"I am the Gate"

"He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” -John 10:3-4

 “If God gave to them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ -Acts 11:17

 

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus uses seven I AM statements about his identity, they are:

I am the bread of life

I am the light of the world

I am the gate

I am the good shepherd

I am the resurrection and the life

I am the way, the truth and the life

I am the true vine

 

In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “I am the gate” and Peter, as we read in Acts today, is shocked when the same Holy Spirit given to he and all those in the upper room at Pentecost is also given to gentiles who eat unclean animals. This is no trivial matter but one core to understanding the new identity given to them by Christ. Peter was specifically instructed by the Holy Spirit to go with the gentiles and not to distinguish between them and us. One cannot underscore the revolutionary nature in this sense of understanding of God and the other.

 

But why do they trust in this revolutionary notion? Why do these tradesmen and marginalized women from a backwater town of low station in life, trust in this truth with all their lives? Because they came to know the truth, beauty and goodness of Jesus and the gift Jesus gave them – the Holy Spirit – whose voice is that of Christ, sent by the Father. To use the language of the text today, they knew the voice of the one who called them. It was a process of mutual recognition that was cultivated over time, grounded in deep trust and commitment to one another.

 

Trust and faith that builds commitment is gained over time, not stolen or coercively forced upon another.

 

Take some time today to reflect on the times you heard the voice of God speak deeply into your innermost being. The voice of Christ is the gate the leads you into the Kingdom of God. Learn to trust the beauty He speaks into your life and, as Peter said, “Who was I that I could hinder God?” 

 

If you have never had an experience of God speaking into your life, ask for Jesus to show you. You will know His gentle, still, consoling, loving, beautiful voice of fullness when you hear it. Be open to hear it in unexpected ways.

 

“As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul thirsts for you, O God.” -Ps 42:1