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S. Easter 4.26 John 10:1-10

‘…and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice… but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them.’

Just like Henry Jones Sr. did not understand that it was his son Henry Jones Jr., aka ‘Indiana’ (‘we called the dog Indiana’) who burst in through the window of Castle Brunwald, swinging on his whip, to rescue his father from the Nazis holding him captive. As you will recall, Dad beaned Indy on the head with a Ming vase (which, much to H. Jones Sr’s relief, turned out to be a fake ;-). And as Indy came to he said “Dad!” And Sean Connery goes: “Junior! I thought you were one of those Nazis.” And Indy said, “Dad; they use the door!” And H. Jones Sr. said “Ah, so they do!”

Jesus uses the door, too!—as we learn in our Gospel today. Those who hold the castle use the door. Only thieves, robbers, or scofflaws come in through the window. And Jesus does not only come in through the door, he tell us a bit further on that he is the door!

I realize that on earth, the castle of Christ Jesus looks like a poky little sheepfold in a benighted agrarian-industrial Rust Belt town—much like the stable appeared where the last Kings and Queens of Narnia fought their last battle and get thrown into to meet death and Tash and defeat. Only (plot spoiler if you’ve never read Book 7 of Narnia “The Last Battle” so earmuffs 😉 like the grave of Jesus Christ, the death and defeat, the dark maw of that stable turns out to be the gateway to Aslan er, Christ’s Country where we meet him in glory and find at last our true place (by his side 😉 in our True Kingdom…

Jerusalem, back in the 1st century, was a poky little backwater town occupied by the Roman Empire. It hardly looked like the King of King’s palace! It was built on the rubble of previous destructions and sad rebuilds. Herod was trying to spruce the place up as a religious Disneyland at the time, building a magnificent new temple much larger and grander even than Solomon’s which the Babylonians destroyed in 586 BC.

But Herod’s temple wasn’t finished. Wouldn’t be finished till around 66 BC, just in time for the Romans to destroy it and Jerusalem—never to be rebuilt. If you go today, you’ll see a large empty square (except for the two Muslim mosques) built on a mound of broken brick and stone and rubbish; maybe you’ll get to dodge the odd Iranian missile, too 😉

You have to use your imagination now, as they did then, to see the holy city holds the gateway to the Kingdom of the Almighty God, come in the flesh in Jesus Christ. It hardly looks like the Door to all Good Adventure, but it is. And the door itself—if you ever go, as you really should, is in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a tiny little stone igloo that you have to crawl into on your hands and knees, and kneel shoulder to shoulder with 3 other pilgrims for a minute to touch the stone bench where Jesus’ body lay. His tomb is the gateway to all good adventure! If you go, you’ll know!

So; JESUS’ tomb is both the door through which Jesus enters—dying on the cross, descending into hell—and Jesus himself is the door at the same time. Because his death has destroyed sin, death, and hell and opens Paradise to us as it did for the thief dying beside Jesus on the cross—who asks only for Jesus to remember him when he comes into his Kingdom…

There is no way to enter the Gate of Heaven except by dying with Jesus! His death on the cross is the door through which the King enters Paradise, wrenching the keys from the devil which makes the Crucified Christ the door for us to enter Heaven as well. There is no other Way!

Simply put, the Easter Gospel is that there is no Resurrection and Life Everlasting except by sharing the cross and dying of Jesus, yourself! Where Jesus goes, his sheep follow! If he goes down into ignominious death and defeat on the cross, and is laid 3 days in a stranger’s tomb, his sheep will gladly follow! He thereby shows us the door and he, the Crucified and Risen one is the door!

It is an unfortunate thing in Christendom that we tend to think Jesus’ death has spared us from suffering and dying and sharing his sorrows and travails here on earth. It sounds like ‘Good News’: that Jesus has done most everything to save us: all you have to do is a few good works to seal the deal—process the information of the Gospel and apply it to your life. But whenever we’re told there’s just this little something we have to do, we’re jumping the shark, avoiding the Door, vaulting over the wall like thieves and robbers, taking Heaven by force…

But in every age, God sends a Peter, a Paul, an Athanasius, a Luther to remind us of the actual Gospel: that it’s only by being baptized into Jesus’ death!, buried with him in his tomb, that sin, death, and hell are destroyed in us and we enter Paradise. If we will not—with the Apostles—happily endure the world’s hatred, mockery, beatings and brutality for Christ’s sake!, we cannot enter the Kingdom. Jesus enters into glory only by the magnificent defeat of the cross. And so the Crucified One is the only door, his cross the only Way for us into the Kingdom that has no end to its joys and glories…

The cross is a free gift that Jesus gives. The world nails us up on it everyday, thinking to destroy us, but does us a favor in letting us share the dying of Jesus that his life also might rise in our mortal bodies.

The good news in our Gospel today is what I led with and what we’ll end with: the sheep follow the Shepherd (even into death and the tomb!) for they know his voice. But, and here’s the joy in it—the Apostles themselves did not understand the things Jesus spoke to them!

This is great news! You do not have to understand any of this in order to FOLOW JESUS the Good Shepherd! One of the devil’s best tricks is making the Gospel mere information you must process and apply wisely to your life and only then can you open the door and be saved…

No! Voice Recognition is something the Holy Spirit GIVES us, GRATIS, through the Word and Baptism and the Holy Supper. John the Baptist heard and recognized Jesus’ voice 3 months before he was born, still in his mother’s womb!

You don’t have to understand in order to believe! Augustine learned it’s the other way ‘round. Yes! By Jesus’ Word and Spirit and Baptism and Supper you are drawn along by Jesus and are already through the Door, the Gateway to All Good Adventure—always already there, now; where Peace surpassing all understanding guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.