THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
The teaching given here continues the theme in chapter 9. Here Jesus
speaks of the whole of Israel as being like a sheepfold, with the
Israelites like sheep, some properly shepherded and some led astray,
while the false teachers who oppose Him, the blind who lead the blind,
are s... [ Continue Reading ]
“In very truth I tell you, he who does not enter by the doorway into
the fold where the sheep are, but climbs up some other way, the same
is a thief and a robber.”
The sheepfold contains the waiting people of Israel, originally, to
use another metaphor, ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel'
(Matth... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE FALSE SHEPHERDS (JOHN 10:1).
The way that the parable opens emphasises the fact that the parable is
as much about the false shepherds as it is about the true. It is a
studied warning against looking to false teachers and false leaders,
although having said that it at the s... [ Continue Reading ]
“But he who enters in by the doorway is the shepherd of the
sheep.”
In one sense John the Baptiser was a shepherd. The righteous prophets
were also shepherds. There were undoubtedly others who were shepherds.
They all used the door of God's true word. But the good Shepherd now
is Jesus Himself, the... [ Continue Reading ]
“To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls
his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
God, the Porter, opens the door for this Shepherd, for God is happy
with Him and His work. But God does not open to everyone for they
would be harmful to the sheep. He only at this time o... [ Continue Reading ]
“When he has put forth all his own he goes before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
This is the test of which sheep are His. Once He has called them and
put them forth from the fold they follow Him. And they can do so
confidently, for as they go on the way, living their day... [ Continue Reading ]
“And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers.”
This is a second test. These sheep who follow Jesus have within them a
spirit of discernment so that they can discern the false from the
true. They know, seemingly instinctively, through the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This mysterious saying Jesus spoke to them, but they did not
understand what things they were that he spoke to them.”
The people did not have centuries of understanding behind them, and so
they were puzzled. They did not know what He meant. We can understand
this. The total uniqueness of Jesus had... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus therefore said to them again, “In very truth I tell you, I
am the doorway of the sheep.”
He has made it plain that there is only one way in and out on the
pathway of true life, the God-provided way. Now He expands on that way
in and out, having His death in mind (John 10:15). Here we have th... [ Continue Reading ]
“All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did
not hear them.”
There have been false Messiahs and false teachers, under whatever
guise, but they would not gain wide acceptance by the true people of
God. The ‘all' refers to those who in one way or another had taken
advantage of... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the doorway. By me if any man enter in he will be saved and
will go in and out and find pasture.”
‘I am the doorway of the sheep' (compare John 10:7). Jesus is both
the good shepherd and the doorway. All who would come to the Father
must do so through the doorway. And those who do come through... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The thief does not come for any other reason but that he may steal
and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life, and that they
may have it more abundantly.”
The thief is now contrasted with the shepherd. The thief is pictured
in terms of a thieving rustler or wild beast who breaks into t... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep.”
He is a good shepherd, efficient and trustworthy, in contrast to the
bad shepherds. He does His job thoroughly, watches over His sheep
constantly, has deep affection for them and in the end is ready to
give His life for t... [ Continue Reading ]
“He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees. And the
wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a
hireling and does not care for the sheep.”
The way of the good shepherd is in contrast with the hired s... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me, just
as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep'.
The relationship between Jesus and His own is likened to His
relationship with the Father, and nothing could be closer than that.
What an incredib... [ Continue Reading ]
“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them also I must
bring, and they will listen to my voice. And they will become one
flock and one shepherd.”
Jesus here refers to the Gentile (non-Jewish, non-Samaritan) world,
not, according to the Jews, included in many of the promises to them,
a... [ Continue Reading ]
“This is why my Father loves me, because I lay down my life, in
order that I might take it again ”
We are reminded here that the Father is equally as interested in and
concerned about the sheep as Jesus is, and responds in full measure to
His Son's action in giving His life for the sheep. But note... [ Continue Reading ]
“No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down, and power to take it again. This commandment I
received of my Father.”
Now Jesus again makes clear that what was to happen was not finally in
men's hands but was in His own hands. ‘No one takes it from me, but... [ Continue Reading ]
‘There arose a division among the Judaisers, because of these words.
And many of them said, “He has a devil and is mad, why do you listen
to him?”. Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed
with a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?”
His suggestion that He had total control... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. It was
winter.'
The feast of dedication was a winter festival and celebrated the
rededication of the Temple in 165/4 BC by Judas Maccabaeus, after it
had been desecrated by Antiochus Ephiphanes. The Jews saw it as an
amazing act of God, carried... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FEAST OF DEDICATION (JOHN 10:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's porch. The
Judaisers therefore came round about him and said to him, “How long
will you take away our life? If you are the Messiah, tell us
plainly”.'
When the Judaisers found Jesus walking in the Temple area in Solomon's
collonade (the detail confi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The
works that I do in my Father's name, these bear witness of me'.
His reply is that they had neither listened to what He had been
saying, nor rightly interpreted His amazing acts of power. All He had
said and done had revealed Him as G... [ Continue Reading ]
“But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. And I give to them
eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will be able to
snatch them from my hand.”
Jesus then makes clear the position. What they needed to do was to
f... [ Continue Reading ]
“My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one
can snatch them from my Father's hand'.
This security is made all the more certain because the One Who is
Almighty, His Father, Who is ‘greater than all', has given them to
Him and watches over them. No one _can_ snatch them from... [ Continue Reading ]
“I and the Father are one.”
‘One' is not in the masculine but in the neuter, thus indicating
that He does not mean one person. He and His Father always act in
perfect unity. They act as one in everything they do. Thus when He
protects His sheep, so does His Father. When He saves them, so does
His F... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Judaisers carried stones to stone him.'
Some of the Judaisers did recognise what He meant and were inflamed.
To then this was blasphemy! Whatever their motives at the beginning
they now lost control, for they went over to a nearby pile of rocks
and picked up rocks, carrying them over in order... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, saying, “I have shown you many good works
from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” '
Jesus answered their anger. His words were subtle and to the point. He
drew attention to what they could not deny, the miracles He had
publicly wrought which all men agreed were g... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Judaisers answered him, “We are not stoning you for any good
work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a mere man, claim to
be God”.'
Modern men here argue about the Aramaic and the Greek in this passage
as to whether Jesus was really claiming to be God, but these ancient
scholarly men wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have
said you are gods'? (Psalms 82:6). If he called them gods to whom the
word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of
him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world ‘you are
blaspheming' because I said I am th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.
But if I do do them, then believe the works even though you do not
believe me, so that you may know and go on knowing that the Father is
in me, and I am in the Father'.
Look at what I have done, He said, and think about it. Ask your... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They sought again to take him and he went forth out of their hand.'
They did this by some of them leaving and arranging for Temple police
to make the arrest, but once again He escaped them. While the crowds
were with Him they would have a difficult time finalising any arrest
without a riot. This w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John was
at first baptising, and there he abode. And many came to him, and they
said, “John, indeed, did no sign, but all things whatever John spoke
of this man were true.” And many believed on him there.'
Meanwhile Jesus left Jerusalem an... [ Continue Reading ]