“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. “

Let’s continue.

 “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. “

To understand this parable we must stay with the focus of attention Jesus is drawing us to…which happens to be Himself.

The “ door “ Jesus refers to here He later declares to be Himself.

“ I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. “  John 10:9

The “ sheepfold, “ is quite obviously those who follow Jesus.

Jesus often refers to people who follow Him as sheep.

“ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: “   John 10:27

So, Jesus is presenting Himself as not only the “ door “ but also as the Shepherd of His sheep.

Peter said;

“ For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.  “  1 Peter 2:25

The Greek word “ poimen “ often translated “ shepherd “ can be translated either as pastor or shepherd and is understood as both in the same in the religious realm.

As Paul describes the position of a church leader as a pastor appointed by God;

“  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; “  Ephesians 4:11

Jesus describes the person in this position in this parable as a hired employee;

“ But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. “ John 10:12-13

The Greek word “ misthotos “ translated “ hireling “ means wage worker, hired servant and can be referred to either in a good or bad sense.

In reality, in a sense we as followers of Jesus Christ are all wage workers.

Jesus clearly said;

“ When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. “   Luke 14:12-14

Jesus also described the Kingdom of God as in the sense of conducting business with those of us who follow Him;

“  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. “ Matthew 20:1-16

Continuing on with the verse of our study today…

“ but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. “

Here, Jesus admits there will be people who will try to get into Heaven any way other than through Jesus Himself.

Jesus said;

“ And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. “       Matthew 11:12

“ The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. “    Luke 16:16

The Greek word “ biazetai “ translated “ presseth  “ means the same as in Matthew 11:12, to force violently.

What Jesus is getting at in all this is that people who will not believe Him to be the only way to Heaven and will rather choose to attempt to go to Heaven through their own means - that is, believing anyone or anything but Jesus, according to Jesus is an act of violence.

Attempting to enter Heaven by any means other than Jesus, Jesus describes this as a violent attempt to enter Heaven.

In other words, anything outside of Jesus as a means for a person to enter Heaven, any faith or belief other than in Jesus for a person as a means to enter Heaven, this person is considered by Jesus to be;

“ the same is a thief and a robber. “

Yes, Jesus Himself said;

“ but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. “

Paul stays with this teaching of Jesus by saying;

“ And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.  “  2 Timothy 2:5

To sum all this up, everyone wants to go to Heaven. Everyone has his or her own plan how to get to Heaven after physical death.

One man wanted his shotgun to be buried with him in his casket after he died.

His reasoning behind this was…” If saint Peter does not let me into Heaven, I'll blast my way in. “

But believing Jesus and His claim to be the only way to Heaven, like this man and his shotgun, most people will not do.

This is why Jesus said;

“ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. “    Matthew 7:13-14

I will continue with verse 2 in the next study.

Wayne Brown