Christ is the Door
Then said Jesus unto them . . . , Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the
door of the sheep. John 10:7.
Satan took the field in person against Jesus Christ. Evil angels conspired
with evil men to resist good, to trample upon righteousness, and all the
energies of evil were confederated together to destroy the champion of God
and truth. While success seems to attend the masterly activity of Satan,
Jesus takes the field to contest his power. Jesus came "unto his own, and
his own received him not." He was charged with an embassage of mercy, sent
of the Father at a crisis when rebellion had overspread the world, in order
that man should not perish, but have everlasting life through faith in the
Son of God. Through Christ they were to bruise the serpent's head, and gain
eternal life. . . .
In the parable of the shepherd Jesus puts His own interpretation on His work
and mission, and represents Himself as the good shepherd, feeding and taking
charge of the sheep. He said, "He that entereth not by the door [by himself]
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and
a robber." Christ said that all who came before Him claiming to be the
Messiah were deceivers. All the time of Christ's coming there was much
agitation concerning the appearance of the world's Messiah. The Jewish
nation expected that a great deliverer would come, and there were men who
took advantage of this expectation, turning it to the service of themselves,
that they might be thereby profited and glorified. Prophecy had foretold
that these deceivers would arise. The deceivers did not come in the way in
which it was prophesied that the world's Redeemer should come; but Christ
came, answering every specification. Types and symbols had represented Him,
and in Him type met antitype. In the life, mission, and death of Jesus every
specification was fulfilled.
Jesus was the good shepherd to whom the porter openeth, who knows the sheep,
calleth His own by name, and leadeth them out. He it is who is stronger than
the thief and the robber, those who enter not in at the door, but climb up
some other way. The Pharisees were not able to discern that this parable was
spoken against them, the professed leaders of the people, pastors of the
flock. Jesus presented Himself in contrast to them, and when they reasoned
in their hearts as to what he could mean by the parable, He said, "I am the
door [of the sheep]: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture." . . . Christ presented Himself as the only
one in whom were qualifications for making a good shepherd. {LHU 197.4}
He is represented as the "Chief Shepherd" (Signs of the Times, Dec. 4,
1893).
>From Lift Him Up - Page 197
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