John 10

Christ the good Shepherd

“Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

10:1 There is no change of scene from the last verses of chapter 9, and the Jews and the blind man are mentioned in vs 19-21, so we may assume that in vs 1-18 Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. They considered themselves teachers and shepherds of the people of Israel (Matt 23:2-3; Rom 2:17-21). In this chapter Jesus teaches that He is the true shepherd of God’s people and the Pharisees were like thieves and robbers and wolves – bent on using the sheep for their own gain or else destroying them. In other words, the Pharisees were false and selfish shepherds. In some Old Testament passages God Himself says He is the shepherd of His people and describes false shepherds in very severe language. See Ps 80:1; Isa 40:10-11; 56:9-12; Jer 23:1-4; 25:32-38; Ezek 34; Zech 11:4-17.

Here in John 10:1-18 Jesus was using an illustration to teach spiritual truth. The sheep, of course, are Christ’s own people, those who believe and obey His voice (vs 15-29). Christ Himself is both the gate and the true shepherd of His people (vs 7,11). Thieves, robbers, and the wolf all represent people who want to prey on the sheep for their own benefit, either secretly or openly.⚜

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

10:2 The true shepherd of God’s people will enter in the proper way. God will appoint him and bring him into the ministry of shepherding.⚜

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

10:3 Verse 27; John 18:37. Believers in Christ can know when He speaks to them, and they can distinguish His teaching from that of any other teacher. And they desire to obey His voice. What is meant by leading them out? Out to streams of water and pasture land. See Ps 23:1-2.⚜

4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

10:4 A good shepherd does not drive his sheep but leads them to the place they should go. Christ leads His people from earth to heaven and He knows each step of the way they should go, and has gone before them through everything that can happen to them (compare 1 Pet 2:21-25; Heb 12:1-3).⚜

5 And they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers”.

6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

10:6 Often in this Gospel we see the Jews failing to understand Jesus’ words (John 6:41-42, 52; 7:35; 8:22, 27). They were not His sheep (v 26) and so lacked spiritual understanding.⚜

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door for the sheep. 8 All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it in great abundance.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

10:11 In the Old Testament Jehovah God was the Shepherd (Ps 23:1; Isa 40:10-11). In this verse the Lord Jesus says He is the Shepherd. This is more evidence that He knew Himself to be the incarnation of Jehovah God. See also John 8:24, 58; 12:41; Luke 2:11. “Gives his life” means His death on the cross.⚜

12 But the hired man who is not the shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired man runs away, because he is a hired man and does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and my sheep know me.

10:13-14 Between Christ and the “sheep” there is mutual knowledge as real as that between the Father and the Son in the Trinity. Christ’s people know Him because of the direct spiritual revelation He gives of Himself to them (see Matt 11:27). They do not receive a full knowledge of Him in a moment, however. It is an ever-increasing knowledge that comes as they trust and obey and follow Him (see also Eph 1:17; Phil 3:10; 2 Pet 3:18). But the teaching of Jesus here is simply the fact that all of His “sheep” actually do know Him. This is far more than having knowledge about Him. It indicates an initial meeting with Him and continuing fellowship with Him (1 John 1:3). Of course, this is a spiritual meeting and fellowship.⚜

15 Just as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

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

10:16 He is referring to individuals from other nations and peoples who would later come to believe in Him. Though they had not yet heard the gospel or believed it, He knew they would in the future. He says He will bring them into the company of His people. This He is doing through His servants throughout this whole age of grace.⚜

17 This is why my Father loves me: because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

10:17 For the third time Jesus speaks of laying down His life (vs 11,15). It is the most important thing He did for His sheep, the greatest possible display of love (John 15:13; Rom 5:6-8; 1 John 4:10). God the Father loved the Son from all eternity (John 5:20; 17:24). But Christ’s giving Himself to death for His people was a special reason why the Father loved Him. For this reason He highly exalted Him (Phil 2:8-9).⚜

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father”.

10:18 Jesus speaks of His rising from the dead (Matt 16:21; 28:6). No one was able to take His life unless He permitted it (John 19:10-11; Matt 26:53). And no one could prevent Him from rising from the dead. Both these events were God’s will for Him and Jesus had authority over His own death and resurrection.⚜

19 So there was a division again among the Jews because of these statements. 20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him?”

10:20 John 7:20; 8:48, 52; Matt 4:24. They thought Him mad because they did not believe He was who He said He was. And it is perfectly true that no fully sane and honest person could say the things Jesus said about Himself unless they were true. He either spoke the truth or He was indeed crazy. Every person has to decide what he will believe. By calling Jesus demon-possessed and mad they did not have to account for the evidence He presented (v 25; John 5:31-47). This is the easy way of trying to get rid of the arguments of an opponent.⚜

21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

10:21 Some had better sense than the others. But even these were not willing to follow the Lord Jesus. Speaking a few words in His favor is not at all the faith and commitment He requires.⚜

22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

10:22 This dedication festival looked back to 165 B.C. to the re-dedication of the temple after it had fallen into enemy hands.⚜

23 And Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s portico.

24 Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, “How long will you make us doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly”.

10:24 Note on “Christ” at Matt 1:1. They wanted Him to speak plainly, not so they could believe Him, but so they could accuse Him of making what they considered false claims.⚜

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you did not believe. The deeds that I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

10:25 Jesus had not used the words “I am the Christ, the Messiah of Israel”, but some of His words plainly meant this. No one but the Messiah could have honestly said such things as John 5:16-47; 6:32-58; 8:12, 23-29; 10:7-18. And His miracles were part of the evidence He presented – v 38; John 5:36.⚜

26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.

10:26 See John 8:44. The subject - election - is difficult, but it is nevertheless taught and seen throughout scripture. Here is a very clear example. One cannot help but note that Jesus did NOT say what we would expect Him to say, "you are not my sheep because you do not believe." No, He specifically says, "you do not believe because you are not my sheep..." Ultimately, we realize that the fact that anyone believes on Jesus as Lord and Christ is on account of His grace in giving His child faith - and calling him and her effectually to be His sheep. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.⚜

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

10:27 These truths He had already given (vs 3,14,16). Christ’s sheep are those people who have been born again (John 3:3-8). They have a new spiritual nature and so they can hear Christ’s voice and follow Him. To follow Him means to trust and obey Him. Faith and obedience are the twin marks of His people, and without them men cannot be real Christians at all.⚜

28 And I give to them eternal life, and they will never perish, neither will anyone snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

10:29 Two almighty hands enclose Christ’s sheep. Here is double security. See Col 3:2 – the life of believers is hidden in the depths of God Himself. And who can remove it from there?⚜

30 I and my Father are one”.

10:30 This does not say and does not mean that the Son and the Father are one and the same person. The word “one” is neuter gender in Greek and indicates the truth that the two are united in one essence, that they share the same nature – John 1:1. Other references at Phil 2:6; Luke 2:11. On the Trinity see John 5:30; Matt 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; Eph 4:6.

Jesus’ teaching here is not at all the same as the teaching of Advaita Vedanta. Advaita teaches that all men are one with God, that man’s spirit and God’s Spirit are one and the same. Jesus is not saying this and does not mean this. He is saying that He, the only Son of God, is one with the Father. He taught repeatedly that He was unique and not as other men – John 3:15; 8:23-24.⚜

Christ again reveals Who He is

31 Then again the Jews took up stones to stone him.

32 Jesus responded to them, “I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. For which of these deeds do you stone me?”

10:32 His miracles were signs pointing to the truth He spoke in v 30. These hardened unbelievers denied all He said about Himself, denied all the evidence He presented, and insisted that He was a mere man. But they were right in two things – in the law the penalty for blasphemy was death, and for a mere man to claim to be God is blasphemy, a fearful sin worthy of death (Lev 24:16; Num 15:30). It will be the very sin of the coming “man of sin” (2 Thess 2:3-4). In the Bible the true God presents Himself as the Creator of men and far above them in every way (Gen 2:7; Num 23:19; Ps 9:19-20; Isa 40:22-26). But these Jews were terribly wrong in thinking Jesus was a mere man.⚜

33 The Jews answered him, saying, “We do not stone you for a good deed, 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?’

10:34 Ps 82:6. See notes on that Psalm.⚜

35 If he called those to whom the Word of God came, ‘gods’, and the Scripture cannot be broken, 36 do you say about him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’, because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’

10:36 His answer to them is plain and compelling. God Himself called mere men “gods” and “sons of the Most High” in Ps 82:6. This was not blasphemy. Then how could it be blasphemy for the unique Son of God Himself to say that He was that Son? In Psalm 82 God was honoring those leaders of Israel by giving them titles in accordance with their high position. But He honored Christ by setting Him apart as His very own and sending Him into the world (see also John 3:13-17; 5:37; 6:57; 8:29).⚜

37 If I do not do the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him”.

10:37-38 The Lord Jesus not only said He was God’s Son and one with Him, He demonstrated it. His miracles backed up His words (John 2:11; 5:36; Matt 8:1; 11:4-5). He is saying if the Jews would believe the evidence of His miracles they would come to faith in Him. The phrase “the Father is in me, and I in him”, is the same in meaning as v 30 – the Father and the Son are perfectly united in the same nature. They are not two distinct Gods but two persons in the one Godhead.⚜

39 Therefore once more they tried to seize him, but he escaped out of their hand,

10:39 Nothing Jesus could say would convince these hardened, prejudiced and unreasonable men.⚜

40 and went away again beyond Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and he remained there.

10:40 See John 1:28. This was east of the Jordan River.⚜

41 And many came to him and said, “John did no miracle, but everything John said about this man is true”. 42 And many believed in him there.

10:42 People away from the hardened core of the Jewish religion at Jerusalem were more open to Christ’s teaching and more prepared to believe.⚜