#DailyDevotion Jesus Is The Door To Eternal Life
John 106This was the illustration Jesus used in talking to them, but they didn’t know what He meant. “So Jesus spoke again: “I tell you the truth, I am the Door for the sheep. 8All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the Door. If anyone comes in through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they will have life and have it overflowing in them.
When Jesus tries to explain what he said in verses 1-5 he changes things up a bit. In those verses he is the door, but is the door through which shepherds lead the sheep in and out. In these verses his shepherds are missing. One could say Jesus and his shepherds are one. The word they speak to the sheep is one and the Holy Spirit accompanies that word to call forth the sheep that belong to Jesus. Jesus’ sheep recognize his voice and the voice of his shepherds which is the same as Jesus’ voice.
The thieves and robbers remain. These are false teachers who pervert the voice or teachings of Jesus or just replace them entirely. His sheep will not follow them though. Those whom the thieves steal, kill and destroy are those for whom Jesus desires to be part of his flock. He died for them and shed his blood for them, but they will not listen to him, trust him or believe in him. Such people have itchy ears that love to tickled by the false teachers. They confirm in them what they want to hear. By doing so they are led off to destruction.
The sheep that belong to Jesus always go in and out of pasture, the kingdom of God, through Jesus. He is the Door. That is to say, Jesus is the only opening, the way, truth and life to God the Father. It is only through Jesus you can enter into the kingdom of God. To go through Jesus, the Door, is to trust he is God’s only begotten son in the flesh. It is to trust that the work he performed in the flesh is all sufficient for our salvation. We are not called to trust in anyone else. Nor are we called to trust in our own works as the source or contribution to our salvation. Jesus alone and solely is our salvation.
Jesus is the Door to life and salvation. He says, “I came so that they will have life and have it overflowing in them.” This life Jesus and John tell us numerous times, particularly in the Gospel of John is ours through believing in Jesus. The whole of John chapter 6 is about believing in Jesus and receiving eternal life. In John 11:25 Jesus says, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Anyone who believes in Me will live even if he dies. 26Yes, anyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe that?” We believe and have eternal life. We never die. We don’t taste death. The Holy Spirit through the Gospel and faith has made us born from above, born of God. As such, even if our bodies die, we do not die. Such is the meaning of having life overflowing in them. As ones living eternally, we simply wait for the resurrection of our bodies or the transformation of them at Jesus’ return to live in kingdom, world without end.
O loving God and Father, you sent your son Jesus Christ to be the Door into your heavenly kingdom. Grant us faith that we may enter through Jesus and be possessors of his life unto life everlasting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.