The door is marked for us

 This week's verses are from the Gospel of John 10:7-10:

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.

 Jesus is comparing himself to other religions and to others who would claim to be the messiah. Jesus is unique in comparison to these false religions and to their prophets with false motives. He also shoots dead the claim that "all religions are basically the same if they make you a good person." Jesus is *the* door. Not *a* door.

Idols are thieves and robbers. When you give devotion to an idol, it goes to waste. The priests of the idol demand that you give, but you get nothing in return. Or worse, you get a curse, because the idol represents evil spirits. All other religions that came before Jesus were this kind of religion: Pay the priest and prepare to find yourself in bondage. These priests weren't shepherds, but hunters chasing the herd off a cliff so they could pick them over for meat. Our world is full of idols. Beware.

Jesus is the only way. He is the door. He doesn't say there are many doors in the pen, or that we should hop over the fence if that's easier for us, or that maybe he'll bring some food out if we don't want to go in. His way is simple and direct. He is the way. There is no other but counterfeits.

A thief is out to feed himself and his family. In addition to the false religions, there were false priests. False priests were just in it for the paycheck. Even as recently as the 1800s there were non-believing career priests in countries that had a state church, who looked at the priesthood simply as another civil service job. Jesus is telling us too that he is not that guy. He doesn't show up in a crisp uniform, put on a show, then clock out at 5pm. His main priority isn't to go home safe at the end of a shift.

Jesus is here to feed us, not himself. As we look at what's left of our culture's celebration of Advent, and we see the things that remind us of Jesus' birth two millennia ago, keep in mind that he did not go through all of that trouble for himself. It wasn't a vacation, or some errand because he was hungry. He didn't lose a bet and have to live life as a mortal. He came so that we would have life, abundantly. He came for us, not our stuff.

The people who came before Jesus were the thieves and the robbers. It's understandable that we would get them confused. But he invites us to put aside our cynicism, our doubt, and our self-sufficient coping mechanisms, and enter through his door. 

Are we willing to enter? Even if it means leaving the freedom of the outside world? Even as other religions are trying to get us to go in through their gates? Are we willing to close out the other options and turn to him for our sustenance and for life itself? As Christians it's easy to stand outside the corral and talk about how nice the door is, and how people should go through it, but have we ourselves gone in?

In the weeks that remain, we will be confronted with all kinds of doors. Doors of politics. Doors of worry. Doors of materialism. Each will try to convince us it will satisfy our needs. Which door do we choose? Where is our refuge? Our source of life and meaning? Jesus marked the door that leads to paradise. Let's do what we can to enter through it and pass the others by.