1 00:00:00,450 --> 00:00:01,700 Hey, everybody. 2 00:00:01,700 --> 00:00:03,233 Thanks for being back with us. 3 00:00:03,233 --> 00:00:07,133 Thanks for coming back to join us after the holidays. 4 00:00:07,166 --> 00:00:09,050 Hope they were good for you and yours. 5 00:00:09,050 --> 00:00:11,850 We are, 6 00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:14,850 starting a new chapter in this new year 7 00:00:14,850 --> 00:00:18,833 as we move into the 10th chapter, the Gospel of John. 8 00:00:19,816 --> 00:00:22,283 So some of these words are going to 9 00:00:22,283 --> 00:00:26,850 I think if you've been around church much and there's no value in that. 10 00:00:26,850 --> 00:00:29,033 But if you have, 11 00:00:29,033 --> 00:00:32,250 I think that you will find these words familiar. 12 00:00:32,566 --> 00:00:35,416 Let me start and read for about ten verses 13 00:00:35,416 --> 00:00:38,416 or so, and we'll come back and we'll talk these through. 14 00:00:38,566 --> 00:00:39,800 This is Jesus talking. 15 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,900 I tell you the truth. 16 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:44,600 Anyone who does not enter the sheepfold 17 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,166 by the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a bandit. 18 00:00:48,716 --> 00:00:51,716 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 19 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:55,516 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. 20 00:00:55,883 --> 00:00:59,666 He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out when he has brought out 21 00:00:59,666 --> 00:01:00,516 all of his own, 22 00:01:00,516 --> 00:01:04,316 he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 23 00:01:04,733 --> 00:01:08,066 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him, 24 00:01:08,066 --> 00:01:10,650 because they do not know the voice of strangers. 25 00:01:10,650 --> 00:01:14,483 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they didn't understand 26 00:01:14,483 --> 00:01:15,900 what he was saying to them. 27 00:01:15,900 --> 00:01:21,083 So again Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, I'm the gate for the sheep. 28 00:01:22,216 --> 00:01:24,083 All who came before me 29 00:01:24,083 --> 00:01:27,566 are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 30 00:01:27,983 --> 00:01:29,716 I am the gate. 31 00:01:29,716 --> 00:01:35,150 Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 32 00:01:35,716 --> 00:01:39,300 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 33 00:01:39,766 --> 00:01:42,416 I have come that they may have life 34 00:01:42,416 --> 00:01:45,416 and have it abundantly. 35 00:01:48,450 --> 00:01:53,416 In this chapter, at least in the early part of this chapter, we get Jesus 36 00:01:53,416 --> 00:01:58,166 using the shepherding metaphor, which is known in the church 37 00:01:58,166 --> 00:02:02,633 and I think is beloved, maybe more so what we will run in tomorrow. 38 00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:08,000 We have said a couple of times that one of the one of the distinctiveness 39 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,716 of the Gospel of John are these seven moments where Jesus says, 40 00:02:13,050 --> 00:02:18,500 I am and then gives himself a title, and here we get I am the gate. 41 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:23,100 This is the third that we've seen so far as we've moved through the gospel. 42 00:02:24,950 --> 00:02:26,966 To get there, Jesus uses 43 00:02:26,966 --> 00:02:30,850 this idea essentially from the sheep's perspective. 44 00:02:30,866 --> 00:02:35,100 I don't know that he asks people to do that, Michael, but if you read this 45 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:40,200 carefully, I think that the one way to get in touch with this passage 46 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,766 is to say, from the sheep's perspective, there are two choices. 47 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,116 There is a person who can be trusted and a person who cannot be trusted. 48 00:02:48,383 --> 00:02:51,766 The person who can be trusted is up front, calls the sheep 49 00:02:51,766 --> 00:02:54,766 by name, knows them, has their best interest at heart. 50 00:02:55,050 --> 00:02:59,550 The person who cannot be trusted is a thief, is a liar. 51 00:02:59,783 --> 00:03:02,783 Is dishonest, comes in not through the gate, 52 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,200 but sneaks in and tries to steal. 53 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:07,500 Take the sheep away. 54 00:03:07,500 --> 00:03:12,383 Now obviously the backdrop for this is Jesus and his enemies, the Pharisees, 55 00:03:12,383 --> 00:03:15,983 the religious leaders who are, in the language 56 00:03:15,983 --> 00:03:18,983 of the text, bad shepherds. 57 00:03:19,216 --> 00:03:20,300 They're thieves. 58 00:03:20,300 --> 00:03:24,233 They are not the ones who have the best interests of the sheep in mind. 59 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:29,816 It's an interesting metaphor for us, I think, Michael, because a 60 00:03:30,766 --> 00:03:32,116 though we live in an 61 00:03:32,116 --> 00:03:35,116 area that is agricultural, 62 00:03:36,016 --> 00:03:39,166 the idea of shepherding is a little bit foreign, right? 63 00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:44,100 But I still think in many ways these are some of the beloved images, less so. 64 00:03:44,100 --> 00:03:44,866 I am the gate. 65 00:03:44,866 --> 00:03:49,800 I don't know if we if you ask people for their favorite statements of Jesus, 66 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,566 I don't know where that one would fall. 67 00:03:51,566 --> 00:03:55,366 My guess is maybe a little lower, but Jesus is saying something 68 00:03:55,366 --> 00:03:56,700 pretty significant here. 69 00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:57,866 Yeah, absolutely. 70 00:03:57,866 --> 00:03:59,750 And I think you mentioned context. 71 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:04,350 I think it's worth taking a moment here to just bring ourself back to speed. 72 00:04:04,350 --> 00:04:07,350 That's kind of the crazy thing you might be watching this months, 73 00:04:07,350 --> 00:04:09,450 maybe even years after the initial recording. 74 00:04:09,450 --> 00:04:12,416 So you may have just hit next video from the last study. 75 00:04:12,416 --> 00:04:15,416 But if you're with us as we're doing this live, you might, 76 00:04:15,650 --> 00:04:18,083 a couple weeks ago have forgotten that 77 00:04:18,083 --> 00:04:22,700 the thing that precedes this is the Pharisees, 78 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:25,700 the leaders, the the people who would be 79 00:04:25,950 --> 00:04:28,766 the spiritual shepherds of the people. 80 00:04:28,766 --> 00:04:32,666 They are the ones who are asking, we're not blind, are we? 81 00:04:32,666 --> 00:04:33,916 And and Jesus. 82 00:04:33,916 --> 00:04:38,333 Then immediately, in the gospel of John rolls into chapter ten, verse one here 83 00:04:38,700 --> 00:04:42,983 and makes a very, very, very strong statement, 84 00:04:43,250 --> 00:04:47,516 not just blindness as in going without sight. 85 00:04:47,783 --> 00:04:53,033 Also claiming that there is this connection 86 00:04:53,033 --> 00:04:57,233 to the thief and the bandit who sneaks in another way. 87 00:04:57,566 --> 00:05:00,716 Make no mistake about it, that's a substantial charge 88 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:05,816 against those who would claim for themselves spiritual authority, 89 00:05:05,816 --> 00:05:08,816 who would certainly claim to be the keepers of the people. 90 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,916 And here, Jesus, he does not beat around the bush at all. 91 00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:15,766 He calls that out with ill intent. 92 00:05:15,766 --> 00:05:20,250 He says that this is ultimately not for the sake of the sheep. 93 00:05:20,366 --> 00:05:23,366 And in fact, Jesus says, the sheep haven't even listened. 94 00:05:23,566 --> 00:05:27,716 They're not even responding to the care of the shepherd. 95 00:05:27,716 --> 00:05:31,816 And so here, as you look towards the back end of this passage, 96 00:05:32,033 --> 00:05:35,183 Jesus then transitions into this gate language. 97 00:05:35,183 --> 00:05:37,250 And I agree with you wholeheartedly. 98 00:05:37,250 --> 00:05:41,216 I think that this is tough language for a modern person to process. 99 00:05:41,516 --> 00:05:44,216 And I think, a quick word of 100 00:05:45,166 --> 00:05:47,416 probably, 101 00:05:47,416 --> 00:05:49,916 caution would be to 102 00:05:49,916 --> 00:05:54,983 not underestimate how powerful of a claim that this is, 103 00:05:55,250 --> 00:06:00,600 that there's only one way in to the sheep, that there's only one path 104 00:06:00,750 --> 00:06:06,016 that is truly the the right path, and that's the path through the center. 105 00:06:06,266 --> 00:06:07,433 It's through the gate. 106 00:06:07,433 --> 00:06:11,483 And Jesus is claiming to be the one who stands at that center. 107 00:06:11,483 --> 00:06:15,750 That's a very, very strong claim to be first 108 00:06:15,916 --> 00:06:19,700 to to be highest, to be the first mover. 109 00:06:19,883 --> 00:06:22,400 And then Jesus is claiming that for himself here. 110 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:23,366 Now, you know, 111 00:06:23,366 --> 00:06:27,900 I think you could debate all day long about what the implications of that are. 112 00:06:28,066 --> 00:06:32,700 But just on its surface, Jesus's claim here is clear 113 00:06:32,866 --> 00:06:37,016 that he is the gate by which all the sheep must enter, 114 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,850 and the only gate meaning that those who get to the sheep 115 00:06:40,850 --> 00:06:46,350 from other pastures and through other ways, they are not coming through the 116 00:06:46,383 --> 00:06:49,583 the first order, they're coming as thieves and bandits, 117 00:06:49,583 --> 00:06:52,583 and that their actions will therefore prove who they are. 118 00:06:52,700 --> 00:06:58,350 I think you have to be a little careful to build literalism into this story. 119 00:06:58,350 --> 00:07:02,066 I don't know a great deal about sheep, but the implication here, 120 00:07:02,066 --> 00:07:05,900 especially in the front part of the text, is that the sheep know the difference 121 00:07:05,900 --> 00:07:09,650 between the good shepherd or the true shepherd and the 122 00:07:09,683 --> 00:07:13,616 and the false shepherds, the the shepherd and the thieves. 123 00:07:13,616 --> 00:07:17,150 And I think that's a lot of credit to give sheep, 124 00:07:17,150 --> 00:07:20,666 but I don't I don't actually know if that's accurate. 125 00:07:20,666 --> 00:07:22,883 I'm sure there's some sense in which sheep 126 00:07:22,883 --> 00:07:26,783 come to be familiar with the person who's with them the most. 127 00:07:27,416 --> 00:07:28,316 However, 128 00:07:29,483 --> 00:07:30,383 don't 129 00:07:30,383 --> 00:07:33,950 think for a moment that Jesus is trying to tell us a farm story. 130 00:07:34,316 --> 00:07:38,933 If you remember this entire eighth and ninth chapters of John, 131 00:07:38,933 --> 00:07:40,400 and if you haven't been with us through those, 132 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,316 you might want to go back and pick them up. 133 00:07:42,316 --> 00:07:45,950 It was moment after moment of calling people to make a decision. 134 00:07:46,250 --> 00:07:47,600 They have to make a choice. 135 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:52,133 What they believe about Jesus, the crowds, the Pharisees, 136 00:07:52,133 --> 00:07:56,216 even the disciples have to decide who is this man? 137 00:07:56,216 --> 00:07:58,700 That's the driving question of the narrative. 138 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:02,216 And now Jesus is saying that the sheep 139 00:08:02,333 --> 00:08:05,333 know the difference, the true sheep. 140 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,116 They follow the true shepherd and and think about 141 00:08:09,116 --> 00:08:10,700 what's the purpose of a gate, right? 142 00:08:10,700 --> 00:08:13,733 Whether it's to go into the safety of the pen 143 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:18,266 or whether it's to go out to water and pasture, 144 00:08:18,266 --> 00:08:21,766 or the idea is by passing through the gate, 145 00:08:22,133 --> 00:08:25,133 one is able to go 146 00:08:25,133 --> 00:08:28,800 where they need to be and do what is best for them. 147 00:08:29,100 --> 00:08:33,600 And in that sense, Jesus says, I am the gate. 148 00:08:33,616 --> 00:08:36,616 I'm the way in. I'm the way out. 149 00:08:36,833 --> 00:08:38,700 I'm the way to safety. 150 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:41,250 I'm the way to refreshment and nurture. 151 00:08:41,250 --> 00:08:43,666 We already saw I am living water. 152 00:08:43,666 --> 00:08:45,750 I you know I am the spring of life. 153 00:08:45,750 --> 00:08:47,566 We've seen that language. 154 00:08:47,566 --> 00:08:49,816 And now we see it again. 155 00:08:49,816 --> 00:08:53,416 In a very different picture, a very different image. 156 00:08:53,666 --> 00:08:57,833 But Jesus again, saying, I am the way 157 00:08:58,250 --> 00:09:02,216 in, in this case in a very earthy kind of illustration. 158 00:09:02,333 --> 00:09:06,016 And that's actually the jumping point I want to take here, just very briefly, 159 00:09:06,016 --> 00:09:06,716 Clint. So 160 00:09:07,966 --> 00:09:09,900 don't miss this. 161 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:12,500 This is, at its core, a very simple 162 00:09:12,500 --> 00:09:15,916 and in Jesus's day, very relatable story. 163 00:09:15,916 --> 00:09:19,133 The idea that there are shepherds, the idea that, 164 00:09:19,583 --> 00:09:23,416 someone is going to tend that gate and letting some in, some out, 165 00:09:23,633 --> 00:09:27,983 the idea that there are bandits and thieves, these are not novel ideas. 166 00:09:27,983 --> 00:09:32,400 These are very common economic, lived realities of people. 167 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,066 This this is the world in which Jesus lives. 168 00:09:35,066 --> 00:09:37,650 So on it's very base level. 169 00:09:37,650 --> 00:09:41,850 I think this story operates in a very simplistic form. 170 00:09:42,050 --> 00:09:44,900 It is not complicated. It's not academic. 171 00:09:44,900 --> 00:09:47,000 It connects with people's experience. 172 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,816 But don't let that to your point. 173 00:09:49,816 --> 00:09:53,266 Don't don't let that sort of lull you 174 00:09:53,266 --> 00:09:57,600 into a false sense of simplicity in what Jesus is teaching here. 175 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,016 And that's what makes this story and Jesus's 176 00:10:01,016 --> 00:10:04,450 particular teaching edge throughout the gospel. 177 00:10:04,466 --> 00:10:07,350 John, so incredibly powerful is 178 00:10:07,350 --> 00:10:11,116 it can be delivered to the most common person in society. 179 00:10:11,116 --> 00:10:16,700 It does not require special tools or frameworks to be able to understand it, 180 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,983 except for the fact that the people who should most readily understand it. 181 00:10:22,283 --> 00:10:25,283 And we've said this over and over again, they so readily 182 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,400 misunderstand it or don't understand it at all. 183 00:10:28,516 --> 00:10:31,816 And here we get that said explicitly. 184 00:10:31,916 --> 00:10:34,966 When Jesus uses this figure of speech in verse six, 185 00:10:35,216 --> 00:10:37,466 they don't understand what he's saying to them. 186 00:10:37,466 --> 00:10:42,683 So even though Jesus is using this very accessible form of teaching, 187 00:10:42,900 --> 00:10:47,216 the people who should be experts at understanding this spiritual lesson 188 00:10:47,633 --> 00:10:52,700 completely misunderstand that they don't connect to what Jesus is teaching them. 189 00:10:52,716 --> 00:10:57,833 I think that that is one of the consistent themes through John, showing that Jesus 190 00:10:57,833 --> 00:11:02,600 is, yes, the word, but the word not in some kind 191 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,916 of highfalutin or some kind of, you know, very inaccessible form. 192 00:11:06,916 --> 00:11:11,066 Rather, it's almost so accessible and so understandable 193 00:11:11,066 --> 00:11:13,700 that if you're expecting it to be something else, 194 00:11:13,700 --> 00:11:15,900 you won't be able to understand it where it comes. 195 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,200 There's a kind of amazing gift 196 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,116 in seeing Jesus with that tension held together. 197 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:28,366 Because even in our own day, some people are want to make Jesus 198 00:11:28,966 --> 00:11:33,266 into a PhD professor, and some want everything that Jesus says 199 00:11:33,266 --> 00:11:38,000 to just be simple, literal words that you take and people are confused. 200 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,466 Why Jesus is calling himself a gate, right? 201 00:11:40,466 --> 00:11:42,383 Isn't he a person? No. 202 00:11:42,383 --> 00:11:44,750 Jesus is always in the gospel. 203 00:11:44,750 --> 00:11:49,350 John doing this amazing combination of teaching that's accessible 204 00:11:49,516 --> 00:11:53,183 while it being clouded and and hard to process 205 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,966 for the very people who should have the skills and training and ability 206 00:11:57,116 --> 00:11:58,616 to understand what he's saying. 207 00:11:58,616 --> 00:12:02,266 We've we've seen throughout the Gospel of John 208 00:12:03,266 --> 00:12:05,100 so far 209 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:08,200 this interplay or 210 00:12:08,216 --> 00:12:12,050 this tension between those who are in and those who are out. 211 00:12:12,983 --> 00:12:16,850 And we've seen that from the Samaritan woman at the well. 212 00:12:17,216 --> 00:12:21,266 We've seen that in the last chapter from the man who had been blind. 213 00:12:22,016 --> 00:12:25,016 We've seen the religious leaders 214 00:12:25,433 --> 00:12:29,366 accuse people or label people as outsiders. 215 00:12:29,366 --> 00:12:32,366 We've seen them level that charge against Jesus. 216 00:12:32,816 --> 00:12:37,883 And so the theme of who is inside and who is outside has been already, 217 00:12:37,883 --> 00:12:42,200 I think, fairly prominent in this book and think literally for a moment. 218 00:12:42,316 --> 00:12:43,966 What does a gate do? 219 00:12:43,966 --> 00:12:47,566 A gate is a doorway by which one goes from out to in. 220 00:12:47,966 --> 00:12:49,950 And what's Jesus saying? 221 00:12:49,950 --> 00:12:53,033 That if you want to be in, it's not about 222 00:12:53,666 --> 00:12:56,266 the temple and it's not about the sacrifice, 223 00:12:56,266 --> 00:12:59,866 and it's not about self-righteousness, and it's not about ethnicity. 224 00:13:00,233 --> 00:13:02,416 It is about coming to Jesus. 225 00:13:02,416 --> 00:13:05,416 I am the gate. I am the way in. 226 00:13:05,483 --> 00:13:08,666 And so then, by definition, who are left out? 227 00:13:09,116 --> 00:13:11,750 Those who won't come to Jesus, those 228 00:13:11,750 --> 00:13:15,800 who refuse to engage Jesus as the Messiah, those 229 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,466 who refuse to listen to the truth and the teaching of Jesus. 230 00:13:19,733 --> 00:13:24,016 They keep themselves on the outside and because they're outsiders, 231 00:13:24,016 --> 00:13:28,550 because they stand outside the fold, they're a danger to the sheep 232 00:13:28,550 --> 00:13:30,766 because they don't know the right way to lead them. 233 00:13:30,766 --> 00:13:32,966 Their lost themselves. 234 00:13:32,966 --> 00:13:35,866 And so the true sheep know 235 00:13:35,866 --> 00:13:39,800 not not to, give them heed not to follow them. 236 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:45,250 And I think, you know, again, I don't know that I don't know anyone there. 237 00:13:45,300 --> 00:13:46,216 I'm sure they're out there. 238 00:13:46,216 --> 00:13:49,016 I don't know anyone who would say of of the 7 a.m. 239 00:13:49,016 --> 00:13:51,716 statements, I'm the gate is my favorite. 240 00:13:51,716 --> 00:13:55,700 But there's a, there's a lot here, a lot of layers, a lot of nuance. 241 00:13:55,700 --> 00:13:56,516 I agree with you. 242 00:13:56,516 --> 00:13:58,350 I don't think many people would, though. 243 00:13:58,350 --> 00:14:02,450 I think it is shocking how many people do know and love 244 00:14:02,450 --> 00:14:05,450 the very final verse of this section that we've read. 245 00:14:05,566 --> 00:14:07,766 The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. 246 00:14:07,766 --> 00:14:12,983 But I came that they may have life and have it abundantly, and that word 247 00:14:12,983 --> 00:14:18,500 abundantly here means exceedingly over and above what you could possibly imagine. 248 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:22,883 It's a very, very, strong emphasis kind of word. 249 00:14:22,883 --> 00:14:26,100 And, Clint, I think what is amazing 250 00:14:26,100 --> 00:14:29,900 about a passage like this is the diversity of interpretations. 251 00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:35,150 And it all hinges on what you think Jesus is saying here by life, right? 252 00:14:35,150 --> 00:14:37,050 It's all defined by that word. 253 00:14:37,050 --> 00:14:43,416 Because if you define life as a particular kind of lived life, right? 254 00:14:43,416 --> 00:14:48,150 Or a wealthy life or a healthy life, or you think of, adventurous life 255 00:14:48,150 --> 00:14:52,200 or whatever you might fill in to that, then this text 256 00:14:52,466 --> 00:14:55,283 sort of gives you legs that you can run with, that you can say, 257 00:14:55,283 --> 00:14:56,900 well, Jesus is going to give me 258 00:14:56,900 --> 00:15:00,866 whatever this thing that I desire, and it's going to be abundant. 259 00:15:00,866 --> 00:15:03,150 It's going to be exceeding, it's going to be flowing over. 260 00:15:03,150 --> 00:15:04,050 Right. 261 00:15:04,050 --> 00:15:05,266 But but here's the thing. 262 00:15:05,266 --> 00:15:08,066 It's going to be tempered by tomorrow, immediately. 263 00:15:08,066 --> 00:15:10,916 How Jesus is going to move into, 264 00:15:10,916 --> 00:15:13,800 talking about what the shepherd is willing to give up for the sheep. 265 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,200 So come back for that. 266 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:21,050 But also, I just want to point out the life here is is biological life. 267 00:15:21,050 --> 00:15:23,366 The worth here is is lived life. 268 00:15:23,366 --> 00:15:27,266 And I think, Clint, one thing that we forget maybe 21st 269 00:15:27,266 --> 00:15:31,516 century, a lot of us here in the Western world reading a text 270 00:15:31,516 --> 00:15:36,500 like this is every day we're given our daily bread. 271 00:15:36,500 --> 00:15:41,116 The idea that Jesus Christ is going to give you a life that is full, 272 00:15:41,333 --> 00:15:43,200 not just a life that's full of what 273 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,966 your stomach needs today, but a life that is full unto eternity. 274 00:15:47,266 --> 00:15:50,266 A life that extends beyond the horizon, that we can see 275 00:15:50,550 --> 00:15:53,400 the claim that Jesus is making here, 276 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,150 has cosmic significance, 277 00:15:56,150 --> 00:16:03,300 and he is making it as a person who says it's not just about, you know, 278 00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:08,666 that you follow this new teaching plan or this new spiritual meditation guide. 279 00:16:08,750 --> 00:16:14,116 You know, Jesus is claiming the way to life that overflows. 280 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,266 Outside of that, just live life and the things that we need 281 00:16:18,266 --> 00:16:21,350 for today, but life that leads into the eternity, 282 00:16:21,566 --> 00:16:26,666 that kind of life can only be found if one goes through the gate. 283 00:16:26,900 --> 00:16:28,733 Who is Jesus Christ himself. 284 00:16:28,733 --> 00:16:32,783 It is a claim that God in Jesus Christ has done 285 00:16:32,783 --> 00:16:35,950 something that cannot be gone around, 286 00:16:35,966 --> 00:16:39,750 and that is a strong, strong claim for Jesus to make. 287 00:16:40,016 --> 00:16:42,950 And it's paired with this amazing promise. 288 00:16:42,950 --> 00:16:47,266 And I think that that's John showing us that that's what's at stake here. 289 00:16:47,266 --> 00:16:50,183 Either we listen to Jesus or we don't. 290 00:16:50,183 --> 00:16:55,966 And the thing that stands along that way is the gate, the choice of will 291 00:16:55,966 --> 00:16:58,966 you go through it to pasture, or will you not? 292 00:16:59,183 --> 00:17:02,850 And ultimately, Jesus is strong words against the Pharisees 293 00:17:02,850 --> 00:17:06,616 and any false teacher would be that the moment 294 00:17:06,616 --> 00:17:10,583 you become a thief or a robber, right then you become the enemy. 295 00:17:10,583 --> 00:17:13,650 You become the one outside the bounds of God's plan. 296 00:17:13,850 --> 00:17:15,683 I think one of the unfortunate. 297 00:17:17,916 --> 00:17:18,383 Of the 298 00:17:18,383 --> 00:17:21,983 unfortunate developments of this beloved verse 299 00:17:22,500 --> 00:17:26,216 is that at times in the church's life, 300 00:17:26,216 --> 00:17:29,216 we have put the emphasis on the word abundantly. 301 00:17:29,633 --> 00:17:32,633 And so we've tried to make this a verse about 302 00:17:33,300 --> 00:17:35,716 having a lot, 303 00:17:35,716 --> 00:17:40,433 you know, at its worst, this verse has been used by people to 304 00:17:41,250 --> 00:17:44,483 advocate that God wants you to have a new house 305 00:17:44,483 --> 00:17:47,783 and a new car and an airplane, whatever that might be. 306 00:17:47,783 --> 00:17:51,416 You know, the idea that the the point is the abundance. 307 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,066 But I don't think you can I don't think you can read this text that way. 308 00:17:56,066 --> 00:17:58,216 In the Gospel of John. 309 00:17:58,216 --> 00:18:01,216 For John, Jesus brings life 310 00:18:01,216 --> 00:18:06,150 and he brings not just regular life, but but supreme life, 311 00:18:06,316 --> 00:18:09,916 beautiful, wonderful, gifted life. 312 00:18:09,916 --> 00:18:12,916 I, I have come. Why is Jesus here? 313 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,200 That the sheep that the followers that people 314 00:18:16,333 --> 00:18:20,933 would have life and that they would have it in abundance. 315 00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:25,200 That they would have more life than they could know what to do with it. 316 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,350 And I think when we, you know, I, 317 00:18:28,350 --> 00:18:31,350 I just think when we have fallen 318 00:18:31,350 --> 00:18:34,350 into the temptation to make this a materialistic verse, 319 00:18:35,183 --> 00:18:39,083 man, I think we're doing something with it that I personally, 320 00:18:40,350 --> 00:18:43,350 don't think was John's intention at all. 321 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:44,216 Yeah. 322 00:18:44,216 --> 00:18:48,400 I also think it it withholds something from us, Clint. 323 00:18:48,450 --> 00:18:54,233 I think because when we think about this verse as being contained by the things 324 00:18:54,233 --> 00:18:59,666 that we might be able to possess, we fail to see how distant and far 325 00:18:59,666 --> 00:19:05,900 and wide that vision that God has for life way beyond our human capacity for it. 326 00:19:05,900 --> 00:19:08,900 And and you're going to see that tension once again. 327 00:19:08,900 --> 00:19:10,433 Join us for the study tomorrow. 328 00:19:10,433 --> 00:19:13,916 Because right now Jesus is talking about abundant life. 329 00:19:14,150 --> 00:19:18,200 The next thing he's going to move to is the fact that he's going to give up 330 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,966 divine life for the sake of those who are the sheep. 331 00:19:22,966 --> 00:19:26,266 And so there's this turning on its head. 332 00:19:26,266 --> 00:19:31,316 If we make this about what we have and having more of it, an abundant 333 00:19:31,316 --> 00:19:35,783 increase within our lives, we are no doubt going to miss the vast 334 00:19:35,783 --> 00:19:39,416 horizon way more than the stuff that we could ever possess 335 00:19:39,416 --> 00:19:44,216 to actual God's intention for the creation that God gave life to. 336 00:19:44,366 --> 00:19:50,116 And so yeah, this is an amazing image, but one that we can be tempted by nature. 337 00:19:50,116 --> 00:19:53,850 Some of the things that that take precedence in culture 338 00:19:54,016 --> 00:19:59,316 to to make Jesus say a thing that he had no intention of saying. 339 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,316 I certainly think you'd make the case that John had no intention of passing along. 340 00:20:03,750 --> 00:20:07,133 And in doing so, I think we actually miss the richness of the teaching. 341 00:20:07,350 --> 00:20:08,333 So stick with us. 342 00:20:08,333 --> 00:20:09,266 There's more to come. 343 00:20:09,266 --> 00:20:11,516 But, we're certainly glad to have you with us today. 344 00:20:11,516 --> 00:20:13,283 Yeah. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. 345 00:20:13,283 --> 00:20:15,166 Good to be back with you and hope to see you tomorrow.