John 10:15

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. AS THE FATHER KNOWETH ME, EVEN SO KNOW I THE FATHER. This ought not to have begun a new sentence; because it is properly part of the previous verse. The whole statement will then stand thus: "And I know mine, and am known of mine, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father." So the Vulgate, and Luther's version, Bengel, DeWette, Lucke, and nearly every modern critic; and so Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles print the text. When Christ says He "knows His sheep," He means it in the special and endearing sense of 2 Timothy 2:19; and when He says, "I am known of mine," He alludes to the soul's response to the voice that has inwardly and efficaciously called it; for in this mutual loving acquaintance, ours is the effect of His. The Redeem...

15._As the Father knoweth me. _It is unnecessary, and is not even expedient, that we should enter into those thorny questions, How is it that the Father knows his Wisdom? For Christ simply declares that, so far as he is the bond of our union with God, he is placed between Him and us; as if he had said, that it is no more possible for him to forget us, than that he should be rejected or disregarded by the Father. At the same time, he demands the duty which we mutually owe to him, because, as he employs all the power which he has received from the Father for our protection, so he wishes that we should be obedient and devoted to him, as he is wholly devoted to his Father, and refers everything to him....

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 do...

AS THE FATHER KNOWETH ME ... - See the Matthew 11:27 note; also Luke 10:22 note. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP - That is, I give my life as an atoning sacrifice for their sins. I die in their place, to redeem them from sin, and danger, and death. See John 10:17....

EXPOSITION JOHN 10:1 5. _Christ the Shepherd of the flock of God_._ _The discourse which now follows was the Lord's parabolic or allegoric reply to the conduct of the Pharisaic malignants. These men, claiming to be infallible guides of the ignorant, to be veritable shepherds of the flock of God, had ignored the advent of the true and good Shepherd, had opposed the Divine call and supreme claim of the Messiah, had set themselves to disturb and dislocate the relations between him and those who saw his glory and found in him the Consolation of Israel. They had excommunicated the adoring disciple who had passed out of lifelong darkness into marvelous light. They had exaggerated the faint glimmer of light which had broken upon their own blindness into true vision. They had said, "We see," and thus shown themselves to be willfully

AS THE FATHER KNOWETH ME,.... These words, with what follow, are in connection with John 10:14; and the sense is, that the mutual knowledge of Christ, and his sheep, is like that which his Father and he have of each other. The Father knows Christ as his own Son, and loves him as such, in the most strong and affectionate manner; and has entrusted him with the persons, grace, and glory, of all his people: EVEN SO KNOW I THE FATHER; or rather, "and I know the Father"; as he needs must, since he lay in his bosom, and still does, and knows his nature, perfections, purposes, and his whole mind and will; and loves him most ardently, which he has shown by his coming down from heaven, to do his will; and trusts in him for the accomplishment of everything he promised unto him: AND I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP; which proves him to be the good shepherd,...

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. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep._ The true Shepherd cares for the flock, the false ones are thieves and robbers who only care for the flesh or the fleece. 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._ John the Baptist was the porter who opened the door of Christ's earthly ministry by bearing witness that he was the Son of God. John 10:4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the

JOHN 10:15 ti,qhmi {B} See the comment on ver. 11....

CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The Shepherd of the Sheep. (John 10:1 .)_ 2. The Good Shepherd, His Sheep and His Work. (John 10:6 .) 3. At the Feast of Dedication; the Repeated Testimony. (John 10:22 .) 4. Accused of Blasphemy and His Answer. (John 10:31 .) 5. Beyond Jordan; and Many Believed on Him. (John 10:40 .) The teaching of this chapter is closely linked with the preceding event. It has become evident that the true sheep of Christ, belonging to His flock, would be cast out of the Jewish fold. The healed man cast out had become one of

JOHN 10. THE CLOSE OF THE MINISTRY IN JERUSALEM. [85] John 10:1. The Good Shepherd. The first part of this chapter records Jesus-' teaching on true and false leadership. In John 10:1 we have a close resemblance to the Synoptic parable, with one dominant idea. The true leader, wielding the authority of one sent by God, calls out the willing obedience of the led. It arises directly out of the circumstances of the case. As usual the words, Verily, verily introduce a new thought on what has gone before. The blind man, resisting the pressure of the usurped authority of the false leaders, who sought only their own interests, welcomes the true leader who comes by God's appointed way. The Pharisees cannot or will not see the import of His words. In...