John 10:6

This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. THIS PARABLE SPAKE JESUS UNTO THEM: BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT WHAT THINGS THEY WERE WHICH HE SPAKE UNTO THEM. What is said in these three verses, though admitting of important application to every faithful shepherd of God's flock, is in its direct and highest sense true only of "the great Shepherd of the sheep," who in the first five verses seems plainly, under the simple character of a true shepherd, to be drawing His own portrait. So Lampe, Stier, etc....

6._This parable. _This is the reason why, proudly vaunting of their wisdom, they rejected the light of Christ; for in a matter not very obscure they are exceedingly dull of apprehension. _But they did not understand what things they were which he spoke to them. _In this clause the Greek manuscripts differ. Some copies might be literally rendered, _they did not understand what he said _Another reading, which I have followed, is more full, though it amounts to the same meaning. The third reading is, that _they did not know that he who spoke of himself was the Son of God_; but this is not much approved....

6-9 Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all that care of his church, and every believer, which a good shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture....

THIS PARABLE - See the notes at Matthew 13:3. THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT ... - They did not understand the meaning or design of the illustration....

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

THIS PARABLE SPAKE JESUS UNTO THEM,.... To the Pharisees, who were with him, John 9:40; BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT WHAT THINGS THEY WERE WHICH HE SPAKE UNTO THEM; the things spoken by him being delivered in a parabolical way, though in lively figures, and in terms plain and easy to be understood; yet what through the blindness of their minds, and the hardness of their hearts, and their prejudices in favour of themselves, and against Christ, they did not understand what were meant by them; see Matthew 13:13....

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

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...

THIS PARABLE SPAKE JESUS UNTO THEM. The Greek word rendered here "parable," is not so rendered elsewhere. The above figure is not. parable in the same sense as the term is used elsewhere. There is not. true parable in the whole gospel of John. This is rather. simile. Christ's hearers could not understand the application. Hence he explains in the following verses:...