{"id":1766,"date":"2017-03-29T10:58:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T14:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2017-03-29T11:00:10","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T15:00:10","slug":"i-am-the-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/i-am-the-gate\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I AM THE GATE…’"},"content":{"rendered":"

B<\/span>laise Pascal, 17th-century French mathematician and philosopher asked: \u2018Is life simply a journey\u2026 a great mysterious search for the unknown and unknowable?\u00a0We desire truth and find in ourselves nothing but uncertainty. We seek happiness and find only wretchedness and death. We are incapable of not desiring truth and happiness and incapable of either certainty or happiness.\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is one of life\u2019s ironies that men and women choose to reject the voice of a man who stands unique in history. I\u2019m speaking of Jesus. Yet, ironically, despite the riches of his teaching, the depth of debate he brought against some of the sharpest minds of his day, the remarkable powers and compassion he showed for people in need, many of \u2018the elites\u2019 today reject him \u2013 usually on the basis of secondary opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interests of recovering the words of Jesus himself, let me quote John 10:7-10:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

So again Jesus said to them, \u201cVery 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\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I AM THE GATE<\/h2>\n

These are amongst the most startling words we find in John\u2019s Gospel. In saying,\u00a0\u201cI am the gate\u201d<\/i>,<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus distinguishes himself from others, who are not just rivals, but\u00a0thieves and robbers \u2013\u00a0<\/i>criminals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who were these people? The Jewish leaders of his day were his contemporaries \u2013 they didn\u2019t come\u00a0before<\/i>\u00a0him. Rather, Jesus is referring to the false messiahs who had arisen in Israel and with whom he was constantly in danger of being confused. We know from other sources that there were many charismatic leaders in the century or so before Jesus\u2019 ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising Jesus references them because he was so unlike the political and religious activists of his day. John the Gospel writer wants us to understand this. He doesn\u2019t want us to think that Jesus was a political Messiah. He certainly was not.<\/span><\/p>\n

We see the force of Jesus\u2019 words: the false messiahs used violence. They attempted to free Israel from Rome\u2019s rule by revolution. Most of them were freedom fighters, even terrorists. Sometimes they even spoke in messianic terms; some even used the title, \u2018Shepherd\u2019, because Ezekiel had used this term in speaking of the Messiah.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cAll who ever came before me are thieves and robbers\u201d<\/i>\u00a0he was saying that everyone who had claimed messianic titles had been imposters. So when he says,\u00a0\u201cI am the gate\u201d<\/i>, he is saying that he is the only one who is the true Messiah. The way to the promised Kingdom of God, and therefore to life, is through him alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we think about it, Jesus\u2019s words have a direct relevance for us today. The only real hope for a future that liberal progressivism has to offer is some kind of humanistic utopia \u2013 which can only be temporary at best.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, there are hints of Karl Marx’s thinking when he said people could only discover their true happiness or fulfillment through liberating themselves from economic oppression and exploitation. He taught that\u00a0only when all the old alienations are dissolved could men and women be free to develop their full human potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

The false messiahs in Jesus\u2019 day had a similar theme. For them imperialism was the problem. \u2018If we can overthrow the Romans then the kingdom of God will arrive.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

DON’T BE DUPED<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s against this false messianic voice that Jesus speaks. \u2018Don\u2019t be duped\u2019, he says. \u2018These people have no respect for personal property \u2013 they come to steal. They have a ruthless indifference to human life \u2013 they come to silence, and if necessary, to kill. They have an irrational contempt for anything of value \u2013 they come to destroy.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The 20<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0century witnessed the appalling criminality of revolutionary movements. Millions perished under Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, under Pol Pot and Idi Amin, not forgetting Hitler. Yet no perfect society of peace and justice has emerged.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Jesus\u2019 words are vindicated. And even more so through his death and resurrection! The progressive humanist dream of a radically new society will not provide long-term, satisfying answers to our questions about life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am the gate,\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0Jesus said. He, and nobody else, has come that we might have life. When we go his way we find true liberty \u2013 we can come and go; we find true deliverance \u2013 we are rescued from the curse of self; we find meaning and fulfillment \u2013 we find pasture. Significantly, to fulfil his words Jesus didn\u2019t wield a sword: he carried a cross.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Almighty God, the protector of all who put their trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply your mercy upon us, so that with you as our shepherd, ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal: grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, Trinity 4 – adapted)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 John G. Mason<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

laise Pascal, 17th-century French mathematician and philosopher asked: \u2018Is life simply a journey\u2026 a great mysterious search for the unknown and unknowable?\u00a0We desire truth and find in ourselves nothing but uncertainty. We seek happiness and find only wretchedness and death. We are incapable of not desiring truth and happiness and incapable of either certainty or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'I AM THE GATE...' - The Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Jesus says, \u201cI am the gate\u201d, he is saying that he is the only one who is the true Messiah. 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