Gate for the sheep

“I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” John 10:9
John 10 contains what is known as the ‘Good Shepherd’ discourse; tomorrow we will look at Jesus’ statement, ‘I am the good shepherd’ (John 10:14). Here, He says what sounds to us as something quite peculiar: “I am the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7).
In those days, at night the sheep would be herded into a circular, stone-walled pen, which had a small gap in the wall at one point. After all the sheep were safely inside, the shepherd himself would lie down in the gap, thus effectively becoming a gate. In the light of this, we can understand the other aspects that Jesus tells us about in this chapter: how the legitimate servants of God enter through the gate, but anyone who climbs over the wall or attempts to enter by some other way is a thief and a robber (John 10:1).
The gate speaks of both protection and leadership. The sheep were safe inside when the shepherd was lying down as the gate. In the morning, the shepherd would rise and lead the sheep out (John 10:3-4). He leads them to pasture, where they find all the nourishment that they need. So it is with us. We can trust the Lord to watch over us at all times of the day and night, through every season of life. He will fight off the wolves and the thieves who come to attack us. He will lead us and guide us into places of abundance.