THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The teaching given here continues the theme in chapter 9. Here Jesus speaks of the whole of Israel as being like a sheepfold, with the Israelites like sheep, some properly shepherded and some led astray, while the false teachers who oppose Him, the blind who lead the blind, are s... [ Continue Reading ]
“In very truth I tell you, he who does not enter by the doorway into the fold where the sheep are, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” The sheepfold contains the waiting people of Israel, originally, to use another metaphor, ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matth... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE FALSE SHEPHERDS (JOHN 10:1). The way that the parable opens emphasises the fact that the parable is as much about the false shepherds as it is about the true. It is a studied warning against looking to false teachers and false leaders, although having said that it at the s... [ Continue Reading ]
“But he who enters in by the doorway is the shepherd of the sheep.” In one sense John the Baptiser was a shepherd. The righteous prophets were also shepherds. There were undoubtedly others who were shepherds. They all used the door of God's true word. But the good Shepherd now is Jesus Himself, the... [ Continue Reading ]
“To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” God, the Porter, opens the door for this Shepherd, for God is happy with Him and His work. But God does not open to everyone for they would be harmful to the sheep. He only at this time o... [ Continue Reading ]
“When he has put forth all his own he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” This is the test of which sheep are His. Once He has called them and put them forth from the fold they follow Him. And they can do so confidently, for as they go on the way, living their day... [ Continue Reading ]
“And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This is a second test. These sheep who follow Jesus have within them a spirit of discernment so that they can discern the false from the true. They know, seemingly instinctively, through the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This mysterious saying Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what things they were that he spoke to them.” The people did not have centuries of understanding behind them, and so they were puzzled. They did not know what He meant. We can understand this. The total uniqueness of Jesus had... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus therefore said to them again, “In very truth I tell you, I am the doorway of the sheep.” He has made it plain that there is only one way in and out on the pathway of true life, the God-provided way. Now He expands on that way in and out, having His death in mind (John 10:15). Here we have th... [ Continue Reading ]
“All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” There have been false Messiahs and false teachers, under whatever guise, but they would not gain wide acceptance by the true people of God. The ‘all' refers to those who in one way or another had taken advantage of... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the doorway. By me if any man enter in he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” ‘I am the doorway of the sheep' (compare John 10:7). Jesus is both the good shepherd and the doorway. All who would come to the Father must do so through the doorway. And those who do come through... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The thief does not come for any other reason but that he may steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The thief is now contrasted with the shepherd. The thief is pictured in terms of a thieving rustler or wild beast who breaks into t... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He is a good shepherd, efficient and trustworthy, in contrast to the bad shepherds. He does His job thoroughly, watches over His sheep constantly, has deep affection for them and in the end is ready to give His life for t... [ Continue Reading ]
“He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and does not care for the sheep.” The way of the good shepherd is in contrast with the hired s... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep'. The relationship between Jesus and His own is likened to His relationship with the Father, and nothing could be closer than that. What an incredib... [ Continue Reading ]
“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice. And they will become one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus here refers to the Gentile (non-Jewish, non-Samaritan) world, not, according to the Jews, included in many of the promises to them, a... [ Continue Reading ]
“This is why my Father loves me, because I lay down my life, in order that I might take it again ” We are reminded here that the Father is equally as interested in and concerned about the sheep as Jesus is, and responds in full measure to His Son's action in giving His life for the sheep. But note... [ Continue Reading ]
“No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it again. This commandment I received of my Father.” Now Jesus again makes clear that what was to happen was not finally in men's hands but was in His own hands. ‘No one takes it from me, but... [ Continue Reading ]
‘There arose a division among the Judaisers, because of these words. And many of them said, “He has a devil and is mad, why do you listen to him?”. Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed with a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” His suggestion that He had total control... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter.' The feast of dedication was a winter festival and celebrated the rededication of the Temple in 165/4 BC by Judas Maccabaeus, after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Ephiphanes. The Jews saw it as an amazing act of God, carried... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FEAST OF DEDICATION (JOHN 10:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's porch. The Judaisers therefore came round about him and said to him, “How long will you take away our life? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly”.' When the Judaisers found Jesus walking in the Temple area in Solomon's collonade (the detail confi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, these bear witness of me'. His reply is that they had neither listened to what He had been saying, nor rightly interpreted His amazing acts of power. All He had said and done had revealed Him as G... [ Continue Reading ]
“But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. And I give to them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will be able to snatch them from my hand.” Jesus then makes clear the position. What they needed to do was to f... [ Continue Reading ]
“My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father's hand'. This security is made all the more certain because the One Who is Almighty, His Father, Who is ‘greater than all', has given them to Him and watches over them. No one _can_ snatch them from... [ Continue Reading ]
“I and the Father are one.” ‘One' is not in the masculine but in the neuter, thus indicating that He does not mean one person. He and His Father always act in perfect unity. They act as one in everything they do. Thus when He protects His sheep, so does His Father. When He saves them, so does His F... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Judaisers carried stones to stone him.' Some of the Judaisers did recognise what He meant and were inflamed. To then this was blasphemy! Whatever their motives at the beginning they now lost control, for they went over to a nearby pile of rocks and picked up rocks, carrying them over in order... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, saying, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” ' Jesus answered their anger. His words were subtle and to the point. He drew attention to what they could not deny, the miracles He had publicly wrought which all men agreed were g... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Judaisers answered him, “We are not stoning you for any good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a mere man, claim to be God”.' Modern men here argue about the Aramaic and the Greek in this passage as to whether Jesus was really claiming to be God, but these ancient scholarly men wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods'? (Psalms 82:6). If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world ‘you are blaspheming' because I said I am th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do do them, then believe the works even though you do not believe me, so that you may know and go on knowing that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father'. Look at what I have done, He said, and think about it. Ask your... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They sought again to take him and he went forth out of their hand.' They did this by some of them leaving and arranging for Temple police to make the arrest, but once again He escaped them. While the crowds were with Him they would have a difficult time finalising any arrest without a riot. This w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John was at first baptising, and there he abode. And many came to him, and they said, “John, indeed, did no sign, but all things whatever John spoke of this man were true.” And many believed on him there.' Meanwhile Jesus left Jerusalem an... [ Continue Reading ]