bible
 
I am the door of the sheep
 
(John 10,1-14)  
   
It is a story about a shepherd and his flock. Very simple. Him, the shepherd, enters by the door, call to his sheep, one by one because he knows them, he takes them out and walks in front of them and they follow him because they know his voice.  
   
It is very simple, however his disciples don’t understand. It is a story with a code. So Jesus undergoes some explanation: the door of “the sheep” it is him. However he is also “the shepherd”. He knows his sheep and they know him. To be better understood, Jesus gives some counter-examples. The hired shepherd who allows the wolf to enter and gets away. The thief who comes to cut the throat and destroys the flock.
porte des brebis
 
   
However this explanation rather than to enlighten the story makes it more obscure. How can a shepherd be in the same time the door? Who is he, this “doorman” who opens to the shepherd and who is also the door? Who are these mercenaries and who are these sheep? What means this enclosure, the inside and the outside?  
   
We are used to parables: they are open stories that suggest more than restrain. Every body is invited to come in and have a role to play.
Today we know what is a “bleating sheep” ready to follow any guru providing he gives a good speech.
With Jesus, it is different. He is the door, an opened door that let people get in or out. A free circulation and a continuous movement are allowed. This “door” opens on life, on an abundance of life. Every body feels free to explore other places, to taste other pastures, elsewhere, outside. And even if some one has already entered, he can go out again, wait and return.
 
   
C'est le Seigneur Jesus is the one who opens. He knows the name of each one, man or women. When he calls, we might recognize him and some even follow him because they know his voice.
 
   
It is a little like John, after the resurrection, when he exclaimed,” It is the Lord!” (John 21, 7)  
   
An intimate feeling of certitude.