We begin today to consider two images that Jesus gives of himself: the first is that of a gate and the second that of a shepherd. Only a genuine shepherd enters the sheepfold through the single gate. Thieves and brigands will try to enter illegally by another way. "All who came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep do not listen to them." The real shepherd, however, enters by the gate and is recognised and admitted by the gatekeeper (the one who sleeps across the entrance). There are many sheep in the sheepfold belonging to different shepherds so the shepherd calls his own sheep by name - one by one. He then walks ahead of them and they follow their shepherd because they know his voice. They never follow strangers. Jesus' hearers failed to understand the meaning of what Jesus said. So he spoke more clearly: "I AM the gate of the sheepfold." In speaking this way, he affirms his divine origin as Son of God. Jesus, as the Gate, the Way, has come "that they may have life and have it to the full."