John 10

1 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not in by the door to the fold of the sheep, but mounts up elsewhere, *he* is a thief and a robber;

2 but he that enters in by the door is [the] shepherd of the sheep.

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

4 When he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

5 But they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.

6 This allegory spoke Jesus to them, but they did not know what it was [of] which he spoke to them.

7 Jesus therefore said again to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them.

9 I am the door: if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture.

10 The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly.

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

12 but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.

13 Now he who serves for wages flees because he serves for wages, and is not himself concerned about the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine,

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

16 And I have other sheep which are not of this fold: those also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

17 On this account the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment of my Father.

19 There was a division again among the Jews on account of these words;

20 but many of them said, He has a demon and raves; why do ye hear him?

21 Others said, These sayings are not [those] of one that is possessed by a demon. Can a demon open blind people's eyes?

22 Now the feast of the dedication was celebrating at Jerusalem, and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in the porch of Solomon.

24 The Jews therefore surrounded him, and said to him, Until when dost thou hold our soul in suspense? If thou art the Christ, say [so] to us openly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye do not believe. The works which I do in my Father's name, these bear witness concerning me:

26 but ye do not believe, for ye are not of my sheep, as I told you.

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

28 and I give them life eternal; and they shall never perish, and no one shall seize them out of my hand.

29 My Father who has given [them] to me is greater than all, and no one can seize out of the hand of my Father.

30 I and the Father are one.

31 The Jews therefore again took stones that they might stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewn you of my Father; for which work of them do ye stone me?

33 The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

35 If he called *them* gods to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),

36 do ye say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am Son of God?

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

38 but if I do, even if ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know [and believe] that the Father is in me and I in him.

39 They sought therefore again to take him; and he went away from out of their hand

40 and departed again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptising at the first: and he abode there.

41 And many came to him, and said, John did no sign; but all things which John said of this [man] were true.

42 And many believed on him there.

John 10 Commentary

Chapter 10

The parable of the good shepherd. (1-5) Christ the Door. (6-9) Christ the good Shepherd. (10-18) The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus. (19-21) His discourse at the feast of dedication. (22-30) The Jews attempt to stone Jesus. (31-38) He departs from Jerusalem. (39-42)

Verses 1-5 Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as the Eastern shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in him to fancies about him.

Verses 6-9 Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all that care of his church, and every believer, which a good shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture.

Verses 10-18 Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case calling for it, he offered himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set free from the punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for his sheep.

Verses 19-21 Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed it, but remember our Master was thus reproached before us.

Verses 22-30 All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father.

Verses 31-38 Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know and believe these declarations of Christ.

Verses 39-42 No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him or it out of the world. When we know Christ by faith in our hearts, we find all that the Scripture saith of him is true.

Footnotes

• [a]. Exousia: right to act as well as power. Hence used for magistracy: see Matt. 10.1.
• [b]. Para with gen.: see ch. 6.45.
• [c]. Ps. 82.6.