Is There Safety and Security in Jesus?

So much of the Bible can seem like an enigma to 21^st century readers. We are not only removed by centuries of time but also by customs and cultural differences that are vastly different from what we know and understand. While God never changes, the people and cultures with whom He deals change. To properly apply the biblical record to our particular situation, we must first understand the people, places, customs, and reasons for the original writing. If we neglect this important step in studying God's Word, we do it at our own peril and open ourselves to misleading and incorrect interpretations of what God is trying to tell us.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 10, is a good example of our needing to find out how the people of John's day understood the words of Jesus as John chronicled those words. The fist century hearer's of Jesus' words and the readers of John's Gospel were very well acquainted with sheep and shepherding. Notice the words of Jesus in John 10:1-16:

"I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!  But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."

 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant, ^so he explained it to them: "I tell you the truth; I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.  The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.  A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.  The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep.

 "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd."

 

In 21^st century America, we don't have much of a clue what a shepherd did or how his flocks responded to him. In this passage Jesus makes it very clear that He is the "gate" for the "sheepfold". To properly understand this picture, we must understand what a "sheepfold" is and how the shepherd of the flock used himself as the "gate" to protect his sheep.

 

Whenever possible a shepherd gathered his flocks at night and herded them into a protected area. This area may have been a cave, a stone fenced area, or any protective location with only one entrance/exit. After the flock was safely in the enclosure they would relax and rest knowing that the shepherd would position himself in the entrance. This would effectively make him the "gate" over which or through which anything or anyone coming or going would have to pass. In a proper "sheepfold" there was no other way for entrance or exit from that "sheepfold" other than by permission of the shepherd or by removing the shepherd from his protective position.

 

Understanding this "picture" that Jesus drew for His hearers helps us understand the application of the passage for all regardless of cultural differences. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; the sheep are all who have been called by Him, who have believed on Him, and who have been added to His flock by faith; and the sheepfold is that place of protection surrounded by the Holy Spirit with Jesus as the gate. The sheepfold that Jesus is describing is one where there is perfect peace and rest because it is secured by the very Creator of the Universe. No one can enter to kill and steal!

 

What a wonderful picture of where we are if by faith we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. We are safe! We are secure! Nothing can separate us from Him or His love (Romans 8:31-39)!

 

Is there safety and security in Jesus? In a world of turmoil and chaos, there is no other place of perfect peace than in the sheepfold of the Great Shepherd!