John 10

1 `Verily, verily, I say to you, He who is not entering through the door to the fold of the sheep, but is going up from another side, that one is a thief and a robber;

2 and he who is entering through the door is shepherd of the sheep;

3 to this one the doorkeeper doth open, and the sheep hear his voice, and his own sheep he doth call by name, and doth lead them forth;

4 and when his own sheep he may put forth, before them he goeth on, and the sheep follow him, because they have known his voice;

5 and a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, because they have not known the voice of strangers.'

6 This similitude spake Jesus to them, and they knew not what the things were that he was speaking to them;

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

8 all, as many as came before me, are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them;

9 I am the door, through me if any one may come in, he shall be saved, and he shall come in, and go out, and find pasture.

10 `The thief doth not come, except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and may have [it] abundantly.

11 `I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd his life layeth down for the sheep;

12 and the hireling, and not being a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, doth behold the wolf coming, and doth leave the sheep, and doth flee; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep;

13 and the hireling doth flee because he is an hireling, and is not caring for the sheep.

14 `I am the good shepherd, and I know my [sheep], and am known by mine,

15 according as the Father doth know me, and I know the Father, and my life I lay down for the sheep,

16 and other sheep I have that are not of this fold, these also it behoveth me to bring, and my voice they will hear, and there shall become one flock -- one shepherd.

17 `Because of this doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that again I may take it;

18 no one doth take it from me, but I lay it down of myself; authority I have to lay it down, and authority I have again to take it; this command I received from my Father.'

19 Therefore, again, there came a division among the Jews, because of these words,

20 and many of them said, `He hath a demon, and is mad, why do ye hear him?'

21 others said, `These sayings are not those of a demoniac; is a demon able blind men's eyes to open?'

22 And the dedication in Jerusalem came, and it was winter,

23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the porch of Solomon,

24 the Jews, therefore, came round about him, and said to him, `Till when our soul dost thou hold in suspense? if thou art the Christ, tell us freely.'

25 Jesus answered them, `I told you, and ye do not believe; the works that I do in the name of my Father, these testify concerning me;

26 but ye do not believe, for ye are not of my sheep,

27 according as I said to you: My sheep my voice do hear, and I know them, and they follow me,

28 and life age-during I give to them, and they shall not perish -- to the age, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand;

29 my Father, who hath given to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck out of the hand of my Father;

30 I and the Father are one.'

31 Therefore, again, did the Jews take up stones that they may stone him;

32 Jesus answered them, `Many good works did I shew you from my Father; because of which work of them do ye stone me?'

33 The Jews answered him, saying, `For a good work we do not stone thee, but for evil speaking, and because thou, being a man, dost make thyself God.'

34 Jesus answered them, `Is it not having been written in your law: I said, ye are gods?

35 if them he did call gods unto whom the word of God came, (and the Writing is not able to be broken,)

36 of him whom the Father did sanctify, and send to the world, do ye say -- Thou speakest evil, because I said, Son of God I am?

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

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

39 Therefore were they seeking again to seize him, and he went forth out of their hand,

40 and went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was at first baptizing, and remained there,

41 and many came unto him, and said -- `John, indeed, did no sign, and all things, as many as John said about this one were true;'

42 and many did believe 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.