Jesus found access to His hearers by the pathway of their familiar associations. In a beautiful picture of sheep and shepherd, He represents His relationship to those who believe on Him. No picture was more familiar to His hearers than this. Remembering the Savior’s lesson, the disciples would see Christ in each faithful shepherd and themselves in each helpless, dependent flock.HH 223.2

The Pharisees had just driven one from the fold because he dared to bear witness to the power of Christ. They had cut off someone whom the True Shepherd was drawing to Himself. In doing this they had shown themselves unworthy of their trust as shepherds of the flock. Now Jesus pointed to Himself as the real Keeper of the Lord’s flock.HH 223.3

“He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” When the Pharisees reasoned silently about what He meant, Jesus told them plainly, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”HH 223.4

Christ is the door to the fold of God. From earliest times, all His children have found entrance through this door. Whether in shadowy symbols, or disclosed in the revelation of the prophets, or unveiled in the lessons Jesus gave to His disciples and in miracles, they have seen “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. People have devised ceremonies and systems by which they hope to receive justification and peace with God. But all who introduce something to take the place of Christ, to enter the fold in some other way, are thieves and robbers.HH 223.5

The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the living pastures and defiled the wellsprings of the Water of Life. Inspiration describes these false shepherds: “The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.” Ezekiel 34:4.HH 223.6

Every heathen nation has had its great teachers and religious systems offering some other means of redemption than Christ, turning people’s eyes away from the Father’s face and filling their hearts with fear. Millions are burdened down under false religions, without hope or joy here and with only a dull fear of the hereafter. Only the gospel of God’s grace can lift up the soul. The love of God as seen in His Son will stir the heart and arouse the powers of our being as nothing else can. Whoever turns people away from Christ is turning them away from the Source of true development, depriving them of the hope and glory of life. He is a thief and a robber.HH 224.1

The Miracle Could Not Be Denied

Responsibility of a Faithful Shepherd