7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. John 10:7-9
Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Ruth 4:11
As I ponder Jesus’ statement that he is the “gate for the sheep,” I thought of ways that gates represented different aspects of life in the Bible that might be our first association with the word “gate.” I thought of the Old Testament story of Ruth. She was a foreigner, not a Jew, but married the son of Naomi whose family fled to Moab during a famine in Bethlehem. Ruth’s husband died and she eventually returned to Bethlehem with Naomi to find “the new normal” as a widow, a foreigner, and poor. She starts gathering fallen grain in the field of Boaz who actually is a relative of her family who culturally could protect her.
This short book ends with Boaz going to the city “gate” to negotiate a marriage with Ruth and to make the relationship legal. Ruth, a foreigner, a widow, and poor becomes the grandmother of King David. Wow. Redemption! Gates were places of legal transactions is the Bible that resulted in life changing agreements that impacted history. Jesus says he is the “gate.” He is the place where we make decisions that change the direction of our lives! He is not just a door we walk through – what first comes to our minds when we think of “gates” but going through Jesus as a gate to faith, a legal transaction occurs that affects our eternity. Pretty spiff, I think. Blessings as you ponder the “gates” in your life.
On the Way to Wonder 