2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary John Chapter 10
Commentary - John Chapter 10
There is no evidence of a break in context between chapters 9 and 10. Jesus concluded chapter 9 talking to the Pharisees about their problem with Him healing the blind man on the Sabbath day. Here, He appears to continue the conversation. The Pharisees thought they were guides/shepherds of the people of Israel, but Jesus told them at the end of chapter 9 they were blind. They were unfit to lead anyone. In chapter 10, Jesus describes a true shepherd.
John 10:1-2
Joh 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Farmers generally keep sheep in barns these days, but that was not the case during this Theperiod of history.
Sheep were usually kept in a pen.
The shepherd would herd the sheep into the pen at night to all them and himself to rest.
Sometimes the pen had a gated door.
Sometimes the shepherd acted as the door and slept in the pen’s entrance to block the sheep from getting out and predators from getting in.
The image below doesn’t appear to be from Israel but it will give you an idea of the simple structure.
The picture of God’s faithful people as sheep is prevalent in the Bible.
Here, the faithful Jews of Israel are depicted as the sheep in need of a shepherd and Jesus is going to contrast a true shepherd with a phony shepherd.
Who is the true shepherd?
The one who guides the people to God.
Jesus.
Who are the phony shepherds?
Those who do not enter at the door.
Those who pretend to be shepherds but actually harm the sheep (the thief and robber).
These are the corrupt Jewish religious leaders.
They want to lead the people but they don’t submit to God’s authority.
They actually want to lead the people in the opposite direction of the true shepherd.
John 10:3-5
Joh 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Joh 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
If there is a gatekeeper at the sheep pen, he will give entrance to the true shepherd because he knows the shepherd seeks their good.
If you have a dog, your dog can probably recognize your voice.
It knows you when you come home.
It knows when its you whose calling it from across the yard.
Apparently, the same is true for sheep.
If a shepherd had cared for the same group of sheep long enough, they would recognize his voice.
I’ve seen videos online where sheep are out grazing at pasture and various people attempt to call them.
The sheep don’t acknowledge the voice of strangers.
But they run to the shepherd when they hear his voice, even when he isn’t initially visible to them.
In a spiritual sense, those who love God hear the voice of the true shepherd and follow Him.
This is what Peter did in chapter 6.
He recognized Jesus as the true shepherd by the words He spoke and the signs He performed and stuck by His side.
Joh 6:67-68 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
Unfortunately, there were also many who heard the Shepherd’s voice and turned away.
Joh 6:66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
John 10:6
Joh 10:6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the job of a shepherd or his relationship with his sheep, they didn’t understand the spiritual lesson behind the picture.
We read a lot about the parables of Jesus in Matthew and Mark and there we observed the same lack of comprehension on the part of the Jewish leaders.
John 10:7-10
Joh 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
Joh 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Verses 1-5 present Jesus as the good Shepherd.
Verses 6-10 present Jesus as “the door.”
This is the same door to the sheep pen introduced in verse 1.
To find safety and protection the sheep must enter through the door.
Anyone who wants safety and protection in the spiritual sense must go through Jesus.
There is no other door.
Those who came before Christ were “thieves and robbers” (I think He is specifically talking about the corrupt Jewish religious leaders).
Rather than helping those seeking God, they harmed them.
Mat 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
This is a bold claim.
Jesus is telling the people anyone who preceded Him who doesn’t now accept Him and lead others to accept Him is a false shepherd.
Those who believed in Jesus would have his protection and would find pasture.
Safety and food (provision), basically everything a sheep needs.
Jesus came to shepherd the people to an abundant life, eternal life.
The false shepherds (thieves) came only to steal and kill and destroy.
Any leader who takes your attention away from Jesus is attempting to steal what belongs to Jesus.
Taking your attention off Jesus will kill you, spiritually.
It will lead to destruction and punishment in the end.
The Devil is a thief who wants to rob God of what rightfully belongs to Him.
Any pastor or shepherd who leads you away from Jesus is helping him accomplish that work.
If you are pointing people anywhere other than to the door, you are pointing people to harm and destruction.
John 10:11-15
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Joh 10:13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Joh 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Being a shepherd could be a dangerous job.
In those days, a shepherd might have to fend off wild animals.
David, before he became the second king of Israel, was a shepherd.
He had to defend his flock against a lion and a bear.
Jesus tells His audience He is ready to assume the position, knowing full-well the dangers associated with it.
In Jesus’ case, it wasn’t just a potential future danger, it was a certain future danger.
In order to lead people to God, eternal life, and safety from the consequences of their sins, He was going to have to die for them.
Only a real shepherd would be willing to do that.
A phony shepherd, which He compares to a hired hand, will flee the scene when things get dangerous because they don’t’ really care about the sheep, they only care about themselves.
They are more than happy to shepherd while the pay is steady and the danger is minimal, but as soon as the ratio changes, they’re gone.
The Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees loved their positions in Jewish culture.
Their positions came with people’s respect.
Probably some monetary benefit.
But if those benefits every dried up, they wouldn’t stick around to care for the people of Israel.
They were in their positions entirely for selfish reasons.
Mat 23:4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
A real shepherd isn’t selfish.
John 10:16
Joh 10:16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Who are the sheep “not of this fold?”
I’ve heard some people say He is talking about people in other religions.
Even though they are not followers of Jesus, all “good” people will be gathered together and receive eternal life at the end of time.
But this interpretation isn’t consistent with Jesus’ message in John or the rest of the scriptures.
Jesus has been very clear that He is the only access to the Father.
No one has access to the Father except through Him.
Context is important to interpret this verse correctly.
Who is Jesus talking to in chapter 10?
Jewish people, right?
If you are familiar with the rest of the New Testament, you’ll know the Christian community in the 1st Century and beyond wasn’t comprised entirely of Jews, it also included “gentiles” (non-Jewish people).
Jesus’ time on earth was spent teaching the Jews about the salvation they could have through Him, but His followers were later instructed to take that message of salvation to people of every race.
I suspect those “not of this fold” is a reference to the non-Jewish people who would join the Jewish Christians in the Church and become “one flock.”
It is likely the Jews who heard Jesus say this had no idea He was referring to the gentiles.
The Old Testament and the promises of the Messiah had been directed towards the Jews (although there are a few verses in the Old Testament hinting towards a blessing for the gentiles).
It’s clear from chapters like Acts 10 most of the Jews didn’t see this coming.
John 10:17-18
Joh 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
Joh 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
God the Father and Jesus shared perfect harmony of mind and will when it came to Jesus death on the cross.
God desired to save all men and to draw them to Himself and Jesus desired the same.
So much so He was willing to die to make it possible.
There was love shared between the Father and the Son in this unified purpose.
There is no question Jesus laid down His own life.
Nobody took it from Him.
How many times had the Jews tried to kill Him and failed?
He permitted Himself to be killed only at the precise moment of His choosing.
The orchestration of Jesus’ death is, in itself, a display of Jesus’ power.
Jesus had to be killed in a certain way to fulfil the prophecies of the Old Testament.
He told Peter He could call 12 legions of angels from heaven to prevent His arrest if He wanted.
While it may appear Jesus’ enemies controlled the events of the night of Jesus trial and the day of His crucifixion, Jesus was very much in control.
This text also informs us Jesus had the power to take His life back after He gave it up.
He wasn’t lying helplessly in the tomb.
He came out of the tomb on His own terms.
Keep in mind, Jesus is talking about a death and resurrection that hasn’t happened yet.
We look back at these words already understanding what Jesus is talking about.
But maybe it is better to put ourselves in the shoes of the Jews who are in the audience.
Imagine you are standing in Israel watching a man heal a blind man and then start a conversation about Shepherds, sheep, and sheep pens.
He then tells you He is “the door.”
He concludes with a discussion about He is going to give up His life but then He is going to take His life back…
Are you confused at this point?
I kind of think I would be confused.
Even if I understood the spiritual lesson about the Shepherd, sheep, and the door, I think I would still be confused about the end.
Jesus was the better shepherd because he would give up His life and then take it back?
What did that even mean?
My confusion would have been even more compounded if I believed the Messiah had come to set up an empire in Israel.
John 10:19-21
Joh 10:19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.
Joh 10:20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”
Joh 10:21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Jesus’ words caused division among the people.
Part of the crowd assumed Jesus was crazy. They couldn’t understand His meaning and so they labeled Him insane and demon possessed.
The other part of the crowd disagreed, reminding those ready to dismiss Jesus that demon possessed people couldn’t heal blind men.
APPLICATION:
Just because you don’t understand someone the first time you hear them doesn’t make them crazy and doesn’t mean their statements are nonsense.
It’s pretty arrogant to think that way.
Those who defended Jesus may not have understood everything He said, but they recognized the evidence of Jesus’ miraculous power.
Their hearts remained open to learning and to the possibility they didn’t know everything.
APPLICATION:
Over and over again in the gospels we’ve observed how pivotal it is that a person allows themselves to receive instruction.
That seems to be one of the biggest factors in whether a person accepted or rejected Jesus.
Were they willing to accept they might have something to learn?
Or did they assume they were already at the pinnacle of intelligence.
I don’t think much has changed since then…
Are human beings humble enough to believe God might have something to teach us?
Or do we consider ourselves as the highest source of truth?
John 10:22-23
Joh 10:22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,
Joh 10:23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.
What was the Feast of Dedication?
The Feast of Dedication, today known as Hanukkah, occurred around the 25th Chislev (late November to December).
It is also known as the feast of lights or the feast of illumination
The Feast celebrated the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes, a Seleucid King, in the 160s BC.
It was celebrated for 8 days.
The eight days comes from a Jewish tradition which states that when the Jews reentered the Temple to cleanse it, they could only find one jar of olive oil to burn in the menorah.
The one jar was only supposed to last 1 day but it miraculously lasted 8 days, enough time for the people to restock.
The feast was a time of rejoicing and homes and synagogues were illuminated with candles throughout the 8 days.
This was not one of the feast the Jews were commanded to keep in the Old Testament Law.
What was the colonnade of Solomon?
A colonnade is a row of columns supporting a roof.
Solomon’s colonnade/porch/portico was originally designed by King Solomon (3rd king of Israel) and was on the east side of the Temple complex.
Josephus, a Jewish historian writes:
NOW this temple, as I have already said, was built upon a strong hill. At first the plain at the top was hardly sufficient for the holy house and the altar, for the ground about it was very uneven, and like a precipice; but when King Solomon, who was the person that built the temple, had built a wall to it on its east side, there was then added one cloister founded on a bank cast up for it, and on the other parts the holy house stood naked. (War of the Jews - Book 5, Ch. 5 , Para 1.)
John 10:24-27
Joh 10:24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,
Joh 10:26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Some Jews approached Jesus and asked Him to tell them plainly if He was the Messiah.
As we continue through the chapter there is reason to believe these “Jews” are the Jewish religious leaders Jesus has had problems with in the past.
They want Jesus to tell them if He is the Messiah.
They want a “yes” or “no” plain answer.
Why?
Is it because they will believe in Him if He answers “yes”?
Probably not, right?
They’ve proven they aren’t interested in listening to Jesus words or acknowledging His miracles.
Jesus tells them as much.
He had told them enough already.
His miraculous acts were a witness to all He had said.
I think this is essentially a “yes” answer.
He told them and gave them enough evidence to believe it.
The reason they didn’t believe He was the Messiah sent from God was because they were not His sheep.
Sheep know the voice of the shepherd and follow it because they know it is their guide to pasture and safety.
In the same sense, there were people following Jesus around (literally across the Judaean countryside) because they recognized He had the words to eternal life. Upon hearing those words and seeing His miracles, they came to believe He had been sent from God.
But the Jewish leaders were unwilling to follow or consider Jesus’ words.
They would not let Jesus lead them or guide them because they didn’t think they needed to be like sheep, they thought they were shepherds.
If they had listened and considered the voice of the shepherd, they would have believed in Jesus like the others and He would have given them eternal life.
They want Jesus to tell them plainly if He is the Messiah and Jesus is making the point that Him telling them plainly wouldn’t change their hearts.
Even if He told them plainly, “I AM THE MESSIAH,” they wouldn’t believe because their hearts weren’t willing to be led.
John 10:28-30
Joh 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
Joh 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
Jesus leads His sheep to eternal life (reminds us a bit of Psalm 23).
His sheep will not perish and no one will snatch them out of His hand.
If you are a shepherd, what are your biggest concerns?
1. Some wild animal will get into your flock and kill some of them.
2. A thief will come and steal some of your sheep and lead them away while you are off your guard.
Understand this within the shepherding context, what is Jesus saying?
As long as the sheep are following my voice…
As long as they are in my keeping and oversight nothing will happen to them.
They will be preserved from death (they will have eternal life) and no one can steal them from me.
Jesus is never off guard and so long as you stay with Him you are going to be just fine.
The devil isn’t cunning enough to steal or kill what belongs to the Master Shepherd.
As we observed in chapter 6 and referenced in chapter 17, Jesus talks about His sheep as having been given to Him from the Father.
A wealthy farmer may give His sheep into the care of a shepherd.
Here Jesus is pictured as the protector of the sheep given to Him by God.
Later on in John 17, Jesus prays to God and tells Him He has protected all that was entrusted to Him, except for one of them, Judas, who chose to walk away.
Joh 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Just as no one is capable of stealing the sheep from Jesus’ protection, no on is able to “snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Why?
Because God and Jesus are one.
They are unified in their intent to give the sheep eternal life.
Jesus shepherds men to God by the words He received from God.
No one can thwart the Son’s purpose because no one can thwart the Father’s purpose.
No one could pluck the faithful from Jesus’ hand with any more ease than they could pluck the faithful from God’s hand.
The sheep in Jesus’ protection were also in God’s protection, because they are working as one.
Thus it will be seen, that, though oneness of essence is not the precise thing here affirmed, that truth is the basis of what is affirmed, without which it would not be true (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown).
Jesus doesn’t come out and say, “I am God” in this text but it is clear that is what He is affirming.
If you tell someone you are as powerful as God to accomplish a task (in this case to protect the sheep) what are you claiming?
Equality with God! At least on the topic at hand.
But claiming equality with God on any level is blasphemy. ◦
Unless it is true!
And the case that Jesus has been making all along is, “I have God given miraculous power to back up my claims!”
John 10:31-33
Joh 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
How did the Jews respond to Jesus?
Did they assume they had misunderstood Him? No!
Were they only mildly upset, assuming His intention wasn’t actually to claim equality with God? No!
They did the exact same thing they did the last time He made a clear claim of equality with God (John 8:59), they picked up stones and were getting ready to stone Him right there in the Temple.
When Jesus asked them why they intended to stone Him, they responded, “…for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
John 10:33-36
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—
Joh 10:36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
The Jewish leaders have just given their judgement against Jesus.
They believe He needs to die because He made Himself equal with God.
Jesus responds to them with a quotation from Psalm 82.
He seems to suggest the “Law” (Old Testament Law) used the term “gods” to refer to humans.
I think it is important to read Psalm 82 in order to understand the context in which this word “gods” is contained.
Psa 82:1 A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
Psa 82:2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Psa 82:3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Psa 82:4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Psa 82:5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Psa 82:6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
Psa 82:7 nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
Psa 82:8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!
How should we understand the “gods” of Psalm 82.
Its clear that the “gods” of Psalm 82 are unrighteous judges (people in positions of authority).
Specifically here the psalmist is talking about the unrighteous judges in the nation of Israel.
There is no question the author is talking about physical men because he tells them “like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
They are called “gods” because they have been given the word of God and the authority of God to judge the nation and guide the nation, apparently in both civil and spiritual matters.
This is true of anyone in authority.
Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
They are “gods” in the sense that they are judges underneath God the ultimate judge.
You will also notice they are called “sons of the Most High” in verse 6.
But God condemns them because they abuse their power and do not judge righteously.
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?”
“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.”
So, Psalm 82 is a condemnation of the unrighteous leaders of God’s people.
So, what does Jesus intend to communicate by citing this verse in John 10?
The Old Testament Law called the judges of Israel “gods” and “children of the most High” because they were entrusted to judge the people based on the words of God they received.
The Jewish authorities of Jesus’ day had no problem with that usage, even though those judges were abusers of their authority, even though they had no respect for the word of God that was supposed to be guiding them in their judgments, even though their actions were contrary to God’s will.
But they were all upset that Jesus had claimed to be God and the Son of God even though His words and actions were 100% in line with the words and will of God.
Who were these people who were ready to stone Jesus?
They were the current judges and authorities over the Jews.
They were filling the position of those condemned in Psalm 82.
If asked, I imagine they would have confirmed that the title of “gods” applied to them because they claimed to judge the people with God’s authority.
They would have claimed to be “children of the Most High” or sons of God.
But Jesus has been telling them this whole chapter they are just like their fathers in Psalm 82.
They are thieves and robbers.
They come to kill and destroy the flock.
They claim to be shepherds but they do not heed the words of God and do not judge righteously.
And it is those people, who are looking at Jesus, and telling Him, the One sent into the world by God and consecrated by God, that He blasphemes by calling Himself God and the Son of God.
See the hypocrisy?
A second simpler interpretation.
In Psalm 82, God calls magistrates and judges “gods.”
The Jewish leaders accepted that as a fact.
If they were worthy of that title, certainly the consecrated Son of God had even more of a right to claim the title of “God.”
In pointing this out, Jesus is claiming the identity of the Son of God, which they appear to understand as a title of divinity.
He was saying He has a greater claim to that title than any who came before Him because He is greater than any who came before Him.
No matter which way you interpret these verses, Jesus isn’t standing down from the claim the Jews believed Him to be making (that He was God).
It is important to note Jesus is not claiming to be God in the sense the men in Psalm 82 were called “gods.”
Jesus was not a God like the judges were “gods.”
His intention is not to communicate that idea.
He is communicating His superiority in comparison to them because He and He alone is the consecrated Son of God.
The next few verses reinforce this interpretation.
Jesus’ words didn't calm the Jews they further infuriated them.
John 10:37-38
Joh 10:37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
Joh 10:38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Unlike the unrighteous Jewish authorities of old who the Jews of Jesus’ day had no qualms about calling “gods,” Jesus did the work of God.
Although they didn’t believe Him, His works were evidence the Father was in Him and He was in the Father.
It is one thing to say, “God is with me.”
It is another thing to say God is in Me and I am in God.
This is a very similar statement to “I and the Father are one.”
And appears to have been understood by the Jews in a very similar way… a claim to equality with God.
John 10:39-42
Joh 10:39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Joh 10:40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
Joh 10:41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
Joh 10:42 And many believed in him there.
Upon hearing Jesus say “the Father is in me and I am in the Father,” the Jews attempted to arrest Jesus but He escaped.
This was probably an escape aided by miraculous power of some kind.
Jesus left Jerusalem and went to the area of the Jordan River where John the Baptist had baptized.
Those who had heard John preach realized His words were coming true in Jesus.
There were many who listened to Jesus and believed in Him.
