Today’s Gospel draws the image everyone loves – Jesus as the Good Shepherd, going out to the lost sheep and putting it on His shoulders…the shepherd who gives his life for the sheep…the sheep who know him and He knows them.
But Jesus also talks about himself as the gate to the sheep’s pen. He says, “I am the gate for the sheep….Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
We all have closed gates in our life. Jesus says “The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice….I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Think about the closed gates in your life: Hatred (or bad blood). Jesus says, “Do you think I was never hated? I know what that’s like. I’ll show you how to open that gate – it’s called forgiveness.”
Health. Jesus says, “Do you think I don’t know what it’s like to hurt in your body? I can take you through that gate. Don’t be afraid.”
Addiction. Jesus says, “Do you think I never had to break away from something? Do you think it was easy to leave my home? I’ll take you through that gate.”
Maybe opening the closed gate means facing up to truth – for the first time admitting it to yourself or telling somebody else who ought to hear it. Jesus says, “I had to speak the truth. I know what it’s like to say a hard truth.”
Sometimes a closed gate is accepting who you are – This is me. These are my life circumstances. And Jesus says, “You know what…I love you anyway. I’ll take you through that gate and you can accept who you are. I do.”
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