John 10 - Introduction

Jesus Is The Good Shepherd John Ten

Jesus described the blessing that belonged to those who are His sheep. He knows His sheep, they hear His voice and they follow Him. As we face the dangers of thieves, robbers and wolves we too stand in need of the True Shepherd. We are called by the gospel to be the Lord's sheep and our part must be that of obedient faith. In 2 Thessalonians 2:14 we read, "Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Good Shepherd protects His sheep. As long as we remain in His hands nothing can harm us. If we fall it will be because we have not used the resources that God has made available to us. We still have the power of choice and we cannot be protected against ourselves.

In John 10:1-42 Jesus again claimed Deity. He said, "I and my Father are one." If we are to accept Jesus as the Messiah we must understand that He is the Divine Son of God. The Jews were not expecting a Messiah who shared in God's divinity. Earlier in His personal ministry Jesus had slipped away when He was challenged about His claim of Deity. Now His time has come and so He boldly faces the charges of His accusers. They were standing there with their stones ready to kill him and He calmly said that His works prove Him to be both the Messiah and God. These Jews are seeking to kill the one who is offering them eternal life. They had no answer as to how Jesus could do such great miracles so they said, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." (John 10:33) Who is this Jesus? He is the "Son of God." His proof of Deity was the deeds that He did. His miracles are in keeping with God's character and they manifest the love of God. Jesus said that from these miracles they should "know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." (John 10:38) Jesus left Jerusalem and went back across Jordan to the place where John had baptized in the early days. The narrative of our Lord's earthly ministry closed at the spot where it began. John was indeed correct, "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:34)