CHAPTER X. _Christ speaks the parable of the sheepfold_, 1-6. _Proclaims himself the door of the sheepfold_, 7-10, _and the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep_, 11-18. _The Jews are again divided, and some revile and some vindicate_ _our Lord_, 19-21. _His discourse with the J... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:2. _HE THAT ENTERETH IN BY THE DOOR_] Observe here the marks, qualities, and duties of a good pastor; The _first_ mark is, that he has a lawful entrance into the ministry by the internal call of Christ, namely, by an impulse proceeding from his Spirit, upon considerations which respect... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:3. _TO HIM THE PORTER OPENETH_] Sir Isaac Newton observes that our Lord being near the temple, where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for sacrifices, spoke many things parabolically of sheep, of their shepherds, and of the door to the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:4. _HE GOETH BEFORE THEM_] A _sixth_ mark of a true pastor is, he gives them a good example: he not only _preaches_, but he _lives_, the truth of the Gospel; he enters into the depths of the salvation of God; and, having thus explored the path, he knows how to lead those who are entru... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:5. _AND A STRANGER WILL THEY NOT FOLLOW_] That is, a man who, pretending to be a shepherd of the flock of God, is a _stranger_ to that salvation which he professes to preach. His mode of preaching soon proves, to those whose hearts are acquainted with the truths of God, that he is a st... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:7. _I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP._] It is through me only that a man can have a lawful entrance into the ministry; and it is through me alone that mankind can be saved. Instead of, _I am the_ _door_, the _Sahidic_ version reads, _I am the shepherd_; but this reading is found in no other... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:8. _ALL THAT EVER CAME BEFORE ME_] Or, as some translate, _all that came instead of me_, προ εμου, i.e. all that came as _the_ _Christ_, or Messiah, such as _Theudas_, and _Judas_ the _Gaulonite_, who are mentioned, Acts 5:36; and who were indeed no other than _thieves_, plundering the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:9. _I AM THE DOOR: BY ME IF ANY MAN ENTER_, c.] Those who come for salvation to God, through Christ, _shall_ obtain it: _he_ _shall be saved_-he shall have his sins blotted out, his soul purified, and himself preserved unto eternal life. This the scribes and Pharisees could neither pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:10. _BUT FOR TO STEAL, AND TO KILL, AND TO DESTROY_] Those who enter into the priesthood that they may enjoy the revenues of the Church, are the basest and vilest of thieves and murderers. Their ungodly conduct is a snare to the simple, and the occasion of much scandal to the cause of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:11. _I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD_] Whose character is the very reverse of that which has already been described. In John 10:7; John 10:9, our Lord had called himself _the door of the sheep_, as being the _sole way_ to glory, and _entrance_ into eternal life; here he changes the thought, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:12. _BUT HE THAT IS A HIRELING_] Or, as my old MS. Bible reads it, _the marchaunt_, he who makes _merchandise_ of men's souls; bartering them, and his own too, for filthy lucre. Let not the reader apply this, or any of the preceding censures, to any particular _class_ or _order_ of men... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:14. _I - KNOW MY SHEEP_] I know, ταεμα, them that are mine: I _know_ their hearts, their wishes, their purposes, their circumstances; and I _approve_ of them; for in this sense the word _to know_ is often taken in the Scriptures. Homer represents the goatherds as being so well acquaint... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:16. _OTHER SHEEP I HAVE_] The _Gentiles_ and Samaritans. As if our Lord had said, Do not imagine that I shall lay down my life for the Jews, _exclusively_ of all other people; no: I shall die also for the Gentiles; for _by the grace_, the merciful design and loving purpose _of God, I a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:17. _THEREFORE DOTH MY FATHER LOVE ME_] As I shall be shortly crucified by you, do not imagine that I am abandoned by my heavenly Father, and therefore fall thus into your hands. The _Father loveth me_ particularly on this account, because I am going _to lay down my life_ for the life... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:18. _I HAVE POWER_] Or, _authority_, εξουσιαν. Our Lord speaks of himself here as _man_, or the _Messiah_, as being God's messenger, and sent upon earth to fulfil the Divine will, in dying and rising again for the salvation of men. _THIS COMMANDMENT HAVE I RECEIVED_] That is, I act ac... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:19. _THERE WAS A DIVISION_] σχισμα, _a schism_, a _rent_. They were divided in their opinions; one part received the light, and the other resisted it. _AGAIN_] There was a dissension of this kind before among the same people; see John 9:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:20. _HE HATH A DEVIL, AND IS MAD_] So, then, a _demoniac_ and a _madman_ were not exactly the same in the apprehension of the Jews; no more than the _effect_ is the same with the _cause_ which produces it. Some will have it that, when the Jews told our Lord that he had a _demon_, they... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:21. _THESE ARE NOT THE WORDS OF HIM THAT HATH A DEVIL._] If he were _deranged_ by an _unclean spirit_, his words would bear a similitude to the spirit that produced them; but these are words of _deep sense, soberness_, and _piety_: besides, could a demoniac open the eyes of blind men?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION_] This was a feast instituted by _Judas Maccabeus_, in commemoration of his purifying the temple after it had been defiled by _Antiochus Epiphanes_. This feast began on the twenty-fifth of the month _Cisleu_, (which answers to the eighteenth of our December,)... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _SOLOMON'S PORCH._] By what we find in Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c. 8, s. 7, a portico built by Solomon, on the east side of the outer court of the temple, was left standing by Herod, when he rebuilt the temple. This portico was four hundred cubits long, and was left standing, probably, becaus... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _HOW LONG DOST THAN MAKE US TO DOUBT?_] Or, _How long_ _dost thou kill us with suspense_? Ἑως ποτε την ψυχην ἡμων αιρεις, literally, _How long wilt thou take away our life_? Mr. _Markland_ would read αιωρεις for αιρεις, which amounts nearly to the same sense with the above. The Jews aske... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _I TOLD YOU_, c.] That is, I told you before what I tell you now again, _that the works which I do, bear testimony to_ _me_. I have told you that _I am the light of the world: the Son of_ _God: the good shepherd_: that I am come to _save _- to give _life _- to _give liberty_-to _redeem_ yo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _YE ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP_] Ye have not the disposition of those who come unto me to be instructed and saved: see what follows.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE_] But ye _will_ not hear:- _my sheep_ _follow me_; but ye will neither follow nor acknowledge me. Any person who reads without prejudice may easily see, that our Lord does not at all insinuate that these persons _could not_ believe, because God had made it _impossib... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH_] Why? Because they _hear_ my voice, and _follow_ me; therefore I _know_, I approve of and love them, _and give them eternal life_. They who _continue_ to hear Christ's voice, and to follow him, shall never perish. They give themselves up to God-believe so on Jesu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _MY FATHER - IS GREATER THAN ALL_] More powerful than all the united energies of men and demons. He who loves God must be happy; and he who fears him need fear nothing on this side eternity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE._] If Jesus Christ were not God, could he have said these words without being guilty of blasphemy? It is worthy of remark that Christ does not say, _I and_ _MY Father_, which _my_ our translation very improperly supplies, and which in this place would have conveye... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _THE JEWS TOOK UP STONES_] To stone him as a blasphemer, Leviticus 24:14-3, because he said he was _one with God_. The evangelist adds the word _again_, because they had attempted to do this _before_, see John 8:59; but it seems they mere prevented from doing this now by the following disc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _MANY GOOD WORKS HAVE I SHOWED YOU_] I have healed your sick, delivered those of you who were possessed from the power of demons; I have fed multitudes of your poor, and I have taught you in all places, at all times, without expense, with patience; and is this my reward? To _show good wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _BUT FOR BLASPHEMY_] I have elsewhere shown that the original word, βλασφημειν, when applied to men, signifies _to speak_ _injuriously_ of their persons, character, connections, c. but when applied to God it signifies _to speak impiously_, i.e. contrary to his nature, perfections, the wisd... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _IS IT NOT WRITTEN IN YOUR LAW_] The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Psalms 82:6, which shows that, under the word _law_, our Lord comprised the Jewish _sacred writings_ in general. See also John 12:34; John 15:25. _YE ARE GODS?_] That is, _judges_, who are called אלהים _elohim... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _UNTO WHOM THE WORD OF GOD CAME_] Bishop Pearce thinks that "the word λογος, here, is put for λογος κρισεως, _the word_ or _matter of judgment_, as in 2 Chronicles 19:6, where Jehoshaphat, setting up judges in the land of Judah, says: _Take heed what ye do: judge_ _not for men, but for th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _IF I DO NOT THE WORKS_, c.] I desire you to believe only on the evidence of my works: if I do not do such works as God only can perform, then believe me not.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _BELIEVE THE WORKS_] Though ye do not now credit what I have said to you, yet consider my works, and then ye will see that these works prove that _I am in the Father and the Father in me_; and, consequently, that _I and the Father are one_. This seems to be the force of our Lord's argument... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _THEY SOUGHT AGAIN TO TAKE HIM_] They could not reply to his _arguments_ but by _stones_. The evidence of the truth could not be resisted; and they endeavoured to destroy the person who spoke it. Truth may confound the obstinately wicked, but it does not convert them; and it is a just judg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:40. _BEYOND JORDAN_] Rather, _to the side of Jordan_, not _beyond_ it. John 6:22, and Matthew 19:1. _WHERE JOHN AT FIRST BAPTIZED_] That is, at _Bethabara_: see John 1:28. _Afterwards_, John baptized at _AEnon_: John 3:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 10:42. _MANY BELIEVED ON HIM THERE._] The people believed on him: 1. because of the _testimony_ of _John_ the _Baptist_ whom they knew to be a good and a wise man, and a prophet of the Lord; and they knew he could neither _deceive_ nor _be deceived_ in this mater; and, 2. they believed... [ Continue Reading ]