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.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
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?
Two Visitors, Two Aims
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:
The Bible TreasuryAs 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:
F. B. HoleIf 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.
The Word "Abundantly"
One writer looks at how the words should be translated.
C E Stuart"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:
H. Nunnerley"Above the common" is the force of the word "abundantly." Christ came to give this new life.
Why More Than Before
People before Christ came did have life. What changed was the measure, and the reason was the person who had now arrived:
William KellyThere 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:
J. N. DarbyThe "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:
Hamilton SmithLast 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.
Vitality, Not Survival
There is more here than bare survival. One writer draws the line between existing and living:
F. B. Hole"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.
A Question Worth Asking
The abundance is offered, but it still has to be taken up. That turns the verse into a personal question:
F. B. HoleTo 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.
Summary
- 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.