This poster quotes two sayings of Jesus from the same passage in the Bible. The first is Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”   This is quite a famous saying of our Lord.  It is usually linked with these words of the Saviour.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John’s Gospel chapter 10 verse 11)  John chapter 10 is the passage where the Son of God compared Himself to a shepherd and people who believe in Him to sheep.   He also describes Himself as the door of the sheepfold in which the sheep live. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  (John 10:7). Jesus’ audience was part of a farming community and a sheepfold was something it saw every day.   In modern Britain most of us do not live on farms and so a little explanation will help.  Jewish sheepfolds were circular, being built out of rough stonework.  They were open to the sky and the width of the door or gate exactly matched the height of the shepherd.  At night the sheep were called by the shepherd to come into the fold.  He literally called them by name. It was not like English shepherding using sheep dogs where the sheep are herded into the fold by a dog or dogs obeying the whistles and gestures of the shepherd.  There would usually be a lead sheep; one could be trusted to always obey the shepherd’s call. The shepherd would call her name first and the other sheep would usually follow.  Then the shepherd would lie down to sleep in the gap that was called the door.  He exactly fitted this gap and nothing to could enter or leave the sheepfold without his knowledge. This was very good news for the sheep because there were predators about such as bears and lions. There were also sheep thieves who might come in the night to steal the sheep.  The only way thieves could get in without the shepherd knowing was to climb over the wall. Jesus begins His talk by making this point. "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1)  He goes on to point out that there is only one true shepherd and that shepherd is Him, Jesus.  He says, The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. (John 10:2)  In case we don’t get it He says twice “I am the Good Shepherd.”   (John 10: 11 & 14)