Italian artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378â1455) spent years skillfully crafting images of Jesusâ life into the bronze doors of Italyâs Florence Baptistery. These bronze reliefs were so moving that Michelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.
As an artistic treasure, the doors greet visitors with echoes of the gospel story. It was Jesus who said, âI am the gate; whoever enters through me will be savedâ (John 10:9). On the night before His crucifixion, He told His disciples, âI am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through meâ (14:6). Within a few hours Jesus would say to one of the criminals being crucified at His side, âToday you will be with me in paradiseâ (Luke 23:43).
The apostle Peter a few weeks later boldly proclaimed to those who had called for Jesusâ death that âthere is no other name under heaven . . . by which we must be savedâ (Acts 4:12). Years later, the apostle Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and humanityâthe man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
The gates of paradise are found in the Savior who offers everlasting life to all who believe and come to Him. Enter into the joy of His salvation.
Jewish shepherds kept their sheep in two kinds of sheepfolds. In the villages, the shepherds led their flocks into stone-walled communal enclosures guarded by gatekeepers (John 10:1â5). In the morning, the shepherd would arrive at the gate, be recognized by the gatekeeper, and be allowed to enter the sheepfold. As the shepherd walked and called among the mixed flocks, only his own sheep would respond to him. Hearing and recognizing the shepherdâs voice, his sheep would follow him out of the sheepfold to the pasture. Out in the wilderness, sheepfolds were often makeshift low-walled enclosures made of stones. The shepherd slept across a narrow opening in front to protect them and keep them from wandering (vv. 7â9). Jesus said, âI am the gate for the sheepâ (v. 7).