The Shepherd and the Gate

In tomorrow's Gospel reading Jesus says,

Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go 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.

How can Jesus be both The Good Shepherd and The Gate? This is dealt with well by the Workjing with the Word page which quotes Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities as saying:

Sheep can be found either in their pasture or in their holding pen (“sheepfold”). The sheepfold was usually made of fieldstone or mud brick, was generally uncovered, and high enough so the sheep couldn’t jump over.

Keeping the sheep together in an enclosed area at night made it easier for the shepherd to protect them from wild beasts and thieves. There is only one opening in the wall between the open grazing land and their enclosures: the gate.

At night, the shepherd stood at the gate as the sheep entered one by one and inspected each sheep. Those scratched or injured would be tended and their wounds anointed with oil; the thirsty would be watered (see Psalm 23:5, “you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”).

When all were accounted for and safely inside, the shepherd would sometimes lie down and sleep across the entrance to the sheepfold: thus, the “shepherd” was also “the gate.”

This recalls Psalm 118:20, “This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.” What lies on the other side is “salvation” (118:21).

Jesus is this gate; he is the way that leads to abundant life (John 10:10) and salvation. To get to the pastures of life or to the protection and security of the shelter, there is only one way: through the gate.

John will further elaborate this image in next Sunday’s gospel when Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”