“Why go ‘in and out’ or angels ‘ascend and descend’?”

May 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

QUESTION: What did Jesus mean when He said in John 10:9, “He shall go in and out and find pasture”? I understand He is the door and we go through Him to be saved, but why would a person go “in and out”? For that matter, why would the angels ascend and descend on Him (John 1:51)?

ANSWER: The first 21 verses of John 10 are really a continuation of what the Lord Jesus was saying in answer to the question of some of the Pharisees at the end of chapter 9. He speaks of three doors in John 10. The first of these is the door of the sheepfold.

The sheepfold is an apt picture of what the Jewish nation was under the Law. Many had presented themselves to Israel as potential leaders. Two of these are mentioned in Acts 5:36-37. The Pharisees themselves had assumed authority over their fellow countrymen. But none of these was the true Shepherd of the sheep. Jesus alone came by the door; He was the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah who was to come. He was a descendant of David and of Abraham, was born of a virgin, in Bethlehem and so much more. No other would-be shepherd or leader of Israel had come in the way God had appointed in the Old Testament. The Lord calls all those who came by other ways thieves and robbers. But those He spoke to, like many people today, did not understand what He was saying to them.

The Lord Jesus goes on in verse 7 to say that He was “the door of the sheep.” All who had come before Him were thieves and robbers, and the sheep, the Jewish people, did not hear them. The Jewish people had rejected many potential messiahs, would-be doors to their deliverance, through the years of their history.

In verse 9 the Lord expands on what He has just said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus is the door to salvation and this salvation is available to anyone entering by Him.

We have seen Judaism to be like a sheepfold – an enclosure or confinement. The Lord goes on to say that anyone coming to Him would go in and out and find pasture. There is liberty as we follow Christ – we are no longer confined. There is little, if any, nourishment within a sheepfold, but there is good pasture outside of it. The sheepfold was a protection against wild beasts that might try to sneak up on the sheep in the night and the shepherd usually slept across the entrance to the fold. Law may seem to serve as a kind of protection against evil but the real source of protection is the shepherd. Unless he was watchful the sheep would be in real danger. Our Good Shepherd gives His sheep liberty, protection and nourishment in a good pasture. When following Him we do not need a fence of Law to keep us safe. He loves us so much that He has given His life for us. A hireling will not do this as he seeks his own interests and safety when the wolf threatens.

After mentioning that He, the Good Shepherd, would give His life for the sheep the Lord goes on to speak of “other sheep ... not of this fold” whom He would bring and who would hear His voice (v.16). The result would be one flock (not a fold) and one Shepherd. Jewish and Gentile believers would be united into one flock, the one true Church. And, all this work of laying down His life and taking it again is referred back to a command of the Father. Christ’s work of salvation was not a spur-of-the-moment emergency decision, but it was planned in the counsels of God before the foundation of the world!

In John 1:51 the Lord is alluding back to Jacob’s dream that begins in Genesis 28:12. He often speaks in parables and uses symbolism. He Himself is the true ladder – the true link between heaven and earth. Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation, according to Hebrews 1:14. He, the lowly Son of Man, will be served by angels in that coming day when He takes His kingdom. Heaven and earth will be far more closely linked together in that day. The Lord will be the center of it all and His saints on earth will benefit from the ministry of God’s holy angels. What a marvelous salvation we have in our Lord Jesus Christ already, now. But what a glorious day that will be when He has His rightful place!

Answered by Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.