John 10

Jesus as the Good Shepherd

1 "Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter through the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up at some other place--that one is a thief and a robber.

2 But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 For this one the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 Whenever he sends out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5 And they will never follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

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

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

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

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

10 The thief {comes only} so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so 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.

12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf approaching and abandons the sheep and runs away--and the wolf seizes them and scatters [them]--

13 because he is a hired hand and {he is not concerned} about the sheep.

14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know my [own], and my [own] know me,

15 just 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 from this fold. I must bring these also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock--one shepherd.

17 Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take possession of it again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down {voluntarily}. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take possession of it again. This commandment I received from my Father."

19 Again there was a division among the Jews because of these words.

20 And many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is out of his mind! Why do you listen to him?"

21 Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who is possessed by a demon! A demon is not able to open the eyes of the blind, [is it]?"

Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication

22 Then the feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

23 and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon.

24 So the Jews surrounded him and began to say 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 deeds that I do in the name of my Father, these testify about me.

26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep!

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

28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish {forever}, and no one will seize them out of my hand.

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

30 The Father and I are one."

31 Then the Jews picked up stones again so that they could stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?"

33 The Jews answered him, "We are not going to stone you concerning a good deed, but concerning blasphemy, and because you, [although you] are a man, make yourself [to be] 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 the scripture cannot be broken--

36 do you say about [he] whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

37 If I do not do the deeds of my Father, do not believe me.

38 But if I am doing [them], even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may know and understand that the Father [is] in me and I [am] in the Father."

39 So they were seeking again to seize him, and he departed out of their hand.

40 And he went away again on the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there.

41 And many came to him and began to say, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true!"

42 And many believed 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts omit "to them"
• [b]. Literally "does not come except"
• [c]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [d]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [e]. Literally "it is not a concern to him"
• [f]. Literally "from myself"
• [g]. *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase "[is it]"
• [h]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to say")
• [i]. Literally "until when will you take away our life"
• [j]. Literally "for the age"
• [k]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [l]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [m]. Some manuscripts omit "Then"
• [n]. *Here "[although]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("are") which is understood as concessive
• [o]. A quotation from Ps 82:6 (in common usage "law" could refer to the entire Old Testament)
• [p]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [q]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to say")