Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not in by the door to the fold of the sheep, but mounts up elsewhere, *he* is a thief and a robber;
Jesus had just healed a man born blind, and the religious leaders threw that man out. His words here raise three questions: what is the fold, what is the door, and who climbs the wall?
This teaching has a setting. It answers what had just happened to a man who trusted Jesus.
The Lord had given sight to a man born blind. This made the Pharisees jealous. The man faithfully confessed that Jesus had opened his eyes, so they threw him out of the synagogue. The Lord heard of it, found him, and revealed Himself to him as the Son of God. He was clearly one of Christ's sheep, and heard His voice. Our Lord gave this searching and memorable teaching about the shepherd and the sheep in these circumstances.
The picture is a walled enclosure. Commentators read the fold as the nation of Israel, fenced in by the law God gave.
Here the Lord speaks in the form of a parable, and in verse 1 He again doubles His words to press their truth home. The sheepfold was Israel as God established it under law. God's own laws and ordinances formed the fence that kept Israel separate from the Gentiles. The door was God's appointed entry. It was what Old Testament prophecy declared about who the true Shepherd would be. He would come to Israel at the appointed time, in the appointed way. He had to fit every prophecy about the Messiah of Israel: only then would the door open for Him.
Entering by the door was no formality. It meant Christ kept every requirement God had laid down for Israel.
The Lord is the Shepherd meant here. He entered the fold — here it is Judaism — and He entered by the door. That is, He kept all the rites and ordinances God appointed for Israel in that day. Born under the law, He was circumcised on the eighth day. Later, at the purification of His mother, He was presented to God in the Temple. Then John baptised Him in the Jordan. He was the only one so baptised who had no sins to confess. When John challenged Him, He answered, "thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Men did not grasp what those words meant. To enter the fold by the door, He had to submit to that rite of John's baptism.
The two words are not repetition. One describes how such men get in; the other describes what they do once inside.
Before Christ came, men had arisen who claimed to lead God's people, but only to exalt themselves. Theudas boasted that he was somebody. Judas of Galilee "drew away some of the people after him" (Acts 5:36-37). Such men had no authority from God, and did not enter by God's appointed door. Like a thief, they entered by stealth, and, as a robber, enriched themselves at the expense of the fold.
The Pharisees were inside the fold and held office. That was the problem: a place gained by climbing proves nothing.
The Pharisee rulers and teachers were in the sheepfold, the Jewish nation. But they had not entered it by the way God appointed. Instead of entering by the door, which they were unable to do, they climbed up some other way by their own efforts. They had pushed themselves into the role of caretakers over those in relationship with God. They had all the official trappings, human credentials and rank among men. Yet God had not accredited them. They had not entered by the door, and the sheep did not hear them.
The same test applies to anyone who takes up spiritual care of others: gift from Christ, not appointment by men.
A man may set himself up as a teacher or a pastor. His fellow men may appoint him to the office or title of pastor. But unless he has a real gift from the Head of the church, it is all a sham, a hollow claim, an empty conceit. His voice will be the voice of a stranger, which the true sheep of Christ do not know and ought not to recognise.
He came in by the door, but not to stay. The fold was not where He meant to leave His sheep.
He was not present to restore the kingdom again; the time for the Millennial blessing had not yet come. He had come to draw His own sheep to Himself and lead them out of the Jewish fold. He would bring them into the new blessings of the Christian flock.
- Door — Christ came the way God had marked out beforehand. He matched the prophecies and kept Israel's ordinances. That is what entering by the door means.
- Wall — anyone who skips that appointed way has to climb. The climb shows the motive: stealth to get in, plunder once inside.
- Trappings — rank, office and human credentials do not open the door. The Pharisees had all three, and God still did not accredit them.
- Voice — the sheep's safety lies in their ear. They do not know a stranger's voice, and should not follow it.
- Out — the true Shepherd did not enter to keep the sheep inside. He came to draw them to Himself and lead them out into new blessing.
but he that enters in by the door is [the] shepherd of the sheep.
Jesus draws a picture every listener knew. A walled sheepfold, one gate, and a man coming in to the sheep. Everything turns on a single question — how did he get in?
The fold in the picture is Israel. God set it up through Moses, and He settled the way in long before anyone came.
The religious system set up through Moses was like a fold. It penned the Jews up apart from the Gentiles, waiting for the coming of the true Messiah. The voices of the prophets had prescribed the door of entrance: He must be born of a virgin, at Bethlehem, and so on. Imposters had appeared. They lacked these credentials, so they looked for a way in somewhere else, and by that they betrayed themselves.
What made the door a door was not wood and hinges. The Old Testament had already published the identifying marks of the coming Shepherd, and those marks together formed the entrance.
That Israel were the sheep of the Lord had been the theme of the prophets of old. Anyone who came into this fold to exercise authority had to do so under the plain warrant of the Lord Himself. And Ezekiel had prophesied in His name that He would raise up for them "one shepherd" who should feed them, His "servant David." That means the greater one of David's line. King David had only been the forerunner and type of Him. This was, of course, the Messiah, the Lord's Anointed. Every mark that pointed out the Anointed pointed out the Shepherd of Israel also. These marks combined made up the "door," or way of entrance by which the true claimant of such a right would come.
Others had come before Him with claims. The way a man enters exposes what he is after.
All those who came before Him, pretending to be the shepherds and leaders of Israel, were thieves and robbers. Whoever they were, they did not enter by the door. They climbed over the wall and forced their way in by violence or cunning, and so they betrayed their true character. The sheepfold was Israel. These men sought to get possession of the sheep for their own profit, for their own glory. They were neither Messiahs, nor servants of God, nor sent by Him.
By contrast, entering the right way was itself the evidence of His commission.
The first thing the Lord marks is that He had entered by the door into the sheepfold, so proving His authority from the owner of the flock to take charge of the sheep, in contrast to any secret entrance, which by itself convicts a man of a dishonest purpose.
The door was not only a matter of where He was born. Commentators point to His whole submission to what God had appointed for Israel as the walking through of it.
The Lord is the Shepherd meant here. He entered the fold, which is here Judaism, and He entered by the door. That is, He kept all the rites and ordinances of that day which God appointed for Israel. Born under the law, He was circumcised on the eighth day. Later, at His mother's purification, He was presented to God in the temple. Then He was baptised by John in the Jordan, the only one so baptised who had no sins to confess. After that He began His ministry in Israel. So when John the Baptist challenged Him, His answer — "thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" — carried a meaning men did not grasp at the time. To enter the fold by the door, He had to submit to that rite, John's baptism.
A few verses on, Jesus gives the door a name: His own.
The door is always the place marked out and appointed by the architect for entering. This is why Jesus says further down, "I am the door of the sheep." He is the one God has appointed as the way out for the Jewish remnant, and the way in for us all into the sanctuary, into His holy presence... He did not try to stir men up by exciting their passions, like the false Messiahs. He did not drag an unconverted and stubborn people along behind Him. Meek and lowly in heart, He followed the path the Lord had traced for Him. He entered by the door.
His entrance was not the destination. Having established His right to the sheep, He moves them.
The subject here is first His title to the name and place of Shepherd. Then it is His visit to the fold, to lead the sheep out of the ancient enclosure — the fallen Jewish system, already set aside in the mind of God... The door was the way appointed by God. Every predicted circumstance of His first coming, up to that moment, was accomplished. The rest were about to be fulfilled.
- The fold. Israel under the law was a walled enclosure. It kept the people apart from the nations as they waited for their Messiah.
- The door. God built the fold, so God fixed the way in. The prophets named the marks of the true Shepherd, and those marks together were the door.
- The proof. Coming the appointed way was Christ's credential. Those who climbed in another way showed that they wanted the sheep for themselves.
- The obedience. He kept everything God had appointed for Israel — meek and lowly, refusing the shortcuts of the false Messiahs.
- The purpose. He entered the fold to lead His own out of it, and the same door He came in by He later names as Himself.
To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
Jesus draws a picture from everyday shepherding: a sheepfold, a gatekeeper, and a Shepherd whose voice the sheep already know. Three questions follow. Who opens the door to Him? What makes His voice different? And where does He take the sheep He calls?
The picture rests on an ordinary custom of the time.
When the owner of the sheep in the fold was away, a porter or watchman guarded the entrance. One of his duties was to let no one in but the shepherd. So the man he opened the door to had to be the shepherd of the sheep.
The porter — the gatekeeper of the verse — stands for something larger than a hired watchman.
"To Him the porter opens" (v. 3). The porter is a figure of the power of God. He may act in providence by ordering circumstances, or by the Spirit working in the hearts of men. So the way lay open for Christ to reach "His own sheep."
The fold is Israel's own religious system. The Shepherd came into it by meeting every requirement Scripture had set for Him.
Everything foretold of the Lord Jesus, He answered to. Every rightful ordinance for Him to pass through, He recognised and fulfilled. He passes into the sheepfold by the door, and "to Him the porter opens." The people of Israel were shut off from all other people. Yet the sheepfold was only Judaism, and into it the true Shepherd of Israel comes.
Hearing here is more than sound reaching the ear. Some people listened to Scripture every week and got nothing from it.
Hearing His voice implies more than hearing the words of the Lord. It means His words carried a personal message that reached their hearts. Preaching at Antioch, Paul told the Jews that their rulers "did not recognize Him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath" (Acts 13:27). So they heard the prophetic Scriptures, but those Scriptures carried no message to them.
The phrase "His own sheep" marks out a small group inside a nation that was turning away. It also picks up an earlier line in this Gospel.
While the Jews as a whole lapsed into blind rejection of Christ, a few received Him. These are here called "His own" sheep. The description points to the close and inseparable link between the Shepherd and the sheep. His own people refused their King, for "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him" (John 1:11). But His own sheep did not revolt against Him, their Shepherd. They were His own particular property, as the Lord said to His Father, "Yours they were, and you gave them to me" (John 17:6).
He knows more than the name.
The little flock as a whole is His very own. Yet His love and interest go out to each individual sheep. He knows the name of every one, for He calls His own sheep by name. He called Zacchaeus by name out of his hiding place in the sycamore tree. He saw Nathanael hidden under the fig tree. He knew the past history of the Samaritan stranger.
After the resurrection, one woman at the tomb hears her own name.
The Good Shepherd, risen from the dead, calls His sheep by her name. The known and loved voice, powerful as the grace that called her, at once reveals Him to the one who heard it. She turns to Him and replies, "Rabboni — my Master."
He comes in, but He does not stay in. The leading out is not a suggestion the sheep may decline.
He makes them His own, and He calls them by name, as one who knows them. The Shepherd Himself does it, and He knows those who are His. The object is to bring them out of it. He enters into the "fold," but it is not the "flock." ... "He leads them out." He must put His sheep out by His own authority. He cannot let His own sheep stay there.
The leading out has a starting point and a destination.
Here the Lord is the Shepherd who calls His own sheep and leads them out of the Jewish fold into all the blessings of the new Christian flock. ... Having called them, the Shepherd does not leave them in the Jewish fold that had rejected Christ. "He leads them out" of the Jewish nation that was passing on to judgment.
- Access — the porter opens, so God's own power clears the way for the Shepherd to reach His sheep. No one else gets in.
- Voice — hearing means His words reach the heart. People can read Scripture for years and never hear the Shepherd in it.
- Owned — "His own sheep" are His property, given to Him by the Father, and they did not join the rejection.
- Named — the whole flock is His, yet He knows each one by name, as Zacchaeus, Nathanael and the woman at the tomb each found out.
- Out — He enters the fold only to lead them out, away from a nation facing judgment and into the blessings of a new flock.
When he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
A shepherd walks in front of his flock, and the flock follows him. Jesus uses that picture just after the leaders threw a healed blind man out of the synagogue, to show who truly leads God's people and how they know Him.
The Lord is not describing sheep wandering off. He is describing a deliberate move out of the old Jewish system, and He takes the first step Himself.
When He puts forth His own sheep He says, "he goes before them." What that meant for Him! He was the first to go outside. Yes, He was rejected, He was crucified, He "suffered outside the gate" (Heb. 13:12). Jesus was going to call a people outside the Jewish order of things. This is what He has been doing for almost two thousand years. He calls souls out into what He has set up, the direct fruit of His own death and resurrection.
This had just happened to the man Jesus healed of blindness.
No doubt they had turned him out of the synagogue. But Christ stamps His own meaning on their wicked act, according to God's purposes. The man had no idea at that painful moment that it was really grace leading him out.
One detail carries the weight here: a shepherd does not push his flock from behind.
People have often noticed that this is one of the most familiar pictures in the world. Shepherds do not drive their sheep, as people do in England and perhaps Ireland. They go before them, and the flock follows.
Going before is not only a matter of direction. It means He has already met everything the road holds.
Before He made the sacrifice, He had gone the path the sheep trod… "When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them" — in the paths of temptation, sorrow, difficulty. We go through our small share of the exercise of faith; He went through everything. Moses refused the treasures in Egypt; Christ refused the whole world. Abraham "sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country"; Christ was a stranger in the whole world. In all His path we see Him not screening Himself by His divine power, but bearing everything that a human heart could bear. There is not a trial but He felt it.
The verse states a rule, not a one-off event. So it reaches into every situation a believer meets.
It is always true — true at all times, and true of all saints — that when the Good Shepherd "has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." This is a truth, a divine principle, of immense value, and it touches daily life deeply and widely. It assures our hearts that, whatever happens, He is at hand. He is always near — within sight, as we may say, and within the sound of His voice… It is your safeguard in danger — your victory in conflict — your light in darkness — your strength in weakness — your comfort in sorrow — your fellowship in solitude — your brightest hope in the deepest gloom.
The reason given for following is not clever judgment but recognition. That recognition is itself the protection.
The Lord had already tasted the hatred and scorn of people, above all of the Jews. But He also knew the depths of shame and suffering He must soon pass through, before the open separation of the sheep. So, in fact or in form, Jesus went first either way, and the sheep followed; "for they know his voice." This is their spiritual instinct, as it is their security — not skill in determining or refuting error, but simple cleaving to Christ and the truth.
He brings out all His own — not one stays behind. And none of them knows where the road leads. They know the voice, and that is enough.
When they left Egypt, none could be left behind. Not one of the Lord's hosts stayed in the land, and not even a hoof of their cattle. … Like Abraham, who obeyed God's call and went out, not knowing where he was going, so the sheep followed Him. They knew little of the purpose of the Shepherd's heart for them, or of the large and wealthy place He was guiding them into. They knew only His voice.
- Out — the Shepherd does not stay in the old fold. He puts His own out of it, and He is the first one outside, rejected and crucified.
- Before — He never drives from behind. He walks ahead, so every step the sheep take is a step He has already taken.
- Tested — the road He walked ahead of them was one of temptation, sorrow and difficulty. There is no trial of theirs He has not felt.
- Voice — they follow because they recognise Him, not because they can argue down error. That recognition is their whole security.
- Enough — He brings out all His own — not one left behind — and like Abraham they go without knowing the destination. Knowing the voice is all the map a sheep needs.
But they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.
A flock walks in the open behind its shepherd, and this verse makes a striking claim: the sheep will not go with a stranger at all. Their protection lies in what they don't recognise.
Many voices call to the sheep. Their safety does not come from being able to identify every one.
The sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. There are many other voices, but the sheep do not know them. Their safety consists, not in knowing them all, but in knowing that they are not the one voice which is life to them — the voice of Jesus. All the rest are the voices of strangers.
A stranger is not always an obvious enemy. He may hold the place of guide and teacher and still be one.
First there was the Stranger (verse 5). He spoke to the sheep with an unfamiliar voice. There was no ring of love in it. The sheep had never met him; he was nothing to them. They flee from such men. There are people like this today. They take it on themselves to guide and teach. But the sheep of Christ instinctively keep well away from them. They do not hear the Shepherd's voice in what these strangers say.
The verse gives the sheep one movement: away. They are not told to win the argument.
No one has to become an expert in error first.
They are not required to know whose voice it is, nor to be learned in theological arguments. There is only one Voice for which they have ear or heart; and from another voice they flee. From anyone who would imitate that Voice, or claim authority over them alongside it, they do right to suspect evil. For the sheep as a rule, apart from what may appeal to them in the need of others, their best safety is in flight.
It does not mean the sheep are unaware such voices exist. It means the voice finds nothing inside them to answer it.
In John 10:5 the Lord does not mean that the sheep should know nothing about these strangers. Clearly, the New Testament writers were well aware of the subtle attacks of the enemy. But they did not "know" the voice of strangers. There was no conscious inward knowledge of this voice. There was no link with these teachings in their minds, and no response in their souls.
The Lord is describing His own sheep here, so the verse also tests who they are. Not everyone standing in the fold belonged to Him.
Not all who lay in that Jewish sheepfold were His sheep. His presence in it tested this and drew the line of separation. His sheep were the ones who recognised the Shepherd's voice. They did not merely know Him by outward evidence; their hearts answered Him as they answered no one else.
Writers also separate a passing lapse from the settled direction of a life.
Someone may say that certain people have followed evil teachers and leaders. But the Lord said His sheep do not follow them, and do not know them! On the contrary, they flee from strangers. So those who do follow them cannot be His sheep. We are speaking, of course, about a person's settled character, not about a sudden impulse. A true believer will be recovered from that.
This verse warns against studying every wrong path in order to avoid it.
They escape the stranger, not because they know his evil teaching, but because "they know not". If we know God's path for His people, we do not need to turn aside and study the evil of every side-path of the destroyer. How many have lost their way while investigating a side-path they know to be evil.
The safeguard is positive: enjoy what the Shepherd has already given.
A good remedy to keep us from the tricks of the stranger's voice is to be thankfully taken up with the things our Shepherd has given us. … Instead, we are often dissatisfied, unthankful and murmuring, like the people of Israel long ago. This is a golden opportunity for the stranger's voice. Let us not give him a chance.
- One voice. Safety begins not with knowing many voices, but with knowing the one that gave you life.
- No response. "They know not" means no inward recognition, no echo in the soul — not ignorance that strangers exist.
- Flee, don't fence. The sheep escape by walking away, not by out-arguing the stranger. For ordinary believers, flight is the wisdom.
- No expertise required. Nobody has to master every error to be secure; that burden was never given to the sheep.
- A test, then. Following strangers as a settled pattern shows whose sheep a person is. A sudden lapse is different: a true believer will be recovered.
This allegory spoke Jesus to them, but they did not know what it was [of] which he spoke to them.
John's Gospel stops here to tell us how Jesus' words about the shepherd, the door and the sheep landed. His hearers missed the point. Two questions follow: what was this way of speaking, and why did people standing right in front of Him miss His meaning?
Older translations call this a "parable." That word does not quite fit what John wrote.
The word "parable" appears in John 10:6 in the older translation. But it is not the same word. It means "allegory." The teaching is not in the form of a parable: the Lord is speaking of Himself as the good Shepherd.
The shepherd picture is not a fresh subject. It carries on what the Lord had already said to the Pharisees about their blindness.
The parable, or proverb, in these verses carries on what the Lord had been saying to the Pharisees in the previous chapter. He had told them plainly that they were truly blind, despite their pretence of seeing. Then He used the picture of a shepherd entering his fold and calling out his own sheep. In this way He showed the effect of His presence in Israel. But these men thought themselves wise. They did not know what the Lord was saying, though He aimed His words straight at them (verse 6).
He could have withheld it from them, and did not.
They did not understand the parable, though Jesus spoke it to them. The things He said concerned them directly, yet they did not know what He was talking about. The Lord was speaking about the position His sheep were in, and into which they were brought. Yet He addressed the parable to them. He told them what He was doing with the sheep. He might have left this untold to them, as people who had slighted the light, or shut their eyes to it — to Him as the Light. But there is no anger here.
Their difficulty was not that the imagery was obscure. Sheep and shepherds filled their daily life and their Scriptures.
They could not have missed the Lord's meaning because the picture was strange to them. Shepherds and sheep were always in front of their eyes. The comparison of Israel to a flock runs right through the Old Testament. One of the prophets even works the picture out through a whole chapter (Ezekiel 34). But they failed to recognise the Person of Christ, who is always the key of all divine teaching. So the people's professed spiritual leaders were blind to the real meaning of the Lord's words. Had these Jews only bowed to the long-promised Shepherd now given, all would have been plain.
If a person is not trusted, neither is what he says. That link explains this verse — and why simple believers often see what scholars miss.
His sayings are as Himself: if He is valued, so are they; if He is not believed on, neither are they understood. He is the light and the truth. Grasping anything He says depends on faith in Him. That is why 1 John 2 says the very babes of the family of God know all things. Knowing Christ, they have an anointing from the Holy One. They refuse errors that have trapped countless learned theologians. That does not come from learning or logic, nor from sentiment, enthusiasm, or bigotry, but from possessing Christ.
His words gave them a true picture of themselves. Prejudice kept them from seeing it.
His words held up a mirror that reflected their condition and circumstances exactly. But their prejudices blinded them. They could not see in it God's moral judgment of their state and of their own responsibility.
The failure did not end with them.
The people He spoke this allegory to understood none of these things. As it was with the mass in corrupt Judaism, so it is still with the greater number in corrupt Christendom. Following Christ outside, in the place of reproach, is beyond the natural man's understanding and beyond his power. And it costs too much for many a true Christian.
- Allegory, not parable — the word John uses is not the usual one. The Lord is picturing Himself as the Shepherd.
- Aimed at them — He spoke straight to the men who missed His meaning. There was no anger in it. He told them what He was doing with His sheep.
- Not a hard picture — shepherds and sheep filled their Scriptures and their daily life. The failure lay elsewhere.
- The Person is the key — His words stand or fall with Him. Refuse Him, and they stay shut. Babes who know Christ see what scholars miss.
- The mirror refused — prejudice kept them from seeing their own condition in His words. The same blindness runs on in Christendom today.
Jesus therefore said again to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
The crowd had just heard a picture about a shepherd, a fold, and a door, and they missed the point. So Jesus starts again with His most solemn words. This time He puts Himself into the picture in a new way. He is not just the One who enters. He is the entrance.
He does not scold them for missing it.
The men the Lord is speaking to do not understand the parable He told them. He Himself, in grace, supplies the application.
What follows is more than a repeat:
But there is more than this that follows (v. 7): the Lord Jesus now takes an entirely new place outside Israel. He introduces this truth in the same solemn way. It is not the sentence of death on Judaism. It is the opening out of life and salvation to sinners. "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved." How wonderful! He is speaking to the same souls. What love — to the very souls who could not understand Him!
The wording is exact. His door is for the sheep, not for the fold.
The fold is left aside here. What could Judaism do for the saints any more than for sinners? Christ is the door of the sheep. They might be thrown out, like the blind man He gave sight to. Where were they to turn, and where were they to go? "I am the door of the sheep." He is the entrance to the new and lasting blessings of God for His own. He is the entrance to the God who blessed them — yes, to the Father, as they learn in time.
Why can He claim the title? The answer is in how He Himself came in.
Now He was the door of the sheep, the door out, a door by which they might get out of the fold when His voice led them out. But He was the door generally to the sheep, the appointed way of access. He came in by the door, and therefore was the door. That is, He, and He alone, came in by God's appointed way, and therefore was God's appointed way to others (the sheep).
Leaving the religion of the nation was a serious step. It needed God's own authority.
Christ Himself now becomes the door of the sheep. The Jewish fold, though corrupted by man, had been set up and approved by God. What right, then, did the sheep have to leave the nation under judgment, unless God Himself opened a way of escape? Christ was God's door. By following the Shepherd, the sheep could take a place outside the nation without fear. So too in our own day: believers can safely follow the Shepherd outside every man-made imitation of the Jewish camp.
The way out was never meant to become a way back in:
They found in Christ the Door. It was not the door back into the fold He had called them out of. It was the Door into spiritual blessings the fold could never supply: salvation, liberty, food, life in abundance.
A door is single. To say He is the door is to narrow everything down to Himself.
You are shut up to something — or rather, to Someone. What a moment that is — the soul never forgets it! I discover that for time and for eternity I am shut up to Christ, nothing but Christ! And He stands and says, "I am the door of the sheep." You ask, "What does Christianity begin with?" It begins with the "I" of this verse. And what does it go on with? With the "I" of this verse. And it ends with the "I" of this verse.
Becoming this door had a cost.
He has become the door of salvation and liberty for the sheep. He is the God-appointed and only way of blessing. But He has become that door by giving His life for them. There was no other way He could deliver them, for every one of them was a sinner, held in the power of death.
- Grace repeats. They missed the picture, so He said it again. The souls who could not understand Him got a plainer word, not a colder one.
- Qualified. He came in by God's appointed door, and that is why He can be God's appointed door for everyone else.
- Of the sheep. Not the door of the fold, but of the sheep. The fold drops away, and He is the entrance to the God who blesses them.
- Out and in. God opened this door. So believers may step outside a system under judgment without fear, and step into salvation, liberty, food and abundant life.
- One "I". Everything narrows to one Person, who became that door by laying down His life. Christianity begins, continues and ends with the "I" of this verse.
All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them.
The rulers had just thrown out a man Jesus had healed. Now Jesus calls every rival claimant to His flock a thief and a robber. The words sound wide enough to include the prophets. So two questions follow: who does He mean, and why did His sheep never listen to them?
The words do not sweep in everyone who served Israel before Christ. They fall on two groups — men who claimed the shepherd's place for themselves, and the rulers standing in front of Him:
The Lord does not include the prophets among the thieves and robbers. He means all who set themselves up as "the Shepherd," such as Theudas and Judas of Galilee. He also means all who treated the sheep as if they were their own and not God's — such as the rulers who had just thrown out the man Jesus had healed.
The same test clears the faithful leaders of Israel's past. They never claimed the flock as theirs:
Some men before the Lord Jesus did seek the good of Israel. Josiah, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat and David were far from being thieves and robbers. They were witnesses to the coming Messiah, not men seizing a place that was not theirs. But those who claimed the sheep as their own, when the sheep in truth were God's — what else could they be called but thieves and robbers?
A thief works by stealth; a robber uses force. Both got in the wrong way:
First, there were all those who before Him had pretended to be the shepherds and leaders of Israel. Whoever they were, if they did not come in by the door, they were thieves and robbers. They climbed over the wall and forced their way in by violence or cunning, and so they showed their true character. The sheepfold was Israel. These men wanted to take the sheep for their own profit and their own glory. They were not Messiahs, they were not servants of God, and He had not sent them. They were very far from being one with the Father.
The harm such men do is real, but it stops short of the sheep themselves:
"All who came before me are thieves and robbers." They did not come in by the door. They were robbers of the fold itself. "But the sheep did not listen to them."… But they had none of the sheep, whatever harm they may have done to the fold. The sheep — and this is a blessed truth — did not listen to them.
Earlier in the chapter the Shepherd leads His own sheep out of the fold. Others had tried to lead Israel out before Him, and every attempt failed:
He had just spoken of leading the sheep out of the fold (verse 3). Others had tried to do that before, but they failed. And now the Lord gives the reason. Christ, and Christ only, is the door of the sheep. There is no way out of the fold of Judaism except by Him… So, after the Lord's death and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Church was formed. The door of the fold stood open, and thousands came out. Before that, men the Lord described as thieves and robbers might rise up, but the sheep did not listen to them.
The sheep were kept safe by a deaf ear, not by a better argument. The same holds now:
Teachers of error are everywhere today. May God grant that it is true of us that "the sheep did not listen to them." And may He tune our ears to the Shepherd's voice, so that we listen to Him and follow Him. Then we will be able to tell whether those who take the place of preachers and teachers are really His servants or not.
- Ownership. The charge falls on men who treated God's sheep as their own. It does not touch the prophets or the godly kings, who pointed to the coming Messiah.
- Entry. You know a thief by how he gets in — over the wall, by cunning or force — never through the door God appointed.
- Motive. They wanted the sheep for their own profit and glory. God had not sent them, so they had no right to the flock.
- Preservation. They could harm the fold, but they could not take one sheep. "The sheep did not listen to them" is the note of God's keeping.
- Discernment. Safety is not skill in arguing down error. It is an ear tuned to the Shepherd's voice, so strange voices get no hold on us.
I am the door if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture.
Jesus has just described the shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the door; now He calls Himself the door, and He opens it to anyone. Three things follow for whoever steps through: salvation, freedom, and food.
How Jesus Himself came in settles what He can now be to others.
"I am the door of the sheep." He came in by God's appointed way, so He is God's appointed way for everybody else. That is why He is the door. "If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved" — He is not taking them out now — "and will go in and out and find pasture."… If a soul goes in by Christ, he gets salvation, liberty, and food.
Verse 7 spoke of the door of the sheep. Verse 9 drops that limit.
In verse 7 He is the door of the sheep, for those inside the fold. In verse 9 He is still the door, but not of the sheep. Grace and all it provides are for any, for all, who will accept them. So the language changes, and here the door stands wide open… Yet even with the door wide open, letting in people from the Gentiles as well as from the Jews, it is still a narrow entrance; only through Christ, the door, can anyone enter.
And a door is not a long journey. It takes one movement to be on the other side of it.
It is not a long, dreary, winding passage, but a door; and to enter a door takes only one step. A person outside the door takes one step, and he is inside; he has entered in. And so the soul that believes what God says — that salvation is by Christ alone — enters God's presence at once by faith, through Jesus the Saviour, who died to save sinners.
The promise hangs on a Person, and on entering by Him. That rules out every rival claim to save.
To enter through the door is to believe on Jesus the Son of God. Whoever does can be sure of salvation on His word: "he will be saved." Note this well: He promises it to the one who enters through Christ. No one but the Son of God gives such assurance. He is the Saviour, and no one else is. The church consists of the saved, but cannot save: only Christ can and does.
A sheep shut in a pen is safe but confined. Christ's sheep move, and the movement runs two ways.
A second blessing is liberty. The Shepherd directs His sheep, and they "will go in and out". The Jewish fold shut the sheep out from direct access to God, and forbade them to go out to the Gentile. Under the leadership of Christ, His flock has the liberty and privilege of access to God in worship. It can also go out to the world with the good news of the grace of God.
The verse does not stop at rescue. Sheep must eat, and what they feed on is Christ Himself.
The next thing is, "and find pasture." Under the law there was no food for sinners, only the curse and death… How sweet it is when the saints are eager to feed on Christ. How sweet it is when they take the chance to study the word on their own, not as an intellectual exercise, but as food for their souls… The food we have is Christ.
Put the three results together. This safety is not the safety of walls.
The sheep found salvation in the Shepherd, which the fold could not give. The sheep were to be free. The fold gave them a sort of safety, but it was the safety of a prison. They would find pasture; they would feed in the rich pastures of God… Security is no longer imprisonment, but the care of the Good Shepherd. Free under His care, the sheep feed in safety in the vast and rich pastures of God.
- Door — Christ Himself is the entrance; He came in God's appointed way, so He is God's appointed way for everyone else.
- Any — the door widens from "the sheep" to anyone, Jew or Gentile alike. It stays narrow too: there is only one.
- Saved — one step of faith puts a soul inside. Only Christ gives that assurance; no church can.
- Free — "go in and out" means access to God in worship and a way out into the world with the good news.
- Fed — the pasture is Christ, found in His word; safety comes from the Shepherd's care, not from the walls of a pen.
The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy I am come that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly.
The Good Shepherd stands opposite the thief: the thief takes, and He gives life in full measure. Two questions follow — what did it cost Him to bring that life, and what does "abundantly" add?
The difference is not good shepherding against better shepherding. It is taking against giving. One writer sets the two motives side by side, and adds what the giving cost:
As for the thief, he came to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He wanted to profit himself by greed and dishonesty, and he did it by causing the sheep suffering and loss. The Good Shepherd came instead to save and to give life, and to give it more abundantly. It cost Him His own life, laid down for the sheep.
That cost was not optional. Without it, there would be nothing on offer at all:
If He had not come and died, there would have been no life at all for sinful people. Because He came and died, He gives life — and gives it in abundant measure to His sheep.
One writer looks at how the words should be translated.
"I came," said the Lord, "that they may have life and have it abundantly." That is how the original should read. The older King James translation says "more abundantly," and that is not the sense. He gives life in its fullness, in its abundance. What a word for the Jews standing by! The One they despised, and would kill if they could, came to give life to dead souls!
Another writer puts the meaning of "abundantly" in three words:
"Above the common" is the force of the word "abundantly." Christ came to give this new life.
People before Christ came did have life. What changed was the measure, and the reason was the person who had now arrived:
There had been life when there was only a promise; there had been life all through the dealings of law. Clearly Christ had always been the means of life from the day death entered the world. But now that He had come, they would not only have life. They would have it "more abundantly." That was the effect of God's Son being here in this world. The Son of God humbled Himself in this world, even to death, the death of the cross. He also died in atonement for sinners. Was it not right that God should mark that infinite work and person with a far richer blessing than He had ever poured out before?
Commentators describe that richer blessing in different ways. Some tie it to resurrection and to freedom:
The "more abundantly" of verse 10 means more than the life every believer from Adam had. It means the liberty that redemption brought them into. It means life in resurrection power and character. Before that, they were treated no better than servants, though everything was theirs.
Others put the accent on shared company and joy:
Last of all, these blessings bring the sheep into the enjoyment of life. It is a life of communion with divine Persons, and it leads to fullness of joy. This is the abundant life. Natural life, even at its best, falls short, and its joy fails.
There is more here than bare survival. One writer draws the line between existing and living:
"I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly." That is our portion. Not the weak life of a sick man. Not bare existence. Thank God we have spiritual existence, but we have more. We have spiritual vitality, strength and enjoyment. These are ours in the risen Shepherd, who in His goodness once laid down His life for the sheep.
The abundance is offered, but it still has to be taken up. That turns the verse into a personal question:
To us today there is not only life but life "more abundantly". It is a good thing to ask ourselves, "Am I taking hold of the real abundant life that Christ has made known?" We all have to look at ourselves, whether we are young Christians or old ones.
- Contrast. The thief comes to take from the sheep; the Shepherd comes to give to them, at the price of His own life.
- Cost. Without His coming and His death there would be no life at all for sinful people. Every measure of life rests on that.
- Measure. Believers in earlier ages had life too. "Abundantly" means life above the common, and it marks the arrival of God's Son.
- Character. Commentators fill this out in two ways. One is the liberty and power of resurrection life. The other is communion with divine Persons, which brings fullness of joy.
- Claim it. This life is not weak or bare. It is vitality and enjoyment. The honest question is whether we are taking hold of it.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep
Jesus has just spoken of the door and of abundant life. Now He takes a title for Himself: the good Shepherd. What makes Him good is not skill or kindness. It is one act — He dies for the sheep.
One small word sets Him apart: the. Others cared well for a flock, yet none of them held this title.
Since the days of Abel there have been many faithful shepherds. Men like Moses and David tended their flocks with the care of a kind shepherd. As men, they were "good shepherds." But "a good shepherd," or "some good shepherd," is not "The Good Shepherd" — or "The Shepherd, the good One."
The same writer presses the difference between risking a life and handing one over. David is the test case.
He protected his father's sheep, entrusted to his care, at the risk of his own life. Through the grace and help of God he proved himself to be the very best of all good shepherds among men. But could David, for all that, ever be called "The good Shepherd"? No. David has not given, nor could he "give" his life. Staking your life and giving your life are two very different things. At first glance they may look almost equally worthy, or even the same… Only Jesus could give His life, as perfect Man, because His life had not, like ours, been forfeited by sin. So He alone, and no one else, can be called "The good Shepherd."
The verses that follow set a paid worker beside the Shepherd.
When He gave up His life for the sheep, the Lord showed Himself the very opposite of the hired shepherds before or since. Their slender interest in the flock vanished at the first roar of the lion or growl of the bear. Shepherds like that bargained for wages, not for wolves. They cared for themselves, not for the flock.
Why does the Shepherd die? One writer weighs what that death achieved against the motive behind it.
His death has done everything for them. It has redeemed them, washed them from their sins, justified them, and bought them for heaven. Still, I think the aim of the passage is the love and devotion of the Good Shepherd. Rather than lose His sheep, He lays down His life.
Why must the Shepherd die at all? One writer points to the condition every person is born in.
But this really made His death necessary. No one born in sin could enjoy any spiritual blessing apart from the Lord's atoning death. Everything believers enjoyed from Abel until the Lord's day was given in view of the sacrifice He would offer. The sacrifices of the past were only pictures of it… Here in this discourse (verse 11) the Lord first speaks in plain language of His death, and that for the sheep. They all need life. He would provide it, and He would die so that they might have it forever. Love indeed was this!
Nothing was forced on Him. Two things stand together here: full power, and full obedience.
The sword awoke against the Shepherd, and He proved Himself to be the Shepherd by standing between that sword and the sheep… He laid down His life; no one took it from Him. He had power to lay it down and power to take it again. These are wonderful words, proclaiming the fact of His Deity, for no creature could have spoken like that. Yet in the same passage He says, "This commandment I have received from My Father" (v. 18)… The supreme power of Deity was His. Yet He shows Himself to us in complete submission to the Father's command.
The Shepherd went where the sheep could not survive. Dying there was not the end of the story.
He gave His life for the sheep. He entered the field where death seemed to rule unchallenged. There He brought to nothing the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil. David struck down the mighty giant in the valley of Elah. In the same way the Good Shepherd, by dying, destroyed the great enemy and won deliverance for the sheep.
- The title — not one good shepherd among many. He is the Shepherd, the good One, and the word "the" rules out every rival.
- The proof — His goodness shows in surrender, not risk. Staking a life and giving a life are two different things.
- The contrast — hired men bargained for wages, not for wolves. They run when danger comes; He stays and dies.
- The necessity — no one born in sin can be blessed apart from His atoning death. The Shepherd's care had to reach that far.
- The victory — no one took His life from Him. He laid it down at His Father's command, went into death, and broke the power of the enemy for the sheep.
but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.
The Lord has already spoken of the thief; now He names a second figure who looks far more respectable — a hired hand who works among the sheep but does not own them. The question is not whether he is wicked, but whose the sheep are, because when danger comes that one fact decides everything.
The hired hand, or hireling, is not accused of theft or false teaching. His problem is the reason he works — and that reason only shows itself under pressure.
The hireling does not necessarily teach false doctrine, but he serves for wages. Peter warns us against shepherding the flock of God for "shameful gain" (1 Peter 5:2). He also warns that some will arise who "in their greed" will "exploit" the saints (2 Peter 2:3). Christendom has largely fallen into the snare of the hireling. The hireling may profess to tend the sheep but his motive is self. So when danger arises, he thinks of his own safety and flees.
Another writer draws the line even more sharply: he may do genuine good, and still fail at the one moment that counts.
Thirdly, there is the Hireling (verse 12). He may serve the sheep in useful ways; may give them food and water. But he is not their owner; he does his duty in return for his wages. When an emergency comes, however, he fails. He considers his own interests rather than those of the sheep.
The Lord traces the flight back to one fact: the sheep do not belong to him. Ownership, not skill, makes a man stay.
The sheep are not the hireling's own, so he will not suffer to save them. But the Shepherd loves them with a never-dying love. He will face every foe and every question on their behalf. He became Man so that He might die for them. They lay under the condemnation of death, and only His death could deliver them from it.
One writer separates care for the fold from care for the sheep inside it.
He is not shepherd, but he has the sheep under his care… He is there for the gain from the sheep. He acts from this view, not from care for the sheep… Those who have been shepherds of the Church in name only have had this character — not devouring the sheep, but being unfaithful to them. If they have not been thieves, they have been "hirelings." Caring for the fold counts for nothing. What marks the true Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, is caring for the sheep, because they are His sheep.
The wolf is the danger the hireling runs from. One writer names him and marks the limit of his power.
The wolf is Satan himself, who acts through his servants, masquerading as "servants of righteousness." He is out to do all the damage to the sheep that he can. He cannot snatch them out of the Shepherd's hand — the same word this verse uses — but he can and does catch them in other ways, and scatter them. He has been only too successful in this evil work.
The failure is a failure of love. So what should drive service instead?
Here the Lord first describes not their trials, but the character of the man who claims what is not his own but Christ's. That man deserts them openly in the hour of danger… Divine love worked in God's purpose and will, and it worked in Christ's death too. Nothing is good or acceptable where love is not the motive. It is the true and only right spring of service — as the Lord said to the servant, now fully restored and reinstated after denying Him, "Feed My lambs — My sheep."
This is not only about bad leaders elsewhere. It is a mirror for the day when standing by God's people costs something.
Let us beware when difficulties arise among the people of God. We must not act on the principle of the hireling. That means thinking only of our own safety and comfort in our own path, and so deserting the sheep in the time of danger and distress.
The comfort of the passage is that the sheep's safety was never resting on the hired man in the first place.
The Lord Himself marks the difference between what the care of human shepherds achieves and the security His own care gives. Speaking of the security of His sheep, He says, "He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep," and, "the wolf snatches them and scatters them." But further on He says, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."
- Ownership decides. The hireling runs because the sheep are not his. Everything else in the verse follows from that.
- Ownership creates love. Christ owns the sheep and therefore faces the foe, giving His life where the hired man saves his own.
- Love produces service. Wages can buy the work; only love stays when the wolf comes. That is why the Lord told a restored servant, "Feed My sheep."
- Where love fails, the wolf works. He cannot pull a sheep from the Shepherd's hand. But he catches and scatters, and unfaithful shepherds leave the door open to him.
- Test yourself, then rest. Ask if you would leave God's people when it costs you. Then remember: their final safety is in a hand no one can snatch them from.
Now he who serves for wages flees because he serves for wages, and is not himself concerned about the sheep.
The Lord has just described a man who runs when the wolf comes. Here He gives the reason, and it goes to motive: the sheep mean nothing to a hired man.
The chapter has already spoken of thieves and robbers. The hireling is a different figure.
The contrast here is no longer only with a thief or a robber, with murderous intent or plainly selfish aims of the worst kind. There might be others marked by a milder form of human evil. They do not destroy the sheep, but they are out for themselves.
The danger is that this milder evil looks respectable. The hireling holds a real position over the flock:
Now we have another character, "the hireling"; not the thief, but the hireling. He is not shepherd, but he has the sheep under his care. This is a terrible state of things. The sheep are not his. He is there for the gain from the sheep. He acts from this view, not from care for the sheep.
His flight is not just cowardice. He works for wages, and nothing deeper ties him to the flock.
Here is a shepherd who is only looking after the sheep for his wages. He has no vital interest in the sheep. He does his duty, we hope, but in an emergency he is not going to sacrifice himself for the sheep. So when the wolf comes, he runs away. The sheep do not really belong to him, and he does not care for them. There is no link at all between him and the sheep he is meant to tend and watch.
Something does hold his interest, and danger reveals what it is.
Some men openly take the position of pastor of the flock of God for mere gain or social privileges. When persecution then puts those things at risk, such a man runs from his post. That shows he is at best only a hireling. The hireling cares for the fleece of the sheep, and not for the sheep themselves. Sadly, this is widely seen in Christendom today.
Darby draws the dividing line between the false shepherd and the true one at a single point — the object of the care.
The fold is in his power, and the sheep are merely the most helpless part of his prey. Still, he is not the wolf. He carries the name of shepherd, but he is not one; he is a hireling. He sees the wolf coming, and he runs away. Those who have carried the name of shepherd in the Church have had this character — not devouring the sheep, but unfaithful. If they have not been thieves, they have been hirelings. Caring for the fold is nothing. What marks the true Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, is caring for the sheep, because they are His sheep.
If wages cannot keep a man at his post, something else must. Kelly names it, and points to the moment the Lord restored Peter and gave him the sheep to feed.
Just as divine love worked in God's purpose and will, so it worked in Christ's death. Nothing is good or acceptable where love is not the motive. Love is the true and only right source of service. The Lord showed this to the servant He had fully restored and reinstated after his denial of Him: "Feed My lambs — My sheep." He does hold out the most glorious rewards to encourage a servant who is already on Christ's path and is quick to be cast down by its difficulties. But love alone is recognised as what makes him serve.
The hireling is not only a figure in church history. He is a principle any of us can act on.
When difficulties arise among the people of God, let us beware of acting on the principle of the hireling. That means thinking only of our own safety and comfort in our own path. It means deserting the sheep in the time of danger and distress.
The failure of human shepherds is real, yet it does not settle the fate of the flock. Darby sets the hireling's flight beside what the Lord says a few verses later.
The Lord Himself marks the difference between the care of human shepherds, with its effect, and the security His own care gives. Speaking of the safety of His sheep, He says the hireling runs away. He runs because he is a hireling and has no care for the sheep. The wolf then comes, seizes the sheep and scatters them. But further on He says that He gives them eternal life. They will never perish, and no one can snatch them out of His hand.
- Ownership — The hireling runs because the sheep were never his. No link ties him to them, so nothing holds him when danger comes.
- Motive — He is not a thief, only a self-seeker. He takes the pastor's place for gain or social privileges, not for the sheep.
- Object — He cares for the fleece, not the sheep. Caring for the fold is nothing; caring for the sheep, because they are Christ's, marks the true Shepherd.
- Love — Wages cannot hold a man at his post. Love alone is the right source of service, which is why the Lord told the restored Peter to feed His sheep.
- Safety — Human shepherds fail and the wolf scatters the flock, but the sheep the Lord holds will never perish, and no one can snatch them out of His hand.
I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine,
Jesus has just described a hired man who runs when the wolf comes. Now He says what sets Him apart: the Shepherd and His sheep know each other — but how deep does that knowing go, and what does it cost Him?
One commentator explains that the hired man is not a criminal. His wages decide how he acts, and that is where the Shepherd stands apart.
The hireling is not necessarily evil like the thief; but being a man who works for wages, his interest is primarily a monetary one. The sheep are of interest to him only so far as they are the means of his livelihood. He does not really care for them enough to risk his skin on their behalf. It is far otherwise with the Shepherd, who lays down His life for them and establishes a link of wonderful intimacy.
Notice which half of the verse the Lord puts first. One writer shows how kind that order is for anyone who doubts their own grasp of Christ.
As for the sheep, they hear His voice, and follow Him. Then, speaking of Himself, He declares, "I know them." Of the sheep's knowledge of Him He here makes no mention. His knowledge of them He makes prominent. How gracious was this! Many a person might question his or her knowledge of Christ. Did they know Him rightly? Did they know Him as they ought? And then write bitter things against themselves. Now here He gives no room for such morbid thoughts. The question for them is a very different one. Do they hear His voice? Do they follow Him?
That knowledge takes in everything a sheep could worry about in itself.
He knows His sheep with a perfect knowledge. Their weakness, their ignorance, their tendency to wander, their many needs — He knows them all. And knowing them, He loves them with a love that led Him to lay down His life for the sheep.
He has already given His life for the flock. What more could He add? One writer finds the answer in the second half of the verse.
It might be said, if He has given His life for them, He can do nothing more. But no! it is not so with Him. See verse 14, "I know my own and my own know me." There is not only caring for the flock as a whole, but for the individual sheep.
One writer insists the sentence does not stop at the end of verse 14. What follows gives the measure of this knowing.
The 14th and 15th verses really form one sentence. They are not divided as we have them in our Bibles. The meaning is that He showed Himself as the good Shepherd because He knew the sheep, and they knew Him, just as He knew the Father and the Father knew Him. The knowledge that the Father and the Son have of each other is the pattern for the knowledge between the Shepherd and the sheep.
Another writer weighs that closeness against what the Jewish people knew before.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants to give us an idea of the intimacy that will exist between Himself, the Good Shepherd, and the sheep. To do it, He has to tell us of the intimacy that exists between the Father and the Son. This is far better than visiting terms: these are at home terms… What a contrast to Judaism, where there was distance.
The sheep know Him too, and one writer says this goes well past knowing a voice.
This is the highest blessing the sheep are capable of. It means entering into His own thoughts, ways, and desires — yes, the knowledge of Himself. This is how He brings us into communion with Him. We may know His voice, and be following Him, and yet have little acquaintance with His character.
Even the weakest believer can rest on the Shepherd's side of this knowing.
The feeblest believer finds no difficulty when the Son of God says, "I know my own"… We are sure that He knows us. He knows all things and all men. Deep inside, we know that He knows and loves His own… Not one of His sheep ever escapes the watchfulness of His eyes! Not one is ever forgotten for one moment by His loving heart!
- Cost. The hired man values the sheep for his wages. The Shepherd values them enough to die, and that death opens the way into this closeness.
- His knowing first. He speaks of His knowledge of the sheep before theirs of Him. That comforts anyone unsure how well they know Christ. His test is simple: do they hear His voice and follow?
- Each one. His care is not only for the flock as a whole but for the single sheep, weakness, wandering and all.
- The pattern. Verse 15 gives the measure: Shepherd and sheep know each other as the Father and the Son do. These are at home terms, not distance.
- The reach. Knowing His voice is the start. Knowing Him is the highest blessing a sheep can reach. And no sheep slips out of His sight along the way.
as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Here Jesus compares His knowledge of His own sheep to the knowledge the Father and the Son have of each other. Two questions follow: what kind of knowing does He promise ordinary people, and why does a claim about knowing end in dying?
Verses 14 and 15 belong together as a single thought, and older translations broke the link with a full stop. One writer traces the damage that punctuation did:
This mutual knowledge almost entirely disappears in the Authorised Version because of the unhappy full stop between verses 14 and 15, and the mistranslation of the earlier clause of verse 15 that follows from it.
Read as one sentence, the comparison sets the standard for the whole relationship.
Verses 14 and 15 really form one sentence. They are not divided as we have them in our Bibles. The meaning is that He showed Himself to be the good Shepherd because He knew the sheep and they knew Him, just as He knew the Father and the Father knew Him. The mutual knowledge between the Father and the Son is the pattern of the knowledge between the Shepherd and the sheep.
Can the sheep really know Christ the way the Father and the Son know each other? One writer answers by separating the measure from the character.
Of course this does not state the measure of the intimacy between the sheep and the Shepherd. They could never reach the same measure that exists between the Father and the Son. Still, it is true that the same character of intimacy is theirs with Him... By God's Word and Spirit, His grace and power and love have produced in the sheep a nature fitted by God for this wonderful privilege.
The comparison also tells us what kind of knowledge the sheep have.
From this comparison we can be sure that the knowledge of Christ's sheep here is neither uncertain nor unclear. It is the knowledge of a Person, not knowledge about Him. Knowledge about the Lord does grow over time. But knowing Him is what marks the very youngest lamb of the flock, as one who is not of the world, which does not know Him.
Another writer shows what this knowing brings, and what a believer may still lack.
This is the highest blessing the sheep are capable of, for it means entering into His own thoughts, ways and desires — yes, the knowledge of Himself. This is how we are brought into communion with Him. We may know His voice, and be following Him, and yet not be well acquainted with His character.
Jesus states the intimacy here without explaining the means. One writer looks to the letters of the New Testament for the answer.
From what the letters make clear, I can tell you how it can exist. It exists through the gift of the Holy Spirit, by the indwelling Spirit... The Lord is saying, "I am going to start something that far outshines anything known before I came. I am going to bring My sheep into this wonderful position where they may have intimate knowledge and communion with Me."
The verse ends with the Shepherd giving His life. One writer weighs the words closely:
"Lays down His life," or soul (compare Isaiah 53:10). The word for "life" here is quite different from the one in verse 10 (life in contrast with death). The following "for," as Meyer says, shows substitution, not just benefit.
Another writer sets the Shepherd beside the hired man:
The hired man cares only for his wages. The sheep are not his own, and he takes no personal interest in them... By contrast, between the Good Shepherd and His own there is a bond of the most tender intimacy... His sheep know Him, for they have received His life and nature, and in this way have been brought into communion.
Later in the chapter Jesus gives a second reason for the same act. One writer marks the difference:
He adds, "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life." Here He does not say "for the sheep." He says simply "that I may take it up again." So besides laying down His life for the sheep, He laid it down to prove His perfect confidence in His Father... It was the most complete, absolute giving up of Himself.
- Pattern — Verses 14 and 15 are one sentence. The Father and the Son know each other, and that is the model for the Shepherd and His sheep.
- Measure — The sheep never reach that measure of knowledge, but the same character of it is theirs.
- Person — This is knowing Him, not knowing facts about Him. It is not vague, and even the youngest believer has it.
- Means — One writer points to the indwelling Spirit, who gives the sheep this nearness, unknown before Christ came.
- Proof — Love proves itself in death: the hired man cares only for his pay, the Shepherd gives His life in the place of His own.
And I have other sheep which are not of this fold those also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
The Good Shepherd is speaking to Jewish hearers, inside their own enclosure, about sheep He already owns outside it. The verse raises three questions: what is the "fold," who are these other sheep, and why does He say He must bring them?
The word "fold" pictures a walled enclosure. Commentators identify it with the religious system Israel lived under. They also link the reach of Christ's love to the death He has just mentioned.
Here the Lord can speak clearly for the first time of other objects of His love. He might come as minister of the circumcision for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). But His love could not be so limited, when His death opens the floodgates. The mention of His death leads Him to speak of what was quite outside Israel. "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold" — not the Jewish people, inside their enclosure of law and ordinance.
A reference work sums up what happened to that enclosure afterwards:
This was the system of Jewish ordinances that God appointed. It formed the enclosure the Lord entered by the door, to find His own sheep and lead them out. Gentile believers were added to them. They became one flock (not "one fold") with one Shepherd, the Lord Himself... There is no longer a fold on earth for those that are Christ's. They are formed into the church — the one flock.
Notice the tense. He does not say I will have other sheep. He says He has them already.
I would not say a sheep is a sheep from all eternity, because the person did not exist. But I hold clearly that he was a sheep before he was converted. Christ says, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also"; and, "My sheep hear my voice."
The word "must" carries an obligation. Where does it come from? And why does the verb change from leading out to bringing?
"I must bring them also" — it was an obligation on Him from His Father, and what was due from His own love. "Bring," not "lead out," as before with the Jewish sheep.
Another writer asks what that word means for us:
The Lord refers to us — "must bring." Don't you delight in that word must? It is a strong word of power, but it is a strong word of divine affection too. "Bring" them from where? From wherever their hiding-places are. "I must bring them out," and He has "brought us to God."
What holds these sheep together is not a wall. It is a voice they know. And that hearing rests on His death.
His own voice was heard in the deepest part of the soul, in Gentile as well as Jew. That formed a precious link between each sheep and Christ Himself. So His flock was made up, with all the blessing He had been opening out for those who entered in by Christ as the door. It rests, as all blessing does, on His laying down His life for the sheep.
So who were these other sheep, and what held them together?
God was going to call out a chosen number from among the Gentiles. We see the start of it early in Acts — the Ethiopian in Acts 8, Cornelius and his friends in Acts 10. Sheep held together by outward restrictions: that was Judaism. Sheep made a flock by the Shepherd's own power and attraction: that is Christianity.
Older English versions read "one fold" here. The ESV reads "one flock." Writers say the change of word matters.
The translators probably thought a fold was absolutely necessary for sheep. So they rendered John 10:16 "one fold, one Shepherd." It is now well known to be "one flock, one Shepherd." The two ideas are quite different. The first makes the Shepherd not enough for the flock. The second states that He is enough by Himself.
So who belongs to this one flock?
There is one flock as there is one Shepherd; one body, as there is one Lord. All who have heard His voice, believed on Him, and entered in by Him are members of the one flock.
- One death. His life laid down opens the subject. His love could not stay inside Israel once the cross was in view.
- One claim. "I have other sheep" — they were His before they were converted, before they had heard anything.
- One must. The word carries obligation from the Father and the pull of His own love. He brings them from their hiding places all the way to God.
- One voice. Hearing His voice links Gentile and Jew to Him — drawn by a Shepherd, not fenced in by a wall.
- One flock. Not "one fold." To rebuild an enclosure is to say the Shepherd is not enough. The verse says He is.