John 10

John 10:2

But he that thus approves himself to be employed and sent by the owner or master of the sheep, he comes on purpose to feed and preserve his sheep, and is to have power over them.

John 10:3

To him all they who are to guard the door, and keep out thieves, are by the master of the sheep commanded to give admission, and to that purpose have a token to discern him by: the Messias is so described in the prophets, and the doctrine truly divine so far revealed there, that by accordance with that, all the true watchmen of the church acknowledge him, and all truly pious men obey and follow him; and he, on the other side, looks on these as the peculiar flock that he is to take charge of, and hath a particular care of every such pious man, and as the shepherd careth for his sheep, makes all necessary provision for them.

[a] his own sheep] What the πρόβατα, sheep, here signify in this parable, hath been largely set down, (note [d] ch. vi.) viz. the obedient servants of God considered before and without the revelation of Christ unto them, who being so qualified are most ready to embrace the precepts of the Christian perfection, when they are offered to them: these also is Christ ready to receive, or any that, having been engaged in sin, come with penitence and resolution of mind to be such; and consequently, when these come to Christ, they are styled here, and looked on by him, as ἴδια πρόβατα, that is, either peculiar sheep, those that by God’s prævenient graces are thus fitted, beyond all others, to come to Christ, or else, as the 12th verse imports, (where the shepherd is set opposite to the hireling, whose own the sheep are not,) his own sheep, those to whom Christ hath a peculiar title beyond all others, who are therefore said to be given by God to Christ as his possession; see note [d] ch. vi. Now of these thus owned or acknowledged by Christ, it is here said that he doth καλεῖν κατ’ ὄνομα, call them by name. That refers to the custom of shepherds, that are so conversant among their sheep, that they know them severally, (see ver. 14 and 27, I know them,) and have a several name for every of them, by which they distinguish and call them, and each of them knows, and answers by obediential coming or following, to that call. So ver. 3, they hear his voice, and know it, ver. 4; and he is known of them, ver. 14. Thus among us huntsmen do with their hounds, and ploughmen with their cattle; and it seems in Jewry, where the feeding of cattle was the great trade, and where other customs obtained than those that are among us, the shepherd did thus with his sheep. For want of their art and usage of going before, and leading, and calling their sheep after them, which is known in the scripture to have been among them, psalm xxiii. 2, 3, and

John 10:4

And when he thus brings forth his sheep (see brings out.

John 10:5

An impostor or false Christ, that teacheth doctrines contrary to piety, they will not follow, but fly from him as from a wolf, having such certain tokens, by which to know the true doctrine of God, the true shepherd’s voice, that they can tell how to avoid all others that come to seduce them by this very mark, because it is a strange voice, quite contrary to that piety and probity which they have been taught by God.

John 10:8

All others that have come of late, pretending to be vindicators of the Jews from the Roman yoke, (such as Theudas, Judas Gaulonites, &c.,) have been impostors, which no pious person would heed, as neither coming with commission from God, nor bringing divine doctrine with them, but doctrines of rebellion and bloodiness, and the like.

All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

John 10:9

I am the door that all pious men must pass through, and whosoever doth so, he shall be (as in a fenced inclosure) in a safe, a rich, a plentiful condition, and wheresoever he turns shall find pasture.

John 10:10

Thus contrary am I to those that come without commission, ver. 1. All those impostors come to get advantage to themselves, to deceive and ruin you.

John 10:11

Nay, so far am I from the thief that comes to kill the flock, that like the good shepherd (which keeps his own sheep, is not hired to keep another’s, see note [a]) who ventures when there is occasion (pawns, engages) his life for his sheep, rather than they shall come to hurt, grapples with wild beasts that come to destroy his flock, so do I. 12, 13. This is far from the manner of impostors, nay, it is peculiar to the good shepherd, whose flock is (not intrusted by another to his keeping, and he paid for that service, but) his own goods, and himself makes it his calling to look to them. He that keeps another man’s sheep, and is paid for his labour, will never venture his life to preserve them, prefers his life before the advantage of his service, and thereupon, whenever a wolf comes that will endanger his life if he defends his sheep, he runs away, and to save his life destitutes them; and this upon this very score, because he is not the owner, but only a servant hired to keep the fold. Whereas he whose own they are will hazard his life, rather than leave his flock (his whole estate, as it was oft among the Jews) to be torn and worried by the devourer. 14, 15. Just such a shepherd am I, who, as I resemble the shepherd in other things, knowing my sheep particularly, and being known by them, (see ver. 3,) (in the same manner as my Father knoweth me, and I him, my Father owning and giving me perfect knowledge of his will, and I obeying and following my Father in all things); so also I venture my life for my sheep, and will most willingly suffer death, in regard to the benefits that will come to my sheep, my disciples, (all that receive and obey my voice,) by that means.

John 10:16

But for you Jews, let me tell you, my flock is not all within this pale of Judæa; I have others that will believe and obey me, receive the faith, beside and beyond the Jewish nation; and the care and rule of those I must undertake, and they will follow my call more obediently than the Jews own and obey me; and all believers, both of Jews and Gentiles.

John 10:17

This careful discharge of the office intrusted and committed to me by my Father, is that to which it is but proportionable that my Father should love and value and reward me; and therefore it is, that as I venture my life for my flock, so when I shall have lost my life, by the care and power of my Father, I shall be able to rise again, and the lower I suffer here, the higher shall I be exalted, Phil. ii. 9.

John 10:18

It is not in the power of man to take my life away from me, if I did not thus voluntarily of my own accord lay it down; I can give myself up to be crucified, and then can rise to life again. And thus to do my Father hath appointed me; this is a prime part of my commission. He is mad (see note [b] ch. vii); why do you give any heed to what he saith? These are neither the words nor actions of a madman. Can the devil himself, or consequently his being mad, or possessed with the devil, help him to do the things that he doth? to cure one that was born blind?

John 10:22

And it was the time of the feast of dedication, a feast ordained by the Jews, 1 Mac. iv. 59, and

John 10:23

And according to the custom of that season he walked now in Solomon’s porch under covert, as in the summer they used to walk in the open air in the courts without any roof over them.

John 10:24

By this means the people being all in a narrower compass, or lesser room, they came about him close, and said unto him, How long dost thou by obscure expressions continue our doubts whether thou art the Messias or no? If thou art, tell us perspicuously: see note [a] ch. vii.

John 10:25

Jesus said, I have told you in words significant enough, if ye would believe, and the miracles that I have done (in my Father’s name, whom I affirm to have sent me) through his power, and by authority * hold our soul in suspense? ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴραις;

John 10:28

And I make that provision for them intimated ver. 10, and my care over them shall be such, that while they keep close to me, no devourer shall ever be able to annoy them or pluck them from me.

John 10:29

Certainly my Father is stronger than any that can oppose himself against them, and his special work it is, that all the true sheep of his fold, all truly pious persons, should come to me, and that infinite power of his is engaged for it, that none such shall by any violence be taken from him, deprived of that life which here I promise to give them.

John 10:30

And seeing my Father and I are one, it follows that I shall defend them also, and that none shall be able to pluck them out of my hand, ver. 28.

John 10:31

Upon this again the Jews attempted to stone him.

John 10:32

And Jesus said, Many miracles of mercy to you, miraculous cures, &c., have I wrought, as testimonies of my mission from my Father, and never a destructive one, none that you have been the worse for: for which of these my saving miracles do you destroy me?

John 10:33

The Jews said, It is not for any of thy miracles (which are not denied to be all such, and acts of mercy in thee) for which we think thee worthy of death, but because thou hast spoken blasphemy, that is, because thou, who art but a man, makest thyself God by that speech of thine, ver. 30, (see Rom. xvi. 25,) where, though thou calledst God thy Father, yet thou affirmedst that he and thou were one.

John 10:34

Jesus answered, These words in the psalmist you cannot but remember, Psalm lxxxii. 6, I have said, Ye are gods, and that book is canonical scripture with you.

John 10:35

If therefore they who are there spoken of by God, that is, rulers or judges ordinarily so called, who received their commission from men, not from God immediately, (only persons to whom the execution of God’s law was intrusted among men,) be by God

[b] unto whom the word of God came] The coming of the word of the Lord to any man signifies among the Hebrews frequently in the Old Testament, God’s sending a man, designing him, appointing him to any office; and so it is constantly used in the writings of the prophets, who begin their prophecies solemnly in this form; The word of the Lord came unto me, saying; which is but their shewing or vouching their commission; and so when, Rom. x. 17, it is said ἀκοή, that is, preaching of the word, (not their hearing, but their being heard, as in Plato in Phædro, Ἐπιθυμῶ ποτίμῳ λόγῳ ἄλμορὰν ἀκοὴν ἀποκλύσασθαι, “I desire to temper the brackish hearing with sweet or potable speech,” where ἀκοή, hearing, is used for the word or speech which is heard,) is διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ, by the word of God, the meaning of it is, that no man must preach, except he be sent, ver. 15, where the word of God signifies not the word which they preach, but the commission from which they are authorized to preach to others. And so for the office of judge, &c. it is as proper, the word of the Lord signifying a commission from God mediately or immediately for any such; which when it comes to any man for the execution of power over others, it is the instating of him in that office of power; and the same will be said of the sacerdotal also. But the truth is, the phrase here is not those to whom the word of the Lord came, upon which supposition this interpretation is built, but πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο, to whom the word of God was, or was spoken, and that may thus be interpreted. David, psalm lxxxii. 1, hath these words: God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly? &c. In that place the judges or rulers of the sanhedrim are called gods by the psalmist, in the person of God; and again, ver. 6, I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all children of the Most High. Christ, referring here to this, saith, Is it not written in your law, I have said, Ye are gods? from whence he concludeth, *ἐκείνους εἶπε Θεοῦς, If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was, that is, to whom, or of or concerning whom God spake in that place of the Law, that is, in the Book of Psalms, (comprehended sometimes under the word Law, see ch. xii. 34, as the whole Old Testament is called the Law and the Prophets, though elsewhere there is a third mention of the division of those books, the ἀγιόγραφα, the Book of Psalms contained under that branch,) if he called those gods, and sons of God, who were but ordinary judges of those times, chosen by men, and by imposition of hands of the sanhedrim advanced to that office, after the common manner of all, nothing peculiar, or extraordinary, or of immediate mission from heaven in all this.)

John 10:41

Jesus said unto them, It were well for you, if it could be truly pronounced of you, that you are blind: if your sin were of impotence or inability to see, it would be more pardonable, but now by your acknowledging yourselves not to be blind, and so that all that you do, you do knowingly and deliberately, your sins receive a very great aggravation. ### CHAP. X. 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.