John 10:7

John 10:7. Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. The formula which introduced the parable (John 10:1) now brings in the interpretation. This interpretation is given in two parts, or, as perhaps we ought rather to say, two distinct applications of the parable are given: the two most important points in the figure are taken in succession, and in each aspect the parable finds its fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. But as the formula which introduces this verse is not repeated in John 10:11 , it is more correct to divide John 10:1-18 into two parts (John 10:1-6; John 10:7-18 the latter being subdivided at John 10:11) than into three.

First, Jesus declares Himself to be ‘the door of the sheep,' that is, not the door by which the sheep enter into the fold, but the door through which they will leave the fold at the call of the Shepherd, and (though this is not particularly specified until John 10:9) through which a shepherd enters to his sheep. The whole description of John 10:1-5 must be interpreted in harmony with this word of Jesus. If He is the Door, what is the fold? who are the sheep? To answer these questions we must look forward to a later verse (John 10:16): ‘And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must lead, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.' That Jesus here speaks of the heathen world few will doubt; and if so, it is very clear that in John 10:1 the Jewish Church is intended by ‘the fold of the sheep.' Not that all who are found within the pale of Judaism belong to ‘the sheep' of which Jesus speaks. The sheep are those who hear a true shepherd's voice; and we may so far forestall John 10:11 as to say that none are included under this designation who refuse to hear the voice of Jesus Himself. ‘The sheep' are therefore those who in other passages are described as ‘of God' (see chap. John 8:47), and ‘of the truth' (chap. John 18:37), and the ‘fold' is the Jewish Church in so far as that Church has sheltered these until the fulness of time has come. Then, and not till then, shall the sheep be led out of the fold into the free open pastures: then, too, the ‘other sheep' will be brought, and there shall be, not two flocks but one, under one Shepherd. It will be seen that in no part of this parable are the sheep said to return to the fold; the shepherds only are spoken of as entering in, and that for the purpose of leading out their flocks. In saying, ‘I am the door of the sheep,' therefore, Jesus says in effect (1) that through Him alone has any true guardian and guide of the sheep entered into the fold; (2) that through Him alone will the sheep within the ‘fold' be led out into the open pastures. The latter thought is easily understood; it presents the same promise of the gladness and freedom and life of Messianic times as was set forth by the symbols of the feast of Tabernacles in the seventh and eighth Chapter s. Then the figures were the pouring out of water and the lighting of the golden lamps: the figure now is very different, but (as we have seen) equally familiar in Old Testament prophecy. Not until Messiah shall come will the night of patient waiting cease, and the fold be seen to have been only a temporary shelter, not a lasting home. The application of the words before us to the shepherds is more difficult; for when we consider how this chapter is connected with the last, it is plain that Jesus adverts to the presence within the fold of some who are not true shepherds. They have climbed up from some other quarter, and are in the fold to gratify their own selfishness and greed, not to benefit the flock. How then can it be said of them that they did not enter through the Door, i.e., through our Lord Himself? In answering this question it seems plain that we have here a saying akin to that of chap. John 8:56, or John 12:41, or to that of Hebrews 11:26, in which Moses is said to have esteemed ‘the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.' The leading characteristic of preceding ages had been that they were a time of preparation for the Christ, that during them the promise and hope of the Christ had stood in the place of His personal presence. The object of every ruler in the Jewish Church, and of every teacher of the Jewish people, should have been to point forward to the coming of the Messiah; and each should have used all his power and influence, not for himself, but to prepare for the event in which the Jewish Church was to culminate and (in an important sense) come to an end, giving place to the Church Universal. The rulers brought before us in the last chapter had done the reverse; in no true sense had they prepared for the Christ: and, when the Christ appeared, so far from receiving Him, they had combined together to put away from the Church in which they bore rule every one who acknowledged that Jesus was He. Hence, accordingly, the strong language of John 10:1. These teachers had ‘climbed up from another quarter,' instead of entering by the Door. They had been marked by a spirit of self-exaltation, of earthly Satanic pride; they had appeared as the enemies of God, had refused to submit themselves to His plans, had sought not His glory but their own; their aims had been thoroughly selfish, devilish; they were of their father the devil (John 8:44). Thus, also, we see that the term ‘a thief and a robber,' applied to such teachers in John 10:1, is not too strong, for they had perverted the whole object of the theocracy; they had made that an end which was only designed to be a means, and had done this as men who had blinded themselves to the true light, and were using the flock of God as instruments for their own aggrandisement. They were in the fold, but they had not entered through the door.

Such then being the meaning of the ‘Door,' the ‘fold,' the ‘sheep,' the true and false shepherds, the rest of the description is easily understood. The true sheep know the voice of every rightful shepherd (John 10:3-4); in all past ages there has been this mutual recognition between teachers sent by God and those who have desired to be taught of God. But the Ml accomplishment of the work described in these verses awaits the coming of Him who is the true Shepherd, through whom the sheep are to be led forth from the fold. To Him alone apply the words in their completeness, but in measure they most truly belong to every shepherd whose mission comes through Him.