Where the Gate Leads

Yesterday, I shared with you all that in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the Gate…” When Jesus made this statement, he was talking to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. He had just healed a man who was born blind, and the Pharisees were angry about this. They were angry because he healed on the Sabbath, and by doing so, he broke one of the ten commandments. 

On top of that, in those days it was widely believed that blindness – or any kind of illness really – was a punishment from God. Jesus disabuses them of this notion. So, the Pharisees question the man who was healed. They question his parents. They question Jesus. 

These religious leaders clearly cared more about being right than they did about being loving. And you get the sense that Jesus was pretty angry about it. He called them thieves and bandits. He was angry at their hard hearts. They were so legalistic about the Bible that they were keeping people out, turning people away from the mystery beyond.

When Jesus talks about the gate, he was saying, the Pharisee’s teaching is not the way. Their legalism is not the way. They are not the way to deeper mystery and truth. I am the way… I am the opening.

To me, this statement is really good news. If Jesus is the gate to lead us to a clearer understanding of who God is, then we can be sure that God cares about those who suffer, those who feel left out or lost or cast away. We can be sure that God is merciful, loving, and full of grace. And we can be sure that each and every life is valuable. 

To me, that is a Gate worthy to enter. 

Let us pray: We thank you, Loving God for coming to us in Jesus, to live as we live, to suffer as we suffer, to fully know human life. We thank you for the way in which his life and teachings, death and resurrection point to you. Grant us open hearts and willing spirits that we might ever approach you through this gate. Amen.