John 10

John 10:1

K. Jesus, the Door of the Sheep (10:1-10) 10:1 These verses are closely linked with the latter part of chapter 9. There the Lord Jesus had been speaking to the Pharisees, who claimed to be rightful shepherds of the people of Israel. It was to them, in particular, that the Lord Jesus referred here. The solemn character of what He was about to say is indicated by the expression Most assuredly, I say to you.A sheepfold was an enclosure in which sheep were sheltered at night. It was an area surrounded by a fence and having one opening that was used as a door. Here the sheepfold refers to the Jewish nation. Many came to the Jewish people, professing to be their spiritual rulers and guides. They were self-appointed messiahs for the nation. But they did not come by the way which the OT predicted the Messiah would come. They climbed up some other way. They presented themselves to Israel in a manner of their own choosing. These men were not true shepherds, but thieves and robbers. Thieves are those who take what does not belong to them, and robbers are those who use violence in doing so. The Pharisees were thieves and robbers. They sought to rule over the Jews, and yet did everything in their power to hinder them from accepting the true Messiah. They persecuted those who followed Jesus, and eventually they would put Jesus to death. 10:2 Verse 2 refers to Jesus Himself. He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was the true shepherd of the sheep. He entered by the door, that is, He came in exact fulfillment of the OT prophecies concerning the Messiah. He was not a self-appointed Savior, but came in perfect obedience to the will of His Father. He met all the conditions. 10:3 There is considerable disagreement as to the identity of the doorkeeper in this verse. Some think this expression refers to the prophets of the OT who foretold the coming of the Christ. Others believe it refers to John the Baptist, since he was the forerunner of the true Shepherd. Still others are equally sure that the doorkeeper in this verse is the Holy Spirit who opens the door for the entrance of the Lord Jesus into hearts and lives. The expression and leads them out may refer to the fact that the Lord Jesus led those who heard His voice out of the sheepfold of Israel. There they were shut up and enclosed. There was no liberty under the law. The Lord leads His sheep into the freedom of His grace. In the last chapter, the Jews had cast the man out of the synagogue. In doing so, they had been assisting the work of the Lord without knowing it. 10:4 When the true shepherd brings out His own sheep, he does not drive them, but He leads them. He does not ask them to go anywhere that He Himself has not first gone. He is ever out in front of the sheep as their Savior, their Guide, and Example. Those who are true sheep of Christ follow Him. They do not become sheep by following His example, but by being born again. Then when they are saved, they have a desire to go where He leads. 10:5 The same instinct that enables a sheep to recognize the voice of the true shepherd also prompts it to flee from a stranger. The strangers were the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jewish people who were only interested in the sheep for their own personal advantage. The man who received his sight illustrates this. He recognized the voice of the Lord Jesus but knew that the Pharisees were strangers. Therefore, he refused to obey them, even though it meant being excommunicated. 10:6 It is distinctly stated now that Jesus used this illustration on the Pharisees, but they did not understandthe reason being they were not true sheep. If they had been, they would have heard His voice and followed Him. 10:7 Then Jesus used a new illustration. He was no longer speaking about the door of the sheepfold, as in verse 2. Now He was presenting Himself as the door of the sheep. It was no longer a question of entering the sheepfold of Israel, but rather the picture was of the elect sheep of Israel passing out of Judaism and coming to Christ, the door. 10:8 Others had come before Christ, claiming authority and position. But the elect sheep of Israel did not hear them because they knew they were claiming what did not rightfully belong to them. 10:9 Verse 9 is one of those delightful verses which is simple enough for the Sunday School pupil to understand, and yet which can never be exhausted by the most learned scholars. Christ is the door. Christianity is not a creed, or a church. Rather it is a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ. If anyone enters by Me. Salvation can only be received through Christ.

Baptism will not do; neither will the Lord’s Supper. We must enter in by Christ, and by the power which He gives. The invitation is for anyone. Christ is the Savior of Jew and Gentile alike. But to be saved, a person must enter in. He must receive Christ by faith.

It is a personal act, and without it there is no salvation. Those who do enter in are saved from the penalty, the power, and eventually from the very presence of sin. After salvation, they go in and out. Perhaps the thought is that they go into the presence of God by faith to worship, and then they go out into the world to witness for the Lord. At any rate, it is a picture of perfect security and liberty in the service of the Lord. Those who enter find pasture. Christ is not only the Savior, and the One who gives freedom, but He is also the Sustainer and Satisfier. His sheep find pasture in the Word of God. 10:10 The purpose of the thief is to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He comes for purely selfish motives. In order to gain his own desires, he would even kill the sheep. But the Lord Jesus does not come to the human heart for any selfish reason. He comes to give, not to get. He comes that people may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. We receive life the moment we accept Him as our Savior. After we are saved, however, we find that there are various degrees of enjoyment of this life. The more we turn ourselves over to the Holy Spirit, the more we enjoy the life which has been given to us. We not only have life then, but we have it more abundantly.

John 10:11

L. Jesus, the Good Shepherd (10:11-18) 10:11 Many times the Lord Jesus used the expression I am, one of the titles of Deity. Each time He was making a claim to equality with God the Father. Here he presented Himself as the good shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. Ordinarily, the sheep were called upon to lay down their lives for the shepherd. But the Lord Jesus died for the flock. When blood from a victim must flow, This Shepherd by pity was led, To stand between us and the foe, And willingly died in our stead. Thomas Kelly 10:12 A hireling is one who serves for money. For instance, a shepherd might pay someone else to take care of his sheep. The Pharisees were hire lings. Their interest in the people was prompted by the money they received in return. The hireling did not own the sheep. When danger came, he ran away and left the sheep to the mercy of the wolf. 10:13 We do what we do because we are what we are. The hireling served for pay. He did not care about the sheep. He was more interested in his own welfare than in their good. There are many hirelings in the church todaymen who choose the ministry as a comfortable occupation, without true love for God’s sheep. 10:14 Again the Lord speaks of Himself as the good shepherd. Good (Greek, kalos) here means ideal, worthy, choice, excellent. He is all of these. Then He speaks of the very intimate relationship that exists between Himself and His sheep. He knows His own, and His own know Him. This is a very wonderful truth. 10:15 It is unfortunate that this verse is punctuated as a new sentence. Actually, it is better read as follows: … and I know My sheep, and am known by My own, just as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. This is truly a thrilling truth! The Lord compared His relationship with the sheep with the relationship that existed between Himself and His Father. The same union, communion, intimacy, and knowledge that there is between the Father and the Son also exists between the Shepherd and the sheep. And I lay down My life for the sheep, He said. Again we have one of the many statements of the Lord Jesus in which He looked forward to the time when He would die on the cross as a Substitute for sinners. 10:16 Verse 16 is the key to the entire chapter. The other sheep to whom the Lord referred here were the Gentiles. His coming into the world was especially in connection with the sheep of Israel, but He also had in mind the salvation of Gentiles. The Gentile sheep were not of the Jewish fold. But the great heart of compassion of the Lord Jesus went out to these sheep as well, and He was under divine compulsion to bring them to Himself. He knew that they would be more ready than the Jewish people to hear His voice. In the latter part of the verse there is the very important change from the fold of Judaism to the flock of Christianity. This verse gives a little preview of the fact that in Christ, Jew and Gentile would be made one, and that the former distinctions between these peoples would disappear. 10:17 In verses 17 and 18, the Lord Jesus explained what He would do in order to bring both elect Jews and Gentiles to Himself. He looked forward to the time of His death, burial, and resurrection. These words would be utterly out of place were the Lord Jesus a mere man. He spoke of laying down His life and taking it again by His own power. He could only do this because He is God. The Father loved the Lord Jesus because of His willingness to die and rise again, in order that lost sheep might be saved. 10:18 No one could take the Lord’s life from Him. He is God, and is thus greater than all the murderous plots of His creatures. He had power in Himself to lay down His life, and He also had power to take it again. But did not men kill the Lord Jesus? They did. This is clearly stated in Act_2:23 and in 1Th_2:15. The Lord Jesus allowed them to do it, and this was an exhibition of His power to lay down His life. Furthermore, He gave up His Spirit (Joh_19:30) as an act of His own strength and will. This command I have received from My Father, He said. The Father had commissioned or instructed the Lord to lay down His life and to rise again from among the dead. His death and resurrection were essential acts in fulfillment of the Father’s will. Therefore, He became obedient unto death, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.

John 10:19

M. Division Among the Jews (10:19-21) 10:19 The words of the Lord Jesus caused a division again among the Jews. Christ’s entrance into the world, and into homes, and into hearts, produces a sword, rather than peace. Only when men receive Him as Lord and Savior do they know the peace of God. 10:20, 21 The Lord Jesus was the only perfect Man who ever lived. He never said a wrong word or committed an evil deed. Yet such was the depravity of the heart of man that when He came, speaking words of love and wisdom, men said that He had a demon and was mad, and was not worthy to be listened to. This was certainly a dark spot on the record of the human race. Others thought differently. They recognized the words and works of the Lord Jesus as those of a good Person and not of a demon.

John 10:22

N. Jesus Proved to Be the Christ by His Works (10:22-39) 10:22 At this point there is a break in the narrative. The Lord Jesus was no longer speaking to the Pharisees, but to the Jews in general. We do not know what time elapsed between verse 21 and verse 22. Incidentally, this is the only mention in the Bible of the Feast of Dedication, or in Hebrew, Hanukkah. It is generally believed that this feast was instituted by Judas Maccabeus when the temple was rededicated after being defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes, 165 b.c. It was a yearly feast, instituted by the Jewish people, and not one of the feasts of the Lord. It was not only winter according to the calendar, but also spiritually. 10:23, 24 The Lord’s public ministry was almost over, and He was about to demonstrate His complete dedication to God the Father by His death on the cross. Solomon’s porch was a covered area, adjoining Herod’s temple. As the Lord walked there, there would have been plenty of room for the Jews to gather around Him. The Jews surrounded Him and said, How long do You keep us in doubt (or suspense)? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.10:25, 26 Jesus again reminded them of His words and His works. He had often told them that He was the Messiah, and the miracles He performed proved that His claim was true. Again He reminded the Jews that He performed His miracles by authority of His Father and for His Father’s glory. In doing so, He showed that He was indeed the One whom the Father had sent into the world. Their unwillingness to receive the Messiah proved that they were not of His sheep. If they had been set apart to belong to Him, they would have shown a willingness to believe Him. 10:27 These next few verses teach in unmistakable terms that no true sheep of Christ will ever perish. The eternal security of the believer is a glorious fact. Those who are true sheep of Christ hear His voice. They hear it when the gospel is preached, and they respond by believing on Him. Thereafter, they hear His voice day by day and obey His Word. The Lord Jesus knows His sheep. He knows each one by name. Not even one will escape His attention. No one could be lost through an oversight or carelessness on His part. Christ’s sheep follow Him, first by exercising saving faith in Him, then by walking with Him in obedience. 10:28 Christ gives eternal life to His sheep. This means life that will last forever. It is not life that is conditional on their behavior. It is eternal life, and that means everlasting. But eternal life is also a quality of life. It is the life of the Lord Jesus Himself. It is a life that is capable of enjoying the things of God down here, and a life that will be equally suitable to our heavenly home. Note these next words carefully. They shall never perish. If any sheep of Christ ever perished, then the Lord Jesus would have been guilty of failing to keep a promise, and this is not possible. Jesus Christ is God, and He cannot fail. He has promised in this verse that no sheep of His will ever spend eternity in hell. Does this mean then that a person may be saved and then live the way he pleases? Can he be saved and then carry on in the sinful pleasures of this world? No, he no longer desires to do these things. He wants to follow the Shepherd. We do not live the Christian life in order to become a Christian or in order to retain our salvation. We live a Christian life because we are Christians. We desire to live a holy life, not out of fear of losing our salvation, but out of gratitude to the One who died for us. The doctrine of eternal security does not encourage careless living, but rather is a strong motive for holy living. No one is able to snatch a believer out of Christ’s hand. His hand is almighty. It created the world; and it even now sustains the world. There is no power that can snatch a sheep from His grasp. 10:29 Not only is the believer in the hand of Christ; he is in the Father’s hand as well. This is a twofold guarantee of safety. God the Father is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch a believer out of the Father’s hand. 10:30 Now the Lord Jesus added a further claim to equality with God: I and My Father are one. Here the thought probably is that Christ and the Father are one in power. Jesus had just been speaking about the power that protects Christ’s sheep. Therefore, He added the explanation that His power is the same as the power of God the Father. Of course the same is true of all the other attributes of Deity. The Lord Jesus Christ is God in the fullest sense and is equal with the Father in every way. 10:31 There was no question in the minds of the Jews as to what the Savior meant. They realized that He was setting forth His deity in the plainest way. Therefore they took up stones in order to stone Him. 10:32 Before they had a chance to hurl the stones, Jesus reminded them of the many good works He had performed by commandment from His Father. He then asked them which of those works so infuriated them that they wanted to stone Him. 10:33 The Jews denied that it was for any of His miracles that they sought to kill Him. Rather, they wanted to stone Him because they felt He had spoken blasphemy by claiming to be equal with God the Father. They refused to admit that He was anything more than a man. Yet it was very evident to them that He made Himself God, as far as His claims were concerned. They would not tolerate this. 10:34 Here the Lord Jesus quoted to the Jews from Psa_82:6. He called this a part of their law. In other words, it was taken from the OT which they acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God. The complete verse is as follows: I said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. The Psalm was addressed to the judges of Israel. They were called gods not because they were actually divine, but because they represented God when they judged the people. The Hebrew word for gods (elohim) is literally mighty ones and may be applied to important figures such as judges. (It is clear from the rest of the Psalm that they were only men and not deities because they judged unjustly, showed respect of persons, and otherwise perverted justice.) 10:35 The Lord used this verse from the Psalms to show that God used the word gods to describe men to whom the word of God came. In other words, these men were spokesmen for God. God spoke to the nation of Israel through them. They manifested God in His place of authority and judgment, and were the powers whom God had ordained. And the Scripture cannot be broken, said the Lord, expressing His belief in the inspiration of the OT Scriptures. He speaks of them as infallible writings which must be fulfilled, and which cannot be denied. In fact, the very words of Scripture are inspired, not just its thoughts or ideas. His whole argument is based on the single word gods. 10:36 The Lord was arguing from the lesser to the greater. If unjust judges were called gods in the OT, how much more right did He have to say He was the Son of God. The word of God came to them; He was and is the Word of God. They were called gods; He was and is God. It could never have been said of them that the Father had sanctified them and sent them into the world. They were born into the world like all other sons of fallen Adam.

But Jesus was sanctified by God the Father from all eternity to be the Savior of the world, and He was sent into the world from heaven where He had always dwelt with His Father. Thus Jesus had every right to claim equality with God. He was not blaspheming when He claimed to be the Son of God, equal with the Father. The Jews themselves used the term gods to apply to corrupt men who were mere spokesmen or judges for God. How much more could He claim the title because He actually was and is God. Samuel Green states it well: The Jews accused Him of making Himself God. He does not deny that in so speaking He made Himself God. But He does deny that He blasphemed, and this on a ground that might fully justify Him even in claiming the honors of deity; namely, that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, Immanuel. That the Jews did not consider Him as in the least withdrawing His lofty claims, is evident from the continued enmity that was manifested. See verse 39. 10:37 Again the Savior appealed to the miracles which He performed as proof of His divine commission. However, note the expression the works of My Father. Miracles, in themselves, are not a proof of deity. We read in the Bible of evil beings having the power at times to perform miracles. But the miracles of the Lord were the works of His Father. They proved Him to be the Messiah in a twofold way. First, they were the miracles which the OT predicted would be performed by the Messiah. Second, they were miracles of mercy and compassion, works that benefited mankind and which would not be performed by an evil person. 10:38 Verse 38 has been helpfully paraphrased by Ryle as follows: If I do the works of my Father, then, though ye may not be convinced by what I say, be convinced by what I do. Though ye resist the evidence of my words, yield to the evidence of my works. In this way learn to know and believe that I and my Father are indeed one, He in me and I in Him, and that in claiming to be His Son, I speak no blasphemy. 10:39 Again the Jews realized that instead of denying His previous claims, the Lord Jesus had only strengthened them. Thus they made another attempt to arrest Him, but He eluded them once more. The time was not far distant now when He would permit Himself to be taken by them, but as yet, His hour had not come.

John 10:40

VI. THE SON OF GOD’S THIRD YEAR OF MINISTRY: PEREA (10:40-11:57) A. Jesus’ Withdrawal Across the Jordan (10:40-42) 10:40 The Lord went away again beyond the Jordan to the very place where He began His public ministry. His three years of wondrous words and works were drawing to a close. He ended them where He began themoutside the established order of Judaism, in a place of rejection and loneliness. 10:41 Those who came to Him were probably sincere believers. They were willing to bear His reproach, to take their place with Him outside the camp of Israel. These followers paid a glowing tribute to John the Baptist. They remembered that John’s ministry was not spectacular or sensational, but it was true. Everything he said about the Lord Jesus was fulfilled in the ministry of the Savior. This should encourage each one who is a Christian. We may not be able to do mighty miracles or gain public attention, but at least we can bear a true testimony to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is of great value in God’s sight. 10:42 It is lovely to notice that in spite of His rejection by the nation of Israel, the Lord Jesus did find some lowly, receptive hearts. Many, we are told, believed in Him there. Thus it is in every age. There is always a remnant of the people who are willing to take their place with the Lord Jesus, cast out by the world, hated and scorned, but enjoying the sweet fellowship of the Son of God.