John Chapter 10

Am the Good Shepherd

These verses follow on from the healing of the blind man - the occasion for this lesson was the excommunication of the beggar from the synagogue (John 9:34). The false shepherds did not care for this man; instead, they mistreated him and threw him out.

1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

The sheepfold was usually an enclosure made of rocks, with an opening for the door. The shepherd (or a porter) would guard the flock, or flocks, at night by lying across the opening. It was not unusual for several flocks to be sheltered together in the same fold. In the morning, the shepherds would come, call their sheep, and assemble their own flocks. Each sheep recognized his own master's voice.

2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

They claimed authority through the Mishnah. They had climbed up to their place in the fold some other way. They had wrongfully taken what did not belong to them—cunningly and undetected, like a thief; they had allotted it to themselves, and usurped it by violence, like a robber.

In contrast, Jesus entered the right way, the way the Hebrew Bible had revealed; therefore, He was indeed the true shepherd (John 10:2), and His sheep hear His voice: he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out(John 10:3).

So in amongst the flock of Israel, Jesus has His own sheep, His own sheep is equiva­lent to the poor of the flock in Zechariah 11:4-14, where the prophet pictured the messianic shepherd as coming to feed the flock as a whole, but eventually focusing on the poor of the flock, the believing remnant of Israel.

The believing remnant recognized Jesus to be the true messianic shepherd (John. 10:4-5).

6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

To the Jewish mind, a "shepherd" was any kind of leader, spiritual or political. People looked on the king and prophets as shepherds.

7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All those pretending to be the door—whether Pharisees, Sadducees, were only thieves and robbers: that was not the door into the Kingdom of God. And the sheep, God's flock, did not hear them; for, although they might pretend to lead the flock, the voice was that of strangers.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

To the sheep he is the door to all the blessings of salvation. The figure shows a door leads both in and out: it gives the shepherd access to his sheep that are inside. It gives the sheep access to the fold, and to the pasture which is outside.

Saved: means that person be given life. The terms to be saved and to have life are used together here. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

This is the fourth of our Lord's I AM statements in John's Gospel I am the good shepherd (John 6:35, bread of life; 8:12, light of the world; 10:9, the door).

12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

In making this statement, He is contrasting Himself to the false shepherds, the Pharisees and scribes who were the religious leaders in charge of the Jews of that day. He had already called them "thieves and robbers," and now He would describe them as a hired hand.

Keep in mind that Jewish shepherds did not tend the sheep in order to slaughter them, unless they were used for sacrifice. Shepherds tended them that the sheep might give wool, milk, and lambs.

Key phrase: the Good Shepherd purchases the sheep and they are His.

13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

In the Gospel of John, the word know means much more than intellectual awareness. It speaks of an intimate relationship between God and His people (see John 17:3). The Eastern shepherd knows his sheep personally and therefore knows best how to minister to them.

If you connect Psalm 23:1 and 6, you get the main theme of the poem: "I shall not want … all the days of my life."

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

It's not normal for shepherds to die for the sheep. Under the old dispensation, the sheep died for the shepherd; but now the Good Shepherd dies for the sheep!

Five times in this sermon, Jesus clearly tells us of the sacrificial nature of His death (John 10:11, 15, 17–18).

16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

He would unite both Jewish and Gentile sheep into one flock: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold(Jn. 10:16a). This fold refers to Israel, because Israel is the flock of God (Zech. 11:4-14; Ps. 100:3); but Jesus also has sheep from another fold.

Subsequent revelation in the Epistles shows that these sheep are Gentiles, of whom He stated: I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. (John. 10:16b).

This is the first indication that the church would be one body comprised of Jewish and Gentile believers, or one flock comprised of Jewish and Gentile sheep (Eph. 2:11-3:12).

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."

His voluntary death was followed by His victorious resurrection. From the human point of view, it appeared that Jesus was executed; but from the divine point of view, He laid down His life willingly. When Jesus cried on the cross, "It is finished!" He then voluntarily yielded up His spirit to the Father (John 19:30). Three days later, He voluntarily took up His life again and arose from the dead. The Father gave Him this authority in love.

Previously Jesus had hinted that He had power to raise Himself from the dead (John 5:26). Of course, this was a claim that the Jews would protest; because it was tantamount to saying "I am God!"

19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

20 Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?"

The old accusation that Jesus was a demoniac was hurled at Him again (John 7:20; 8:48, 52). People will do almost anything to avoid facing the truth!

21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

I and the Father Are One

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,

23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,

26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

30 I and the Father are one."

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?"

33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."

34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?

35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be broken--

36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;

38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

Moses was also called "god" in the Hebrew Scriptures. In Exodus 4:16, he was a god to Aaron, and in Exodus 7:1, he was a god to Phar­aoh. Moses did not be­come a god, but he bore God's message.
If Moses, who was a man, could be as a god to Aaron and to Pharaoh, why could not Jesus be the Son of God?
He, like Moses, was God's messenger, bringing His message. The children of Israel listened to Moses, so why should they not listen to Him? Jesus professed to be the Messiah, and His works proved Him right, showing that He was more than just God's representative. He was one with the Father.

39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

The people's response again showed that they knew who He claimed to be.

The stones, that had been taken up, were not thrown, for the words of Jesus made impossible the charge of blasphemy which alone would, according to Rabbinic law, have warranted stoning.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.

Jesus went beyond the Jordan, to the eastern side to an area known as Perea, outside the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin (Jn. 10:40). This is were John the Baptizer worked.

41 And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true."

42 And many believed in him there.

Even though John never performed a miraculous sign to authenticate what he was preaching, the people believed his witness about Jesus. By contrast, the hostile Jerusalem crowd had seen Jesus's signs and yet disobeyed. So having heard and believed the baptizer's message, these people, at their baptism, accepted the Messiah once John pointed Him out, and now they were fulfilling that commitment.