John 10:24

Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. THEN CAME THE JEWS that is as usual in this Gospel the rulers as observed on John 1:19 THEN CAME THE JEWS - that is, as usual in this Gospel, the rulers, as observed on John 1:19. ROUND ABOUT HIM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW LONG DOST THOU MAKE US TO DOUBT? [ teen (G3588) psucheen (G5590) heemoon (G2257) aireis (G142)...

24._The Jews therefore surrounded him. _This was undoubtedly a cunning attack on Christ, at least on the part of those with whom the scheme originated. For the common people might, without any fraud, desire that Christ would openly declare that God had sent him to be a deliverer; but a few persons, by trick and stratagem, wished to draw this word from him amidst the crowd, that he might be killed by a mob, or that the Romans might lay hands on him. _How long dost thou keep our soul in suspense? _By complaining of being _kept in suspense_, they pretend that they are so ardently desirous of the promised redemption, that their minds are eagerly and incessantly occupied by the expectation of Christ. And this is the true feeling of piety, to find nowhere else than in Christ alone, what will satisfy our minds, or give them true composure; as he himself says, Come to me, all you who labo

22-30 All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father....

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 asked this question through extreme perfidiousness: they wished to get him to declare himself king of the Jews, that they might accuse him to the Roman governor; and by it they insolently insinuated that all the proofs he had hitherto given them of his Divine mission were good for nothing....

TELL US PLAINLY - The Messiah was predicted as a shepherd. Jesus had applied that prediction to himself. They supposed that that was an evidence that he claimed to be the Messiah. He also performed miracles, which they considered as evidence that he was the Christ, John 7:31. Yet the rulers made a difficulty. They alleged that he was from Galilee, and that the Messiah could not come from thence, John 7:52. He was poor and despised. He came contrary to the common expectation. A splendid prince and conqueror had been expected. In this perplexity they came to him for a plain and positive declaration that he was the Messiah....

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

THEN CAME THE JEWS ROUND ABOUT HIM,.... Who might be walking there on the same account, and seeing Jesus, took this opportunity, and got about him in great numbers, and hemmed him in; having a design upon him to ensnare him, if possible: AND SAID UNTO HIM, HOW LONG DOST THOU MAKE US DOUBT? or as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions literally render it, "how long dost thou take away our soul?" that is, deprive us of the knowledge of thee; Nonnus renders it, "wherefore dost thou steal away our minds with words?" so Jacob when he went away privately, without the knowledge of Laban, is said to steal away the heart of Laban, as it is in the Hebrew text, in Genesis 31:20 o. In like manner the Jews charge Christ with taking away their soul, or stealing away their heart, or hiding himself from them; not telling them plainly, who he was: therefore say they,

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 positiveness of our Lord's teaching is noteworthy. Whatever may be said about dogmatical teaching now, it is certain that his teaching is of that character. He does not raise questions, but he solves them. He does not suggest probabilities, but he declares certainties. This might be taken as the key-word to all the Saviour's teaching, «Verily, verily.» He makes a strong asseveration; he speaks as one having authority, not as the scribes who only claimed to have authority, but as the Sent One of the Father who really has it: «Verily, verily, I say unto you.» Whatever comes to us with the imprimatur of the «Verily, verily,» of the Son of God is not to be questioned or doubted by us for a single moment. «He that entereth not

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

THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION._ Mg.,_ At that time suggests a closer connexion with what precedes than the old reading And. But in any case the notes of time are not precise. The Feast of the Dedication (p. 104) was instituted to commemorate the restoration (p. 607) of the Temple services in 165 by the Maccabees after its desecration for three years by Antiochus Epiphanes (1Ma_4:36-59, 2Ma_10:1-8, Josephus, _Ant._ XII. vii. 7). It lasted for eight days from December 25, and according to Josephus was called Lights, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us. According to 2Ma_1:9 it was called the Tabernacles of the month Chisleu, many of the customs of Tabernacles being reproduced at it. For the Porch of Solomon, _cf._ Acts 3:11 *. The Jews, either incited to hope by Jesus-' teaching, or wishing to discredit Him with the crowd, demand a clear pronouncement of His Messianic cla