Read John 10:1-10 with your family.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses a lot of “I am” statements to explain who he is and how he knows about God’s world. In today’s story the “I am” statement can either be “I am the gate” or “I am the doorway” (the Greek word is better as ‘doorway’, but since we are talking about sheep outside the term ‘gate’ makes more sense).

Often we think of a gate as the only opening in a pen or other fenced in area. Too many people before us have decided that means there is only a narrow opening to understand God’s message. The scripture doesn’t say that. The scripture says Jesus is the doorway or gate, the way out into a new world of understanding. That gate is huge, bigger than any of us can imagine. Liars and thief try to jump in and take us away from God’s love, but Jesus is confident we know better because we can all hear God’s voice.

Jesus shows us the way we are to live, and by saying “I am the doorway” Jesus is telling us living the way God wants us to live is how we get to all the great things life has to offer, like love and community.