Day 304 - John 9-10

Observe the marks of a robber. First, that he does not enter openly. Second, he does not enter according to the Scriptures, for this is, “not by the door.” Here also, Jesus refers to those who had been before and to those who would come after him: antichrist and the false christs, Judas and Theudas, and whoever else there have been of the same kind. And he rightly calls the Scriptures “a door,” for they bring us to God and open to us the knowledge of God. They make us his sheep. They guard us and do not let the wolves come in after us. For Scripture, like some sure door, bars the passage against the heretics, placing us in a state of safety as to all that we desire and not allowing us to wander. And, if we do not undo Scripture, we shall not easily be conquered by our enemies. By Scripture we can know all, both those who are and those who are not shepherds. But what does “into the fold” mean? It refers to the sheep and their care. For whoever does not use the Scriptures but “climbs up some other way,” that is, who cuts out for himself another and an unusual way, “the same is a thief.” … When our Lord further on calls himself the door, we should not be surprised. According to the office that he bears, he is in one place the shepherd, in another the sheep. In that he introduces us to the Father, he is the door; in that he takes care of us, he is the shepherd—St John Chrysostom