John 10:1

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

The discourses and transactions of this chapter, though belonging to two different festivals, between which there was an interval of between two and three months, will be most conveniently embraced in one section, as the subjects are so much the same that the Remarks which they suggest cannot well be separated.

This discourse seems plainly a continuation of the closing verses of the preceding chapter. The figure of a shepherd and his sheep was familiar to the Jewish ear, (see Jeremiah 23:1; ; , etc.) 'This simple creature, the sheep,' says Luther, as quoted by Stier, 'has this special note among all animals, that it quickly hears the voice of the shepherd, follows no one else, depends entirely on him, and seeks help from him alone, cannot help itself, but is shut up to another's aid.'

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door - that is, by the legitimate way; without as yet saying what that was, Into the sheep-fold - the sacred enclosure of God's true people,

But climbeth up some other way - not referring to the assumption of ecclesiastical office without an external call-for those Jewish rulers who were specially aimed at had this (see the note at ) - but to the want of a true call, a spiritual commission, the seal of heaven going along with the outward authority: it is the assumption of the spiritual guidance of the people without this that is meant.

The same is a thief and a robber.