The blind man, restored to sight, is brought before the Pharisees with the view of instituting proceedings against Jesus, who, by the healing on the Sabbath, had violated the sanctity of the day of rest. But the process proves a signal failure, issuing as it does in the rescuing of the man from the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:1-2. VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT ENTERETH NOT BY THE DOOR INTO THE FOLD OF THE SHEEP, BUT CLIMBETH UP FROM SOME OTHER QUARTER, THE SAME IS A THIEF AND A ROBBER. BUT HE THAT ENTERETH IN BY THE DOOR IS A SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP. The opening words are of themselves sufficient to show... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:3. TO HIM THE PORTER OPENETH; AND THE SHEEP HEAR HIS VOICE: AND HE CALLETH HIS OWN SHEEP BY NAME, AND LEADETH THEM OUT. This verse gives other marks which indicate a true shepherd. The keeper of the gate recognises him and gives him entrance. The sheep in the enclosure show at once that they... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:4. WHEN HE HATH PUT OUT ALL HIS OWN SHEEP, HE GOETH BEFORE THEM, AND THE SHEEP FOLLOW HIM: FOR THEY KNOW HIS VOICE. The first words take up the thought contained in the words that immediately precede (‘and leadeth them out'), but express it with greater force. The shepherd leads forth _all_... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:5. BUT A STRANGER WILL THEY NOT FOLLOW, BUT WILL FLEE FROM HIM: FOR THEY KNOW NOT THE VOICE OF STRANGERS. The ‘stranger' is not one to whom the porter has opened (for the voice of every one who is thus admitted is familiar to all the sheep); he must therefore have entered by some other way,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:6. THIS PARABLE SAID JESUS UNTO THEM: BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT WHAT THINGS THEY WERE WHICH HE SPAKE UNTO THEM. The word here used is not that which occurs so frequently in the other gospels in the sense of _parable._ It is found but four times in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:22, and in thre... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:7. JESUS THEREFORE SAID UNTO THEM AGAIN, VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP. The formula which introduced the parable (John 10:1) now brings in the interpretation. This interpretation is given in two parts, or, as perhaps we ought rather to say, two distinct applicati... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:8. ALL THAT CAME BEFORE ME ARE THIEVES AND ROBBERS: BUT THE SHEEP DID NOT HEAR THEM. In the similitude of the door, Jesus had declared that it was through Him alone that the flocks could come out of the Jewish fold into the pastures into which they had longed to enter; and this was a truth n... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:9. I AM THE DOOR: BY ME IF ANY ONE HAVE ENTERED IN, HE SHALL BE SAVED, AND SHALL ENTER IN, AND SHALL GO OUT AND FIND PASTURE. From the thought of the ‘thieves and robbers,' Jesus turns to mat of ‘a shepherd of the sheep.' And as entering by the door has been mentioned (John 10:1) as the firs... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:10. THE THIEF COMETH NOT BUT THAT HE MAY STEAL, AND KILL, AND DESTROY. This verse forms a link of connection between John 10:9 and John 10:11, presenting first the contrast between a true shepherd and ‘the thief,' and then preparing the way for the highest contrast of all, that between the t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:11. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: THE GOOD SHEPHERD LAYETH DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP. The aspect of the preamble here changes: in the following verses, until the 16 th, there is no mention of the fold or of the door, but of the shepherd only and his relation to the flock. The word rendered ‘good... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:12-13. HE THAT IS AN HIRELING AND NOT A SHEPHERD, WHOSE OWN THE SHEEP ARE NOT, BEHOLDETH THE WOLF COMING, AND LEAVETH THE SHEEP AND FLEETH (AND THE WOLF CATCHETH THEM AND SCATTERETH), BECAUSE HE IS AN HIRELING AND CARETH NOT FOR THE SHEEP. A true shepherd will purchase the life of his sheep... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:14-15. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD, AND I KNOW MINE OWN, AND MINE OWN KNOW ME, EVEN AS THE FATHER KNOWETH ME AND I KNOW THE FATHER. AND I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP. As the figure of John 10:7 was repeated in John 10:9, that it might receive a new and blessed application, so here we have a re... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:16. AND OTHER SHEEP I HAVE, WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD: THEM ALSO I MUST LEAD, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE. Not in the Jewish Church only was there a work of preparation for His coming: the light had been shining in the darkness (chap. John 1:5), the light which enlighteneth every man (John... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:17. THEREFORE DOTH THE FATHER LOVE ME, BECAUSE I LAY DOWN MY LIFE THAT I MAY TAKE IT AGAIN. In John 10:15 we have read of the Father's recognition of the Good Shepherd, who gives the highest proof of His devotion to the shepherd's work and possession of the shepherd's character in laying dow... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:18. NO MAN TAKETH IT FROM ME, BUT I LAY IT DOWN OF MYSELF. I HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN, AND I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT AGAIN. He lays down His life of Himself. He has the right to do this, and the right to take the life again. THIS COMMANDMENT I RECEIVED OF MY FATHER. By His Father's express c... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:19. THERE AROSE A DIVISION AGAIN AMONG THE JEWS BECAUSE OF THESE WORDS. The effect related in chap. John 7:43; John 9:16, is again produced. This time however (as in chap. John 8:31) ‘the Jews' themselves are divided. The preceding parable therefore must have been spoken in the hearing of ma... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:20-21. AND MANY OF THEM SAID, HE HATH A DEMON, AND IS MAD; WHY HEAR YE HIM? OTHERS SAID, THESE ARE NOT THE SAYINGS OF ONE THAT IS POSSESSED BY A DEMON. CAN A DEMON OPEN THE EYES OF THE BLIND? In the other instances quoted above the division of feeling had been between ‘some' and ‘others:' he... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:22. THERE CAME TO PASS AT THAT TIME THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION AT JERUSALEM: IT WAS WINTER. With these words we enter on a new scene, where the Evangelist first sets before us the outward circumstances, expressing them, after his usual manner, by three clauses. Where and how the weeks inter... [ Continue Reading ]
The contest with the Jews is continued. The section strikingly illustrates the plan of the gospel (1) by taking up again that claim of Jesus to be the Son of God which had, more than anything else, provoked the opposition of His enemies; (2) by bringing into notice His return to Bethany beyond Jorda... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:23. AND JESUS WALKED IN THE TEMPLE-COURTS, IN SOLOMON'S PORCH. The ‘porch' which bore Solomon's name was a covered colonnade on the eastern side of the outer court of the temple. According to Josephus this ‘porch' was the work of Solomon: at all events we may well believe that the massive fo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:24. THE JEWS THEREFORE SURROUNDED MM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW LONG DOST THOU EXCITE OUR SOUL? IF THOU ART THE CHRIST, TELL US PLAINLY. The recurrence of the oft - repeated term ‘the Jews' is a sufficient indication of the tone and design of the question asked. Taking advantage, perhaps, of th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:25. JESUS ANSWERED THEM, I TOLD YOU, AND YE BELIEVE NOT: THE WORKS THAT I DO IN MY FATHER'S NAME, THEY BEAR WITNESS CONCERNING ME. A demand so made was never granted by Jesus. They had already received sufficient evidence, and to this He refers them. He again speaks of both word and deed. Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:26. BUT YE BELIEVE NOT, BECAUSE YE ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP. In chap. John 8:47 He had said that they heard not His words because they were not of God: the same thought is expressed here, but with a change of figure. There is no reference to an essential or necessary state, to any ‘decree' throug... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:27-28. My SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, AND I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME: AND I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE; AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER SHALL ANY ONE PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND. In these verses is given A description of the true sheep. The description is rhythmical, and rises to a climax.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:29-30. MY FATHER, WHICH HATH GIVEN THEM ME, IS GREATER THAN ALL; AND NO ONE is ABLE TO PLUCK OUT OF THE FATHER'S HAND. I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE. The apparent object of these words is to establish more completely the safety of His sheep. But in answering this purpose they also answer a still... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:31. THE JEWS TOOK UP STONES AGAIN TO STONE HIM. Their view of the blasphemy of His words is given more fully in John 10:33. The word ‘again' carries us back to chap. John 8:59, where a similar attempt is recorded, but in less definite language. There we see the Jews taking up, hastily snatch... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:32. JESUS ANSWERED THEM, MANY GOOD WORKS HAVE I SHOWED YOU FROM THE FATHER; FOR WHICH OF THESE WORKS DO YE STONE ME? On the word ‘good' see the note on John 10:11: every work He has shown them has borne the perfect stamp of a work noble and perfect in its kind, for He has shown it ‘from the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:33. THE JEWS ANSWERED HIM, FOR A GOOD WORK WE STONE THEE NOT; BUT FOR BLASPHEMY; AND BECAUSE THAT THOU, BEING A MAN, MAKEST THYSELF GOD. These words show conclusively how the saying of John 10:30 was understood by those who heard it: they perceive now who is meant by ‘the Father' (comp. John... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:34. JESUS ANSWERED THEM, IS IT NOT WRITTEN IN YOUR LAW, I SAID, YE ARE GODS? The quotation is from Psalms 82 (the word ‘law' being used, as in chap. John 15:25 and some other places, for the Old Testament scriptures generally), ‘I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Mo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:35-36. IF HE CALLED THEM GODS, UNTO WHOM THE WORD OF GOD CAME, AND THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN; SAY YE OF HIM, WHOM THE FATHER CONSECRATED, AND SENT INTO THE WORLD, THOU BLASPHEMEST; BECAUSE I SAID, I AM SON OF GOD? If (1) the speaker in the psalm called men ‘gods' because the word of God... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:37. IF I DO NOT THE WORKS OF MY FATHER, BELIEVE ME NOT. In the last verse ‘the Father' was the Name of which Jesus spoke, thus bringing together in thought God who spoke in the psalm and His Father who sent Him into the world. Here, after the mention of ‘the Son of God,' He says ‘the works o... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:38. BUT IF I DO, EVEN IF YE BELIEVE NOT ME, BELIEVE THE WORKS: THAT YE MAY KNOW, AND RECOGNISE, THAT THE FATHER IS IN ME, AND I IN THE FATHER. If He does the works of His Father, then, even although they might be unwilling to accept His witness respecting Himself, the works bear a testimony... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:39. THEY SOUGHT AGAIN TO SEIZE HIM: AND HE WENT FORTH OUT OF THEIR HAND. ‘Again' seems to point back to chap. 7, where the same word ‘seize' is found three times (John 7:30; John 7:32; John 7:44). We cannot suppose that the Jews had laid aside their design of stoning Him in consequence of th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:40. AND HE WENT AWAY AGAIN BEYOND JORDAN UNTO THE PLACE WHERE JOHN WAS AT FIRST BAPTIZING; AND THERE HE ABODE. The place in which John _at first_ baptized was that mentioned in chap. John 1:28 (not in chap. John 3:22), viz. Bethany beyond Jordan. But why does the Evangelist here make special... [ Continue Reading ]
John 10:41-42. AND MANY CAME UNTO HIM; AND THEY SAID, JOHN DID NO SIGN: BUT ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER JOHN SPAKE OF THIS MAN WERE TRUE. AND MANY BELIEVED IN HIM THERE. How great the contrast between the scene presented here and those of the preceding Chapter s! He came to the Jews, but, in spite of work... [ Continue Reading ]