John 10

1 "In most solemn truth I tell you that the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs over some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter opens the door, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by their names and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out his own sheep--all of them--he walks at the head of them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
5 But a stranger they will by no means follow, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
6 Jesus spoke to them in this figurative language, but they did not understand what He meant.
7 Again therefore Jesus said to them, "In most solemn truth I tell you that I am the Door of the sheep.
8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep would not listen to them.
9 I am the Door. If any one enters by me, he will find safety, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in abundance.
11 "I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep.
12 The hired servant--one who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep--no sooner sees the wolf coming than he leaves the sheep and runs away; and the wolf worries and scatters them.
13 For he is only a hired servant and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 "I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and my sheep know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I am laying down my life for the sheep.
16 I have also other sheep--which do not belong to this fold. Those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice; and they shall become one flock under one Shepherd.
17 For this reason my Father loves me, because I am laying down my life in order to receive it back again.
18 No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."
19 Again there arose a division among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them said, "He is possessed by a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him?"
21 Others argued, "That is not the language of a demoniac: and can a demon open blind men's eyes?"
22 The Dedication Festival came on in Jerusalem. It was winter,
23 and Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon's Portico,
24 when the Jews gathered round Him and kept asking Him, "How long do you mean to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so plainly."
25 "I have told you," answered Jesus, "and you do not believe. The deeds that I do in my Father's name--they give testimony about me.
26 But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them the Life of the Ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand.
29 What my Father has given me is more precious than all besides; and no one is able to wrest anything from my Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one."
31 Again the Jews brought stones with which to stone Him.
32 Jesus remonstrated with them. "Many good deeds," He said, "have I shown you as coming from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?"
33 "For no good deed," the Jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God."
34 "Does it not stand written in your Law," replied Jesus, "`I said, you are gods'?
35 If those to whom God's word was addressed are called gods (and the Scripture cannot be annulled),
36 how is it that you say to one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am God's Son'?
37 If the deeds I do are not my Father's deeds, do not believe me.
38 But if they are, then even if you do not believe me, at least believe the deeds, that you may know and see clearly that the Father is in me, and that I am in the Father."
39 This made them once more try to arrest Him, but He withdrew out of their power.
40 Then He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing at first; and there He stayed.
41 Large numbers of people also came to Him. Their report was, "John did not work any miracle, but all that John said about this Teacher was true."
42 And many became believers in 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.

John 10 Commentaries

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