6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Jesus said again, 

"Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep."

John 10:6-7 CSB

Jesus loved creating pictures with people, and pictures with words 

In Ch9 he used a man born blind to teach that he is the light of the world, and that those who think they can save themselves are the blind ones.

And here in Ch10 he uses something familiar to his people. 

Sheep, shepherd, shelter for the sheep, and a gate. 

"I am the gate".

The way. 

With me is safety, belonging, care, nurture.

Love.

Jesus also makes an exclusive claim. He's the only gate. 

And that allows us to breathe...because we don't have to do this ourselves. In Ch9 Jesus was trying to show the Pharisees that their self-salvation project, being good enough, working hard enough at being righteous, good enough for God was actually blinding them.

And here Jesus carries on with a new picture, where he has us in his care, simply because we're his. 

With all our strengths and our frailties, with all our humanity, we're safe here, with Jesus as the gate.

Simply because we're his.

#restinthattoday