Acts 2. 42-47; John 10. 1-10
‘I am the gate.’
Perhaps this is not the most dramatic piece of teaching to come from the mouth of Our Lord during his earthly ministry. But, to be fair, this rather prosaic image is a second attempt to explain in concrete terms to those who didn’t understand what he was trying to say in more poetic and figurative speech.
But, then again, does this second attempt not muddy the waters a little?
Jesus clarifies that he is the gate, but he has just said that the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep, and he will also go on to say that he is the Good Shepherd too.
Is the figure of speech falling apart? How can Jesus be the gate and the shepherd?
His original audience, the Pharisees – who were probably already quite angry at being portrayed as bandits and thieves who come only to steal, kill, and destroy – conclude that Jesus has a demon and is out of his mind.
What should we make of this figure of speech?
What would it mean to say that, for us, the sheep of God’s pasture, Jesus is both the gate for the sheep, that is, the doorway of salvation, and also the Good Shepherd, the one who enters through this gate himself?
What I want to say to you this morning is that the holy mystery of baptism is the key to illuminating this paradox, and that baptism is the key to what it means for us to hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Today, with great joy we bring young Cuthbert to the gate of salvation in baptism. Through water and the Holy Spirit, he will be united to Christ’s death and burial, mystically being buried in the waters of death, so that he may rise and share in Christ’s resurrection, and walk in newness of life with God. He will be clothed with Christ, and united and incorporated into the Apostles’ fellowship in the Church.
In other words, baptism is the gate of salvation because it is our own personal Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Jesus is the gate, because we can only enter into the abundant life of his kingdom by receiving what he has done for us.
And so, baptism is our new birth and entrance into the kingdom; and just as a person only has one natural birth, they can only be baptised and receive spiritual re-birth once.
But baptism is also the abiding pattern of our Christian discipleship. It is a mark of identity that sets the parameters for all true Christian living; namely, the total surrender of our lives to God, as we die daily to sin and self, and offer our lives in service to others. We see a picture of this in the first reading this morning, in the life of the early Church.
This is what it means to say that Jesus is the gate and the Good Shepherd. He has not just done something for us on the cross, for which we should just be really thankful. He has set us an example to follow:
‘The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.’ (John 10. 2-4)
For the baptised, Christ’s cross and resurrection is not just a gate through which we enter at the beginning of our spiritual journey, it is the example of the Good Shepherd which we must follow every day.
This is what it means for us, the sheep, to hear the voice of the shepherd. As those who have passed through the gate of baptism, we can recognise the distinctive voice of Jesus in the world in everything that has a baptismal shape. During the course of daily life, we hear his voice in those moments when we are invited to die to our selfish impulses and passions, and offer ourselves in love to God and to others.
Cuthbert begins this journey today by entering through the gate of salvation. And in the months and years to follow, the Church asks his parents and godparents to teach him to hear the voice of Christ by helping him to live a life that has a baptismal shape. That he may be faithful to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers. And in giving his own life to others in service.
For this is the life to which all of us who are baptised are called. And in this season of Easter, in particular, we are reminded that Jesus is not only the gate of salvation, not just someone who did something once for us on the cross. He is also our shepherd, who calls us now to take up our own cross, and follow him. For this is the only path that leads to abundant life.