But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
There were plenty of false claimants to the title of messiah in the time of Jesus. They did not come to the sheep through the gate, because the gate would only open for Jesus, at the behest of his Father, the gatekeeper. False messiahs attempted to create the justification of their missions, manufacturing contexts other than the one that was prepared for Jesus. They did not fit into the story Sacred Scripture told, the prophecies leading up to the incarnation. So they made their own stories. The entire Old Testament was, in a way, entirely about Jesus himself. Since it was not about the thieves and the robbers they had to try to approach the sheep through cunning and deception. There were infinite possible wrong ways to approach the sheep. But there was only one gate, that God had been preparing since the beginning.
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.
The shepherd did not shut the gate and hunker down inside the walls with his sheep. Rather he drove them out from complacency and apparent safety into mission. It seems that the sheep might not have been immediately ready for this. We read that he led them out but also that he drove them out, filling out a picture of love that is typically gentle but that can become fierce when necessary. It reminds us of when Jesus drove out the money-changers from the temple. In a way, this first movement outward through the gate could represent an initial separation from sin, which could be such a shock as to feel for a moment like violence.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
We see that Jesus took the first steps and initiated this relationship between shepherd and sheep. He came through the door prepared by his Father into the world. But he also came to his own by the doors of their hearts, all of which had been prepared for him alone. He called, led, and drove his sheep, and because of that they were able to follow him. Because he knew them they learned to recognize and respond to his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.
Strangers were not a threat only in the time of Jesus. Nor was Jesus saying that there was no possibility of sheep going astray. The statement was made more to be a warning about how to remain safely within his flock. It didn't require much, only to recognize his voice, and follow him. There was therefore a certain urgency to also identify strangers as strangers and to run from them. The number of false teachers making false promises is, if anything, even greater in our own day than in the days of Jesus, making this more important than ever.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (see John 14:6). As way and as gate he himself not only demonstrates the path, but is himself the path in person. This means we need not only to follow him as we might any teacher, but also to be united to him in a way that is only possible through the Holy Spirit. No other teacher could realistically make this claim. All other teachers who taught the truth, in one way or another, pointed to this, the only, "gate for the sheep".
It is noteworthy that the sheep were not led in a straight line. There was both going in and coming out, leading to the promised pasture. There was a journey to undertake, but the pasture to which it led was the repose of eternal life that God had always promised.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Jesus was the only one who came without having any need of anything, and in spite of the fact that the sheep had nothing to offer. All others came because they themselves were impoverished and sought to make profit through the suffering of the sheep. Even though some of them might not have thought it through that thoroughly they were all, to some degree, attempting to manipulate others to their benefit. It was this total availability to the sheep, this absolute commitment to love, and unwavering desire for their well-being that made the voice of Jesus so attractive. What could the sheep desire more than the pasture and abundant life only he could give?
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
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