John 10:7-17
It is interesting to me how the reading from both Genesis and John make use of the gate as an important image. Jacob sleeps at Bethel and dreams of angels ascending and descending a ladder. “And he was afraid,” reads Genesis, “and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’” (Genesis 28:17). Jacob was so overwhelmed by the presence of the divine that he understood himself to be at the doorway to God’s court. How awesome indeed. But the experience, while profound, frightened him. “I am the gate,” Jesus says in John’s gospel. “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9). Here Jesus uses the image of the gate much differently. Far from an awe inspiring experience, Jesus offers peace, security, and hope to those who believe in him and enter into God’s coming reign through him.
At first we might be put off by the difference in the way that each reading uses the idea of a gate. Is it the cusp of the divine and therefore a place of holy awe and fear? Or is it an entrance into what God desires for us? Of course the answer is yes to both. Fear before God is always an appropriate attitude, by which I mean to regard with reverence and awe, as one dictionary puts it. This is not a horror movie, but a revelation of what and who God is, and God deserves our full attention, our full respect, a quiet seriousness. But what God wants for us is better seen as a sheep fold, a place of safety and community, of mutual love and support. Jesus offers that to us to accept in faith.
As we begin 2011 and look ahead to the challenges it holds, we should remember to live with reverent awe for who God is and what God is doing, but to also accept with joy the peace and security that Jesus offers to his followers, if not in this life, then absolutely in the life to come.
Prayer: Lord, may we live in that space between reverence and joy, the place where you have called us as your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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