I Am The Gate
Drama
Conversations With The Savior
Dialogues And Children's Sermons For Lent And Easter
ELIEZER: Do you mind if I walk with you, Jesus?
JESUS: Of course you may, Eliezer. Your face betrays the anguish of your soul. What's troubling you, my friend?
ELIEZER: Jesus, I'm trying to be a faithful child of God, but I'm worried that perhaps I'm not. You see, my rabbi has told the whole congregation that if anyone acknowledges you as the Christ, he'll be put out of the synagogue.
JESUS: And that worries you?
ELIEZER: Oh, yes, Jesus. All it would take is three men who accuse me of wrong, and I'd be cut off from the fellowship for a day. If I continued to believe in you, the whole assembly could cast me out and treat me worse than a leper. My friends and neighbors would avoid me. I could talk with no one. They would let me buy food, but I would have to eat my bread by myself. And when I die, they would throw rocks at my grave. I couldn't bear that, Jesus.
JESUS: Tell me, Eliezer, what makes you think I might be the Christ?
ELIEZER: It's what you said and did back there in Jerusalem.
JESUS: Such as?
ELIEZER: Such as what you said to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. You said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." And, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death." They didn't like what you said, and because of them, I'm afraid to believe it. I'm not free Jesus, and I'm afraid to die.
JESUS: And what is it that enslaves you, Eliezer? The Pharisees were highly insulted when I implied they weren't free. But you aren't insulted. Why? You think yourself to be a slave?
ELIEZER: I know myself to be a slave, Jesus, to everything and everyone, it seems. I'm a slave to those unclean Romans, taking my donkey whenever they feel like it, forcing me to pay their damnable taxes. I'm a slave to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law and the Rabbis; they're always watching me, catching me in every slip of the tongue, in every offering I forget to make and vow I can't keep, and cursing me for it. And worst, I'm a slave to my conscience. I know what I'm supposed to do, and I just can't do it.
JESUS: Well, Eliezer, at least you're free for a moment. You needn't fear my cursing you. Out here in the countryside, there's not a Pharisee in sight, nothing out here but sheep and that old sheep pen. It's been here a long time. A simple structure, isn't it? Just a square pen made of rough stones piled one on top of the other. And look! There's just a hole in the wall for a gate.
ELIEZER: But what does that have to do with me?
JESUS: There's no door in this gate opening, Eliezer. Do you know why? Because the shepherd is the gate. At night he leads his sheep into the safety of the pen. Then he lies down right here and sleeps on the ground. The sheep stay in the pen until dawn when the shepherd leads them back out to pasture.
ELIEZER: It wouldn't be too hard to climb over the wall and just take a sheep or two.
JESUS: True, but one would have to be a thief and robber and not the shepherd to steal sheep. The shepherd's job is to protect the sheep. Sheep thieves kill and destroy and seek only their own well being.
ELIEZER: That sounds like the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. They don't care at all about us. You heard them when you healed the blind man. He'd been blind since he was born. No one could help him. He used to lie at the temple gate and beg for alms. Except on the Sabbath he wasn't supposed to beg. That was working. But how was he supposed to get food any other way? The Pharisees used to watch, hoping they might catch someone giving him a coin on the Sabbath. I was afraid to give him anything. But you weren't, Jesus. You made mud and put it in his eyes, and when he washed, he could see! You gave him his freedom! I gave him nothing. I was afraid.
JESUS: I gave him freedom and the Pharisees gave him grief. Right, Eliezer? It grieves me that men can be so blind and so willfully enslaved. Even my disciples had no interest in the blind man but why he was blind, whether it was his sin or his parents' sin that caused it. And when he could see again, all the Pharisees could think about was that he was healed on the Sabbath. Did you notice how pathetic his parents were? There wasn't the slightest hint of joy that their son could see, so afraid were they of being put out of the synagogue. Oh, how they needed life and freedom and salvation!
ELIEZER: Those Pharisees and teachers of the Law have us trapped and enslaved by fear, Jesus. And there's no way out! If only there were some door, some gate out of this misery!
JESUS: I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: Jesus, you gave the woman taken in adultery her dignity and freedom back. You rescued her from those wolves. I wish I could be forgiven like her.
JESUS: I am the Gate!
ELIEZER: There was no one to help that poor cripple at the pool of Bethesda. The angel would stir the water but no one would put him in to be healed. But you spoke to him, Jesus. "Take up your mat and walk!" you said. And he did! At last he was whole and free! I'd like to be free and whole like him.
JESUS: I am the Gate!
ELIEZER: Jesus, I feel just like a sheep trapped in this pen about to be stolen by thieves and robbers and fed to the wolves, with no way out. In the synagogue school, I learned a Psalm of David. It said, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." That's what I would like to believe about the Lord, but that's not the Lord these teachers show me. Jesus, can't you see I've followed you all the way out here for some answers? Help me, Jesus!
JESUS: Eliezer, I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: You're the Gate, Jesus?
JESUS: I am the Gate. You're one of my sheep, Eliezer. The reason you've come out to me here in the countryside is because you've heard my voice and know me not to be a thief and robber like the others.
ELIEZER: You're the Gate, Jesus?
JESUS: You were mine even before you were born. It's you're name I'm calling, Eliezer, not for guilt, not for slavery, not for fear, but for salvation and life.
ELIEZER: Jesus, you're the Gate?
JESUS: Yes, I'm the Gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. I go before my sheep, facing danger, even dying for them, that they might never fear walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
ELIEZER: You mean, Jesus, that by believing in you, I'm not a slave anymore, to Roman or Pharisee or even my guilty conscience? You mean, Jesus, that it's not just the sinful woman you forgive, but me? And it's not just a cripple by the pool that you make whole, but me? And it's not just the physically blind but the blind in heart that you make see, spiritually blind sinners like me?
JESUS: I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: But I have nothing to offer you Jesus, nothing with which to pay for these treasures.
JESUS: It's not the sheep's job to care for the shepherd, but the shepherd for the sheep. Enter through me and be saved. Come in and go out through me and find pasture. I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly. Life is God's free gift to you, Eliezer. I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: How can I be sure, Jesus?
JESUS: Your own words have already spoken what you have heard and seen; sins forgiven, blindness restored, freedom gained. You have heard my voice and have come. Eliezer, you know I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: Yes, Jesus. I believe you are the Gate.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, we have so many troubles that threaten to enslave us, worries about what others will think of us if we follow you, guilt that quenches our joy, sorrow in the travails of this world. Open our ears that we might hear you calling us out of this slavery. Lead us through the gate that is you. Help us know that by faith in you, we are forgiven, we are free, and life is ours in abundance. In your name we pray. Amen.
Lent 2
John 10:1-10
Children's Sermon
Item needed: doorknob or gate latch
Well, hello! What a great group of children. I'm so glad you're here each week to learn more about who Jesus is. In the Gospel Lesson we read tonight, Jesus says, "I am the Gate." Some Bibles have, "I am the Door." But gates and doors are really the same, aren't they?
This is what I've brought to show you. (Hold out the door knob or gate latch for all to see.) Do you know what it is? (Let children identify it.) Yes, it's a door knob assembly, probably just like the one on your bedroom door.
Why do you suppose our houses have doors and door knobs and gates and gate latches? (Allow several to answer.) Of course, to keep our houses and yards safe. At night we lock the doors and gates. In the daytime we go in and out through them. If we want to go to school or the store, we go through the door first.
Jesus is like a door or gate. When we believe in Jesus as our Savior, we are going through a special door. On the other side of the door we find forgiveness of all our sins, all the bad things we do. We also find food and water, good things from God's word to make us strong in our faith.
If Jesus were not like a door, our sins would not be forgiven, and we would have no home in heaven. We'd always be in danger from the devil. But, praise God, Jesus is our Door. Let's thank God that he has given us a door to heaven in Jesus.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being our Door and Gate. When we hide behind you as our Door, you protect us from everything evil. Going through you by faith, all our sins are forgiven, you give us a home in heaven, and we are safe forever. For this we praise you, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen.
JESUS: Of course you may, Eliezer. Your face betrays the anguish of your soul. What's troubling you, my friend?
ELIEZER: Jesus, I'm trying to be a faithful child of God, but I'm worried that perhaps I'm not. You see, my rabbi has told the whole congregation that if anyone acknowledges you as the Christ, he'll be put out of the synagogue.
JESUS: And that worries you?
ELIEZER: Oh, yes, Jesus. All it would take is three men who accuse me of wrong, and I'd be cut off from the fellowship for a day. If I continued to believe in you, the whole assembly could cast me out and treat me worse than a leper. My friends and neighbors would avoid me. I could talk with no one. They would let me buy food, but I would have to eat my bread by myself. And when I die, they would throw rocks at my grave. I couldn't bear that, Jesus.
JESUS: Tell me, Eliezer, what makes you think I might be the Christ?
ELIEZER: It's what you said and did back there in Jerusalem.
JESUS: Such as?
ELIEZER: Such as what you said to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. You said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." And, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death." They didn't like what you said, and because of them, I'm afraid to believe it. I'm not free Jesus, and I'm afraid to die.
JESUS: And what is it that enslaves you, Eliezer? The Pharisees were highly insulted when I implied they weren't free. But you aren't insulted. Why? You think yourself to be a slave?
ELIEZER: I know myself to be a slave, Jesus, to everything and everyone, it seems. I'm a slave to those unclean Romans, taking my donkey whenever they feel like it, forcing me to pay their damnable taxes. I'm a slave to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law and the Rabbis; they're always watching me, catching me in every slip of the tongue, in every offering I forget to make and vow I can't keep, and cursing me for it. And worst, I'm a slave to my conscience. I know what I'm supposed to do, and I just can't do it.
JESUS: Well, Eliezer, at least you're free for a moment. You needn't fear my cursing you. Out here in the countryside, there's not a Pharisee in sight, nothing out here but sheep and that old sheep pen. It's been here a long time. A simple structure, isn't it? Just a square pen made of rough stones piled one on top of the other. And look! There's just a hole in the wall for a gate.
ELIEZER: But what does that have to do with me?
JESUS: There's no door in this gate opening, Eliezer. Do you know why? Because the shepherd is the gate. At night he leads his sheep into the safety of the pen. Then he lies down right here and sleeps on the ground. The sheep stay in the pen until dawn when the shepherd leads them back out to pasture.
ELIEZER: It wouldn't be too hard to climb over the wall and just take a sheep or two.
JESUS: True, but one would have to be a thief and robber and not the shepherd to steal sheep. The shepherd's job is to protect the sheep. Sheep thieves kill and destroy and seek only their own well being.
ELIEZER: That sounds like the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. They don't care at all about us. You heard them when you healed the blind man. He'd been blind since he was born. No one could help him. He used to lie at the temple gate and beg for alms. Except on the Sabbath he wasn't supposed to beg. That was working. But how was he supposed to get food any other way? The Pharisees used to watch, hoping they might catch someone giving him a coin on the Sabbath. I was afraid to give him anything. But you weren't, Jesus. You made mud and put it in his eyes, and when he washed, he could see! You gave him his freedom! I gave him nothing. I was afraid.
JESUS: I gave him freedom and the Pharisees gave him grief. Right, Eliezer? It grieves me that men can be so blind and so willfully enslaved. Even my disciples had no interest in the blind man but why he was blind, whether it was his sin or his parents' sin that caused it. And when he could see again, all the Pharisees could think about was that he was healed on the Sabbath. Did you notice how pathetic his parents were? There wasn't the slightest hint of joy that their son could see, so afraid were they of being put out of the synagogue. Oh, how they needed life and freedom and salvation!
ELIEZER: Those Pharisees and teachers of the Law have us trapped and enslaved by fear, Jesus. And there's no way out! If only there were some door, some gate out of this misery!
JESUS: I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: Jesus, you gave the woman taken in adultery her dignity and freedom back. You rescued her from those wolves. I wish I could be forgiven like her.
JESUS: I am the Gate!
ELIEZER: There was no one to help that poor cripple at the pool of Bethesda. The angel would stir the water but no one would put him in to be healed. But you spoke to him, Jesus. "Take up your mat and walk!" you said. And he did! At last he was whole and free! I'd like to be free and whole like him.
JESUS: I am the Gate!
ELIEZER: Jesus, I feel just like a sheep trapped in this pen about to be stolen by thieves and robbers and fed to the wolves, with no way out. In the synagogue school, I learned a Psalm of David. It said, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." That's what I would like to believe about the Lord, but that's not the Lord these teachers show me. Jesus, can't you see I've followed you all the way out here for some answers? Help me, Jesus!
JESUS: Eliezer, I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: You're the Gate, Jesus?
JESUS: I am the Gate. You're one of my sheep, Eliezer. The reason you've come out to me here in the countryside is because you've heard my voice and know me not to be a thief and robber like the others.
ELIEZER: You're the Gate, Jesus?
JESUS: You were mine even before you were born. It's you're name I'm calling, Eliezer, not for guilt, not for slavery, not for fear, but for salvation and life.
ELIEZER: Jesus, you're the Gate?
JESUS: Yes, I'm the Gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. I go before my sheep, facing danger, even dying for them, that they might never fear walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
ELIEZER: You mean, Jesus, that by believing in you, I'm not a slave anymore, to Roman or Pharisee or even my guilty conscience? You mean, Jesus, that it's not just the sinful woman you forgive, but me? And it's not just a cripple by the pool that you make whole, but me? And it's not just the physically blind but the blind in heart that you make see, spiritually blind sinners like me?
JESUS: I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: But I have nothing to offer you Jesus, nothing with which to pay for these treasures.
JESUS: It's not the sheep's job to care for the shepherd, but the shepherd for the sheep. Enter through me and be saved. Come in and go out through me and find pasture. I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly. Life is God's free gift to you, Eliezer. I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: How can I be sure, Jesus?
JESUS: Your own words have already spoken what you have heard and seen; sins forgiven, blindness restored, freedom gained. You have heard my voice and have come. Eliezer, you know I am the Gate.
ELIEZER: Yes, Jesus. I believe you are the Gate.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, we have so many troubles that threaten to enslave us, worries about what others will think of us if we follow you, guilt that quenches our joy, sorrow in the travails of this world. Open our ears that we might hear you calling us out of this slavery. Lead us through the gate that is you. Help us know that by faith in you, we are forgiven, we are free, and life is ours in abundance. In your name we pray. Amen.
Lent 2
John 10:1-10
Children's Sermon
Item needed: doorknob or gate latch
Well, hello! What a great group of children. I'm so glad you're here each week to learn more about who Jesus is. In the Gospel Lesson we read tonight, Jesus says, "I am the Gate." Some Bibles have, "I am the Door." But gates and doors are really the same, aren't they?
This is what I've brought to show you. (Hold out the door knob or gate latch for all to see.) Do you know what it is? (Let children identify it.) Yes, it's a door knob assembly, probably just like the one on your bedroom door.
Why do you suppose our houses have doors and door knobs and gates and gate latches? (Allow several to answer.) Of course, to keep our houses and yards safe. At night we lock the doors and gates. In the daytime we go in and out through them. If we want to go to school or the store, we go through the door first.
Jesus is like a door or gate. When we believe in Jesus as our Savior, we are going through a special door. On the other side of the door we find forgiveness of all our sins, all the bad things we do. We also find food and water, good things from God's word to make us strong in our faith.
If Jesus were not like a door, our sins would not be forgiven, and we would have no home in heaven. We'd always be in danger from the devil. But, praise God, Jesus is our Door. Let's thank God that he has given us a door to heaven in Jesus.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being our Door and Gate. When we hide behind you as our Door, you protect us from everything evil. Going through you by faith, all our sins are forgiven, you give us a home in heaven, and we are safe forever. For this we praise you, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen.
