of their care. They value not the sheep, are unconcerned in the souls of others; their business is to be their brothers' lords, not their brothers' keepers or helpers; they seek their own things, and do not, like Timothy, naturally care for the state of souls. What can be expected but that they will flee when the wolf comes. He cares not for the sheep, for he is one whose own the sheep are not. In one respect we may say of the best of the under-shepherds that the sheep are not their own, they have not dominion over them not property in them (feed my sheep and my lambs, said Christ); but in respect of dearness and affection they should be their own. Paul looked upon those as his own whom he called his dearly beloved and longed for. Those who do not cordially espouse the church's interests, and make them their own, will not long be faithful to them.
b. Their bad practices, the effect of these bad principles, John 10:12. See here, (a.) How basely the hireling deserts his post; when he sees the wolf coming, though then there is most need of him, he leaves the sheep and flees. Note, Those who mind their safety more than their duty are an easy prey to Satan's temptations. (b.) How fatal the consequences are! the hireling fancies the sheep may look to themselves, but it does not prove so: the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep, and woeful havoc is made of the flock, which will all be charged upon the treacherous shepherd. The blood of perishing souls is required at the hand of the careless watchmen.

Secondly, See here the grace and tenderness of the good Shepherd set over against the former, as it was in the prophecy (Eze 34:21, 22, etc.): I am the good Shepherd. It is matter of comfort to the church, and all her friends, that, however she may be damaged and endangered by the treachery and mismanagement of her under-officers, the Lord Jesus is, and will be, as he ever has been, the good Shepherd. Here are two great instances of the shepherd's goodness.

a. His acquainting himself with his flock, with all that belong or in any wise appertain to his flock, which are of two sorts, both known to him: -
(a.) He is acquainted with all that are now of his flock (John 10:14, 15), as the good Shepherd (John 10:3, 4): I know my sheep and am known of mine. Note, There is a mutual acquaintance between Christ and true believers; they know one another very well, and knowledge notes affection.

[a.] Christ knows his sheep. He knows with a distinguishing eye who are his sheep, and who are not; he knows the sheep under their many infirmities, and the goats under their most plausible disguises. He knows with a favorable eye those that in truth are his own sheep; he takes cognizance of their state, concerns himself for them, has a tender and affectionate regard to them, and is continually mindful of them in the intercession he ever lives to make within the veil; he visits them graciously by his Spirit, and has communion with them; he knows them, that is, he approves and accepts of them, as Psa 1:6, 37:18; Exo 33:17.

[b.] He is known of them. He observes them with an eye of favor, and they observe him with an eye of faith. Christ's knowing his sheep is put before their knowing him, for he knew and loved us first (1Jona 4:19), and it is not so much our knowing him as our being known of him that is our happiness, Gal 4:9. Yet it is the character of Christ's sheep that they know him; know him from all pretenders and intruders; they know his mind, know his voice, know by experience the power of his death. Christ speaks here as if he gloried in being known by his sheep, and thought their respect an honor to him. Upon this occasion Christ mentions (John 10:15) the mutual acquaintance between his Father and himself: As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father. Now this may be considered, either, first, as the ground of that intimate acquaintance and relation which subsist between Christ and believers. The covenant of grace, which is the bond of this relation, is founded in the covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son, which, we may be sure, stands firm; for the Father and the Son understood one another perfectly well in that matter, and there could be no mistake, which might leave the matter at any uncertainty, or bring it into any hazard. The Lord Jesus knows whom he hath chosen, and is sure of them (John 13:18), and they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of him (2Tim 1:12), and the ground of both is the perfect knowledge which the Father and the Son had of one another's mind, when the counsel of peace was between them both. Or, Secondly, As an apt similitude, illustrating the intimacy that is between Christ and believers. It may be connected with the foregoing words, thus: I know my sheep, and am known of mine, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; compare John 17:21. 1. As the Father knew the Son, and loved him, and owned him in his sufferings, when he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, so Christ knows his sheep, and has a watchful tender eye upon them, will be with them when they are left alone, as his Father was with him.
 2. As the Son knew the Father, loved and obeyed him, and always did those things that pleased him, confiding in him as his God even when he seemed to forsake him, so believers know Christ with an obedient fiducially regard.

(b.) He is acquainted with those that are hereafter to be of this flock (John 10:16): Other sheep I have, have a right to and an interest in, which are not of this fold, of the Jewish church; them also I must bring. Observe,

[a.] The eye that Christ had to the poor Gentiles. He had sometimes intimated his special concern for the lost sheep of the house of Israel; to them indeed his personal ministry was confined; but, said he, I have other sheep. Those who in process of time should believe in Christ, and be brought into obedience to him from among the Gentiles, are here called sheep, and he is said to have them, though as yet they were uncalled, and many of them unborn, because they were chosen of God, and given to Christ in the counsels of divine love from eternity. Christ has a right, by virtue of the Father's donation and his own purchase, to many a soul of which he has not yet the possession; thus he had much people in Corinth, when as yet it lay in wickedness, Acts 18:10. “Those other sheep I have,” said Christ, “I have them on my heart, have them in my eye, am as sure to have them as if I had them already.” Now Christ speaks of those other sheep, First, To take off the contempt that was put upon him, as having few followers, as having but a little flock, and therefore, if a good shepherd, yet a poor shepherd: “But,” said he, “I have more sheep than you see.” Secondly, To take down the pride and vain-glory of the Jews, who thought the Messieh must gather all his sheep from among them. “No,” said Christ, “I have others whom I will set with the lambs of my flock, though you disdain to set them with the dogs of your flock.”
[b.] The purposes and resolves of his grace concerning them: “Them also I must bring, bring home to God, bring into the church, and, in order to this, bring off from their vain conversation, bring them back from their wanderings, as that lost sheep,” Luke 15:5. But why must he bring them? What was the necessity? First, The necessity of their case required it: “I must bring, or they must be left to wander endlessly, for, like sheep, they will never come back of themselves, and no other can or will bring them.” Secondly, The necessity of his own engagements required it; he must bring them, or he would not be faithful to his trust, and true to his undertaking. “They are my own, bought and paid for, and therefore I must not neglect them nor leave them to perish.” He must in honor bring those with whom he was entrusted.
[c.] The happy effect and consequence of this, in two things: - First, “They shall hear my voice. Not only my voice shall be heard among them (whereas they have not heard, and therefore could not believe, now the sound of the gospel shall go to the ends of the earth), but it shall be heard by them; I will speak, and give to them to hear.” Faith comes by hearing, and our diligent observance of the voice of Christ is both a means and an evidence of our being brought to Christ, and to God by him. Secondly, there shall be one fold and one shepherd. As there is one shepherd, so there shall be one fold. Both Jews and Gentiles, upon their turning to the faith of Christ, shall be incorporated in one church, be joint and equal sharers in the privileges of it, without distinction. Being united to Christ, they shall unite in him; two sticks shall become one in the hand of the Lord. Note, One shepherd makes one fold; one Christ makes one church. As the church is one in its constitution, subject to one head, animated by one Spirit, and guided by one rule, so the members of it ought to be one in love and affection, Eph 4:3-6.

b. Christ's offering up himself for his sheep is another proof of his being a good shepherd, and in this he yet more commended his love, John 10:15, 17, 18.

(a.) He declares his purpose of dying for his flock (John 10:15): I lay down my life for the sheep. He not only ventured his life for them (in such a case, the hope of saving it might balance the fear of losing it), but he actually deposited it, and submitted to a necessity of dying for our redemption; tithēmi - I put it as a pawn or pledge; as purchase-money paid down. Sheep appointed for the slaughter, ready to be sacrificed, were ransomed with the blood of the shepherd. He laid down his life, huper tōn probatōn, not only for the good of the sheep, but in their stead. Thousands of sheep had been offered in sacrifice for their shepherds, as sin-offerings, but here, by a surprising reverse, the shepherd is sacrificed for the sheep. When David, the shepherd of Israel, was himself guilty, and the destroying angel drew his sword against the flock for his sake, with good reason did he plead, These sheep, what evil have they done? Let thy hand be against me, 2Sam 24:17. But the Son of David was sinless and spotless; and his sheep, what evil have they not done? Yet he said, Let your hand be against me. Christ here seems to refer to that prophecy, Zec 13:7, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd; and, though the smiting of the shepherd be for the present the scattering of the flock, it is in order to the gathering of them in.

(b.) He takes off the offense of the cross, which to many is a stone of stumbling, by four considerations: -

[a.] That his laying down his life for the sheep was the condition, the performance of which entitled him to the honors and powers of his exalted state (John10:17): “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. Upon these terms I am, as Mediator, to expect my Father's acceptance and approbation, and the glory designed me - that I become a sacrifice for the chosen remnant.” Not but that, as the Son of God, he was beloved of his Father from eternity, but as God - man, as Immanuel, he was therefore beloved of the Father because he undertook to die for the sheep; therefore God's soul delighted in him as his elect because herein he was his faithful servant (Isa 42:1); therefore he said, This is my beloved Son. What an instance is this of God's love to man, that he loved his Son the more for loving us! See what a value Christ puts upon his Father's love, that, to recommend himself to that, he would lay down his life for the sheep. Did he think God's love recompense sufficient for all his services and sufferings, and shall we think it too little for ours, and court the smiles of the world to make it up? Therefore doth my Father love me, that is, me, and all that by faith become one with me; me, and the mystical body, because I lay down my life.

[b.] That his laying down his life was in order to his resuming it: I lay down my life, that I may receive it again. First, This was the effect of his Father's love, and the first step of his exaltation, the fruit of that love. Because he was God's holy one, he must not see corruption, Psa 16:10. God loved him too well to leave him in the grave. Secondly, This he had in his eye, in laying down his life, that he might have an opportunity of declaring himself to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection, Rom 1:4. By a divine stratagem (like that before Ai, Jos 8:15) he yielded to death, as if he were smitten before it, that he might the more gloriously conquer death, and triumph over the grave. He laid down a vilified body, that he might assume a glorified one, fit to ascend to the world of spirits; laid down a life adapted to this world, but assumed one adapted to the other, like a corn of wheat, John 12:24.

[c.] That he was perfectly voluntary in his sufferings and death (John10:18): “No one doth or can force my life from me against my will, but I freely lay it down of myself, I deliver it as my own act and deed, for I have (which no man has) power to lay it down, and to take it again.”

First, See here the power of Christ, as the Lord of life, particularly of his own life, which he had in himself.
1. He had power to keep his life against all the world, so that it could not be wrested from him without his own consent. Though Christ's life seemed to be taken by storm, yet really it was surrendered, otherwise it had been impregnable, and never taken. The Lord Jesus did not fall into the hands of his persecutors because he could not avoid it, but threw himself into their hands because his hour was come. No man takes my life from me. This was such a challenge as was never given by the most daring hero.
2. He had power to lay down his life. (1.) He had ability to do it. He could, when he pleased, slip the knot of union between soul and body, and, without any act of violence done to himself, could disengage them from each other: having voluntarily taken up a body, he could voluntarily lay it down again, which appeared when he cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. (2.) He had authority to do it, exousian. Though we could find instruments of cruelty, wherewith to make an end of our own lives, yet Id possumus quod jure possumus - we can do that, and that only, which we can do lawfully. We are not at liberty to do it; but Christ had a sovereign authority to dispose of his own life as he pleased. He was no debtor (as we are) either to life or death, but perfectly sui juris.
3. He had power to take it again; we have not. Our life, once laid down, is as water spilled upon the ground; but Christ, when he laid down his life, still had it within reach, within call, and could resume it. Parting with it by a voluntary conveyance, he might limit the surrender at pleasure, and he did it with a power of revocation, which was necessary to preserve the intentions of the surrender.

Secondly, See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him by law, or extort it by force, he laid it down of himself, for our redemption. He offered himself to be the Saviour: Lo, I come; and then, the necessity of our case calling for it, he offered himself to be a sacrifice: Here am I, let these go their way; by which will we are sanctified, Heb 10:10. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his life was his offering up himself.


Robertson’s Word Pictures Commentary:

I am the door of the sheep (egō eimi hē thura tōn probatōn). The door for the sheep by which they enter. “He is the legitimate door of access to the spiritual aulē, the Fold of the House of Israel, the door by which a true shepherd must enter” (Bernard). He repeats it in John 10:9. This is a new idea, not in the previous story (John 10:1-5). Moffatt follows the Sahidic in accepting ho poimēn here instead of hē thura, clearly whimsical. Jesus simply changes the metaphor to make it plainer. They were doubtless puzzled by the meaning of the door in John 10:1. Once more, this metaphor should help those who insist on the literal meaning of bread as the actual body of Christ in Mark 14:22. Jesus is not a physical “door,” but he is the only way of entrance into the Kingdom of God (John 14:6).