I Am and the Door

Don:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1)

Notice that Jesus declared he was the door not once but twice, and that he said the door, not a door.

The door is alluded to in other parts of scripture, such as:

Behold, I [Jesus] stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Notice that in this passage, Jesus is both the door and is standing by the door. Another passage that alludes to the door…

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

…forms the setting for yet another (though in this case the door is called a gate):

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

This is perplexing, particularly given the following passage:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)

One passage says few can get through the narrow gate, while this passage says everyone gets through it—including those who are not Christians or Jews (people “from every nation and all tribes and people and tongues” [emphasis added].

How can the gate in Matthew be so exclusionary if such “a great multitude” is able to get in? Who is excluded? The door in John 10 is narrow but is the legitimate way to the kingdom. The narrowness is often applied to the way we are to live our lives, through denial and even self-denial. This is known as “the way of the cross.” Jesus talked about this:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  (Matthew 16:24-26)

The phrase “come after Me” in the passage above is redolent of the sheep in John 10 who “follow” their shepherd. For millennia, church fathers have called on their flocks to practice self-denial and self-deprivation as the way to salvation, on the basis of the narrowness of the way of the cross. People like Simon Stylites, who sat atop a column in the (now Syrian) town of Aleppo for 37 years are the ultimate expression of this ethos. Vows of silence and chastity, the wearing of itchy hair shirts, and the practice of castration all stem from the view that the way is narrow and demands such acts of self-denial and self-deprivation. And yet, in the context of the following passages, the narrowness, self-denial, and self-deprivation amount to the opposite of what has long been assumed, preached, and practiced:

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)

The narrow way is the way of grace. The notion that one can make oneself holy through self-denial and so on is just wrong. Only God’s grace can make us holy. The call to suspend judgment is a call to community, a call to extend to others the grace we are given. The way of grace is not easy and is not intuitive, and is narrow in that sense. It is so easy to fall into the trap described in this passage:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

Participating in the business of God and doing things for God seems intuitive and compelling. But the judgment reserved for people who fall into this trap is: “I never knew you.” This is not the narrow way. What ought to be denied is the self-effort toward righteousness. The narrow way is outlined in this passage from the judgment scene:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:34-46)

Are we to see “Jesus as the door” in the simple sense of helping our brother in need? Knowing the door does not imply knowledge of Jesus but it does imply knowledge of the principles espoused in the ministry and messages of Jesus and summarized in this proclamation:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Kiran: This is beautiful. I read last night that Christ desires His church to become like Him. What does that mean in practice? Is it to deny self or is it to deny judgment and extend God’s grace freely to everyone around us? I often lose that focus and complicate my life. But in the past 24 hrs I have been reminded twice to focus on the mission of Jesus. I like the idea that the narrow gate means grace, not self denial. It is so easy for me to judge others and not accept them unconditionally. I always thought the narrow gate meant self denial. When we extend grace to others, by definition we suspend judgment, and that requires a great deal of self denial. But if we try to deny ourselves for the sake of entering through the narrow door, it is easy to be pious and that act in itself is self glorifying and not, therefore, true self denial. My natural tendency is to judge others and feel better about myself. In that sense extending grace to others freely is a narrow gate. However, the passage in Revelation states that there are multitudes people from different nations and tongues who make it to heaven. That means many walk through this narrow gate. The Jews, who were chosen to be a special group of God’s people, were strategically positioned at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe and so could reach and teach the known world this principle of God. But they lost the sight of that goal and became an exclusive club. I guess that might be our temptation today.

Robin: I just said that the narrow gate and broad gate relates to how we treat other people. If I am interpreting this correctly, the easy way or the wide highway to destruction is because some people hoard God’s grace and the narrow gate is because some people want to share God’s grace freely. Am I interpreting it correctly?

Micheal: I just find it very interesting that in the narrow gate only a few people could enter. But if in the end there are multitudes in heaven, how did they enter if not through the narrow gate? I don’t know.

Jay: It’s very interesting that we have a scene in the end where multitudes of people, not specific people but all kinds of people that enters through narrow gate. I don’t think that narrow gate is necessarily talking about your road to salvation. I don’t think it is a door or key to heaven. I think the gate is much more about how we treat people. I think the verse before talks about golden principle. Treat people like the way you want to be treated yourself. I think the metaphor of gate is really speaking to the natural inclination towards people. This is not the easiest way to live life. It is harder to treat people the way you want them to treat yourself. Its much easier to be selfish, much easier to hoard grace. Its much easier to do those kind of things and then to apply the golden rule in a consistent kind of basis. I think that is what is the goal. When talking about treating other people, ah I am asking you to treat other people that doesn’t seem natural to you or not easy to you. But this way of doing things is much more pleasing to God but it is not a salvation issue. If salvation is hanging on the balance of this gate, it seems difficult to reconcile that only few can enter but many are there in the end.

Don: One of the questions is about the role of Jesus. He calls Himself the door not a door. And yet at the end we see the multitude that no man can number from every tribe, kindred and nation suggesting that in Christian context as we understand is not operative in that multitude. Because they all came from every portion and place of the earth.

Jay: I think that is one way to look at this question that this is the door to heaven or salvation. other way to define is the door of how to treat others like the way God wanted us to treat others in this life. so depending on how you define that, it opens up the people on the other side of the door a different context right. we are talking of Christ like self sacrificial life that is treating others as we treat ourselves kind of life and this is door to that. Or the door is the barrier to get to heaven. This is really an example of how to be something. If you are talking about living a Christ-like life, all kindred and nations have the capability and capacity to be be like Christ and loving like Christ.

Mrs. Salsaa: I want to talk about the door. When we believe in him we pass through the door. Only through belief in Him. We could do many good things but if we don’t believe in him then it’s not possible.

Michael: What about those that are not Christians? How can they believe in Jesus? Does that mean they don’t go?

Mrs. Salsaa: They will believe at the second coming of Jesus.

Charles: Because we are human and limited and time-bound, we struggle with the concept of eternity. I think we need to note that the passage from Revelation is in the context of the End of the Age, which theoretically or actually is the culmination of salvation history, when the Word has been carried throughout the world. So I do not think the passage is inconsistent with the idea that Jesus then really will be known as The Way, the Door to the Kingdom, to all peoples of all nations and tribes and so on.

The narrow gate metaphor is how we struggle with issues concerning faith. If we start with the wills of God and Man, and accept that the will of Man is fundamentally corrupt and prone to error, lust pride, and so on in contradistinction to the will of God; and if we then hold up the Mosaic law as a mirror that shows just how corrupt and broken we are and accept that our nature is prone to sin and darkness and separation from God; then the wide gate is Man’s will and God’s will is the narrow gate. It is easy to take the wide gate because it’s what we will, it’s in our nature. Jesus simplified the law down to two things: Love God (a matter of faith) and love one another (a matter of accepting God’s will.) We don’t get there by our actions—that’s clear throughout scripture. We get there by accepting the will of God. So taking the narrow gate is a matter of allowing God’s love to be manifested through us. The proper denial of self, it seems to me, is to abandon one’s own and accept God’s will as manifested through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit comes through faith and manifesting Jesus. It is very difficult to let go of one’s self and place total trust in God, but that’s the narrow gate. I think this is why Jesus said his burden was light—because once through the gate, then all difficulty is removed.

Kiran: Traditionally, we think that by confessing that Jesus is God, we get through the Door. All those people on the left at the day of judgment are like that. But that passage makes clear that we have to follow Jesus not just in name but in practice: We have to do what he would do with respect to the sick and poor and oppressed, etc.—we have to live by the principles proclaimed in Isaiah, we have to live the mission of Jesus. I have a Muslim friend who is not rich but is so kind, loving, and helpful that I see in him those very attributes of Jesus that are given to everyone will open his door to heaven, regardless of his worldly “faith”. Gandhi was another example of a person we should be aghast not to find in heaven.

Sometimes we act as though we live in a country club, with all its exclusivities. But if one lives in the country, one has no need of a country club!

Michael: It’s interesting that Jesus is also the person who knocks. I get the sense that the narrowness of the gate makes it hard to find, so by knocking on it, Jesus helps us to locate it.

Don: Is it possible that one can know Jesus without being aware of him? The judgment scene suggests that regardless of whether one knows Jesus by his name, regardless of whether one can declare belief in him, there is a sense in which meeting the needs of people around one who are naked, blind, unclothed, etc., is the Door to Jesus. Jesus said so specifically. He did not say: “If you help others, it’s just as though you help me.” It’s more explicit than that: If you help others, then you actually help Jesus in person. Jesus is the person in need, whether you recognize that person as Jesus or not. All that matters is that you help him. When you do, you are in his presence.

Charles: Jesus came out of Eternity. He was there when God created the heavens and the earth. He is a part of the Trinity. His human manifestation was a mere (but momentous) blip in history. He had been around for all time before that and will be around for all time following that. In John’s epistle he talks of God as light and love. How do we come to know Jesus through love? God stepped out of eternity to save us, to help us find the Door. But if God is love, there is nothing inconsistent in returning his love by loving one’s neighbor. The belief that salvation only comes through declaring Jesus strikes me as reflecting Man’s desire to be God. In other words, to take over the idea that God doesn’t reserve the right to grant grace and salvation to whomever God pleases. If God’s interpretation (which is not ours) is that the way to come to know through Jesus is by opening oneself to God’s will and letting it manifest, then who are we to sit here and decide that the only way is to thump on the bible at a revival and say we accept Jesus as our lord and savior. The way one accepts that is by becoming a conduit, by abandoning one’s will and accepting God’s will.

Joe: So even if you belong to another religion, if you are doing God’s will, you are inviting Jesus in anyway, whether you know him or not.

Charles: I think it’s the way that one comes to know Jesus. If Jesus is God, and God is light and God is love, then one comes into communion with God through loving one another, through manifesting love. The only two commandments Jesus really gave were: Love God and love one another. We tend to define it that way, but we can’t pretend to know what God is thinking. Nevertheless, I don’t think this view is inconsistent to say that one can come to know Jesus by manifesting that love.

Kiran: The good Samaritan was not a member of “the club”. He was an outsider, but Jesus spoke highly of him. Jesus said words to the effect that he had sheep in other flocks besides the Jewish flock; sheep who knew his voice and would come when he called them.

Joe: They know him without knowing him because they are doing his will, so he knows of them and when the time comes to call them out, they will know that they know him.

Robin: Because the spirit is working within them.

Charles: To me, the Samaritan is Jesus. We are the broken man at the side of the road whom he helps and promises to return at the End Time to pay the price. The key to knowing Jesus is in the manifestation of his behavior. If we don’t manifest it, we don’t know him, no matter how much we read scripture or attend church.

Robin: We have to do more than “claim” Jesus. He tells us over and over that we need to emulate him. You will know the children of God by their fruits.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:17-18)

Mrs. Salsaa: God loves us and he wants us to love everybody. When I love everyone I am happy and healthy. When I love God I can give up everything for him, and feel my burden lifted.

Chris: I am intrigued at Jesus’s ability both to be the door and the door-knocker. As the door, he sets the example of how to be saved—we just have to observe and learn. But when he acts as door-knocker, he is asking for a response from us. He is asking us to become the door, to open to his knock, and to be open to our fellow man.

Jeff: Looking for assurance in the definition of how to be saved, to know what is correct behavior, is very difficult. We always get hung up on this questions. Jesus often alluded to the notion of a way, a door, a gate leading to salvation but on the other hand he also said that we were basically sheep with little notion of why we are here. How we treat others seems key.

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