“So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:7-10

The “I AM” sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John…

I am the bread of life

I am the living bread that came down from heaven

I am the light of the world — I am the gate for the sheep

I am the good shepherd — I am the resurrection and the life

I am the way, and the truth, and the life

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

In these sayings, Jesus identifies himself with symbols that come from the common fund of ancient Near Eastern religious and human experience, i.e. bread, life, truth, light.  In these common symbols, Jesus declares that people’s religious needs and human longings are met in him.  (New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume IX, page 601 – 602.)

I guess what I hear Jesus saying is this: Jesus offers all of us sustenance, light, protection, truth, life and, of course, resurrection.

Pastor Dave