The Gates of Hell vs. the Gate to Heaven

The Gates of Hell vs. the Gate to Heaven.

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi with His disciples, He asked them, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.‘ ‘But what about you?’ He asked them. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by books or teachers. My Father in heaven, God Himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And I tell you that you are Peter (‘petros’ = a single small rock), and on this rock (‘petra’ = a cliff or massive rock formation) I will build my church, and the Gates of Hades will not overcome it…’” (Matthew 16:13-18).

There are two different ways for a believer to understand the term “Gates of Hell” that Jesus used in this passage. The term can be understood first as a figure of speech, representing something along the lines of the powers of death, the powers of darkness, the stronghold of destruction. So the Gates of Hell, or Hades, could be referring to the very power the brings death to us all, the powers of darkness that usher us into the stronghold of death itself.  Gates are symbols of strength and defense and protection, so the Gates of Hell symbolize the entry point that will bring people to death and keep them imprisoned within evil.

Another way to understand ‘Gates of Hell’ is to see it as a literal place of evil and death,  a physically real complex of pagan worship sites in Caesarea Philippi that was as wicked as wicked can be, a huge rocky cliff outside of a Greek city only a few miles from the home town of Jesus, dedicated to celebrating the wickedness of the evil one.

“Open for me the gates of the righteous, the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord. These gates lead to the presence of Yahweh, and the godly enter there.” (Psalm 118:20).

A simple gate can be holy? Yes, if the gate opens the way to something that is set apart for sacred use. If the gate is a portal to the presence of God, or is a way of entering God’s will, or of a deepened understanding of God. A gate is holy if it opens the way to something that gives the Lord pleasure. But a gate can also be unholy, if it creates separation from God or an entrance into the world of sin. The gates of hell come to mind. (Matt. 16:18).

Gates meant a lot literally and figuratively and was often used as a figure of speech, as a symbol to represent a moving from one reality to another, going from one place to another, of entering a new world of some sort. The gate was a point of access, an entrance. Back in the day, a biblical way of saying that someone repented of a wrongdoing was to say that this person entered the “gates of repentance.” When someone was mourning a loss, that person had entered the “gates of tears.” When someone was in deep conversation with God, they had entered the “gate of prayer.” When entering the Temple, the psalmist would often say that someone had entered the “gate of the righteous.” The Temple’s entrance was also known as “the Gate of the Lord.” Some of the more poetic believers then would even refer to God as the “Opener of the Gates,” lauding the Lord as the One who starts each new day, and everyone is privileged to enter another day as the sun rises in the morning.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the gate to the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I AM the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.” (John 10:7-9, NASB).

CONTEXT

1. At the end of John 8, Jesus made a startling claim: equality with God; His eternal existence; His oneness with the Great I AM! Yahweh was the personal Name of God revealed at Moses’ burning bush, and that Name was so holy that it couldn’t be spoken aloud. Jesus claims that He is on the same spiritual plane as I AM WHAT I AM; I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; I AM ONE WHO EXISTS. Jesus is stating here that He is equal to the LORD, the very personal foundation of existence itself. In front of a big crowd of people, Jesus claimed divinity! He was close to being killed for that apparent blasphemy, but He managed to walk away unscathed.
2. In John 9, Jesus is walking along on the Sabbath day, saw a blind man, and healed him. This healing occurred in an interesting way… Jesus spit on the ground, mixed His saliva with dust and made a little mud, and then spread the mud on the blind man’s eyes. After the beggar washed the mud off, he was healed! After a lifetime of blindness, just like that the man could see. Jesus the co-Creator used the “original material” of creation to give this man sight.
3. Soon after the healing, the beggar was cornered by the religious authorities… Who are you? Who healed you? Were you really blind? Do you realize this miracle was done on the Sabbath, that it was illegal? After some arguing back and forth, even to the point of questioning the man’s parents, the Pharisees saw fit to expel this healed man from the synagogue. He was now a person marked for exclusion. Excommunicated, one might say. The healed man no longer had access to religious activities, the reading of the Word, the worship of the Lord with his people of faith. The Pharisees presented themselves as the door, and they shut it in the man’s face.
4. Jesus then once again affirms His deity… Jesus found the healed man after he was kicked out of the synagogue, and Jesus asked him if he believed in the “Son of Man,” the Son of God as prophesied in the book of Daniel. The healed man said that he would believe in Him if he knew who He was. Jesus then said, “Open your new eyes… The Son of Man is the One talking to you right now. You’re looking right at Him!” The healed man saw with his spiritual eyes and worshiped Jesus. This is yet another example of Jesus declaring His divinity.
5. Jesus then confronts the authorities, telling them they are spiritually blind. He is telling them that they can’t see into God’s world any better than the blind man could before he was healed. Jesus tells them it’s especially tragic because the leaders have fooled themselves into thinking their sight is just fine.
6. In the beginning of chapter 10, Jesus continues his confrontation with the Pharisees, teaching them about the thieves, robbers, and strangers. He talks a little bit about what a flourishing flock of sheep looks like… Sheep that are well cared for and can safely go in and out to pasture, are familiar with their shepherd’s voice, and how a relationship of trust develops between the shepherd and his sheep. Jesus is implying that the Pharisees, in their spiritual blindness, are not trustworthy, are in reality strangers to the sheep of God’s flock, and are not effective shepherds as a result. Jesus said more than once earlier (eg, Matt. 9:36), that the people were wandering spiritually, confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus is scorning the spiritual leadership of the religious authorities, laying the blame on them for the sorry state of spiritual affairs in His land.

THE GATE (the same Greek word, “thura,” is used for gate and door, so they will be interchangeable in this article).

1. Jesus again boldly claims his divinity with another reference to Yahweh… “I AM the door to the sheep.” He uses this I AM formula seven times in the Gospel of John: I AM the Bread of Life(6:35); the Light of the World(8:12); the Door (10:7,9); the Good Shepherd (10:14); the Resurrection and the Life (11:25); the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6); and the True Vine (15:1). In these statements, every time Jesus says “I AM” to the people, He is referring to His equality to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Moses, of Creation. It’s fascinating that Jesus loved using these simple, commonplace metaphors to unpack who He is and what He is here to do. Nothing fancy, abstract, erudite. It’s almost as if He is saying to the people, “Okay, okay, I know the I AM Name is a bit obscure and mysterious. You could be forgiven for wondering… I AM what? God, fill in the blanks, please. You are what, exactly?” Jesus is continuing the revelation of God by filling in the blanks a bit more, so God’s Name is not quite so elusive or open-ended. The simple I AM metaphors are helpful in that way, and the humility of Jesus in using these simple ideas did much to continue the conversation between the Son of God and the people, and to inspire many helpful a-ha moments with His followers.
2. In that day, dedicated and effective shepherds would stretch themselves across the entranceway to the sheep pen at night. Pens were usually enclosures out in the open, with no roof, and with walls constructed of stones and branches. The shepherds would place briars, thorns, and thistles along the top of the walls to keep the sheep from climbing out and predators from climbing in. The shepherds would provide only one entrance to the sheep pen, and that’s where the shepherd would lie down to control access. There would be no sheep rustlers or predators on his watch, and from that spot he could also keep his eye open for lost, wandering sheep outside the pen. Shepherds were human gates, laying down their lives for the sheep. The self-sacrificing shepherd was the best possible entryway for the sheep, who knew that they were safe and secure and freed to flourish in the flock.
3. I AM the gate. Jesus seems to be saying here… I am the gateway to God’s kingdom, to God’s flock. I will open the door to the wandering sheep, the lost, the injured, the helpless, the confused. I will close the door when the sheep need protection and peaceful rest. I will open the gate to God’s love… not like those false shepherds who closed the gate to this healed man. They didn’t think he deserved God’s love, so they excluded him. He is just the type of person to whom I open the door, those in need of inclusion in my flock. I am the gate to the sheep, I will open up the entrance and exit so my sheep may freely follow me to pasture. And I will close this gate to thieves, predators and strangers, anyone who will not allow the sheep to flourish in God’s kingdom. I am the front door, and there is no back door. I am a big welcome mat to those who have been rejected. You may enter through me and live life to the fullest, an abundant life in God’s flock. With me at the entrance, I create a refuge where there once was a wall of judgment. The sheep in the flock will find me a strong gate, a faithful gate, for I AM one with Yahweh, and “what He opens no one can close; and what He closes no one can open.” (Rev. 3:7). I AM the Gate that opens the way to salvation for all sheep.