How is Jesus the "True Shepherd" in John 10:1-5?

Before pursuing this subject, I revert for a moment to verses 1-5, in order to fix the bearing of it more exactly. It is the life of Jesus that is presented to us, in connection with the Jews, who were God's fold. The true Shepherd, Jesus, entered by the way chosen and ordained of God. Born at Bethlehem, born of the Virgin, He had submitted to all the ordinances that God had established; this was the mark of the true Shepherd. God, by His Spirit and by His providence, opened for Him the way to the ears and heart of the sheep; the rest remained deaf to all His appeals. It was not a Messiah come to establish the glory in Israel, but the only true Shepherd, who would have His own sheep. They listened to His voice. He knew them, and called them by their names, and led them out of the Jewish fold, to put them in the possession of better things. Then, in putting forth His own sheep - the only ones He sought here - He had been before them, and they followed Him, for they knew His voice. This was the mark of the sheep. He did not leave them in the fold, but led them outside. The form of what is said is abstract, and in the present; it is that which is always true of a good Shepherd.

217 We must notice here, that, although the man born blind had been driven out, and also Jesus Himself, the Lord speaks here as having authority. The sheep are His, He puts them out; He goes before them; the sheep follow Him, they will not follow a stranger. It is the history of what Jesus was doing in Israel. Jesus says nothing, as yet, of the blessings towards which He was leading His own, nor of His death, the foundation of these blessings.

“To him the porter openeth: and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” (v.3)

‘No,’ the Lord said, ‘the real Shepherd of the sheep would enter by the door that God had indicated, and the portal will open to him and the sheep will hear His voice and he will call His own sheep by name’. Now the average Jew would say, ‘When this wonderful predicted Deliverer comes to our nation, this great Messiah, He will make Israel a vastly greater place than it was ever before.’ Was that what He came to do? No. The Lord Jesus now, in parable form sets out the divine program of events. He had come, the true Shepherd and He had come into the Jewish fold where there were many sheep in those days, many Jews, but amongst them were His own sheep, those who really responded to His voice. In the first chapter of John’s gospel we get mentioned a few of His own sheep, Andrew, Peter, Nathaniel, and there were others whose names were not mentioned there, but these responded, they believed, they received Jesus when He came and proved themselves to be what He called ‘His own sheep’.

The first thing, then, which the Lord marks is, that He had entered by the door into the sheepfold, thus proving his authority from the owner of the flock, to take charge of the sheep, in opposition to any surreptitious entrance, which of itself convicts of a sinister design. As He says, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But He that entereth in by the door the same is the Shepherd of the sheep."

Christ is here, then, Jehovah's divinely sanctioned Shepherd of Israel, who were the "people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand;" - for He had submitted to every requisition of the owner of the flock: - but at this time, alas! proved to be "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." For the mass of the nation, and especially the rulers of the people, blinded by a false estimate of their condition before God, and entrenched in religious ordinances, knew not the person of Him who came in grace to meet their need; nor heeded the divinely-sanctioned claims of Him who, "when He saw the multitudes, was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." "Their own shepherds pity them not!" Hence, having stated, as another mark of His proved title to be the Shepherd of the sheep that, "to Him the porter openeth," and the "sheep hear His voice," He adds, "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth his own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they now His voice." And here we may be reminded of the beautiful keeping of the figure; and be referred to the customs of oriental countries as verifying this description of the Shepherd's preceding His flock, when leading them from the fold to their pasture, or when conducting them from pasture to pasture. But it is not the correspondence of a description with physical facts or with a known usage that is here in question. It is the application of this peculiar action of the shepherd, by way of parable, to show, as in a glass, what was then taking place under the action of our Lord's ministry, as necessarily modified by the moral condition of Israel, which was being tested and proved by His presence amongst them.

152 The next point is His personal acting towards the sheep. He came into the fold, and spoke. The effect we have seen in the history of our Lord. Then comes still the certain, real, resulting office: "He calleth his own sheep by name." There is specific appropriation, and He calls them by name, as knowing them. The Shepherd being the doer of it knoweth them that are His. The object is to bring them forth out of it. He enters into the "fold," but it is not the "flock." The sheep in the "fold" hear His voice; then He calleth them by name, and leadeth them forth out of it. The reference of this to the Jews, and our Lord's present position as rejected, is manifest. "He leadeth them forth." He must authoritatively put His sheep forth. His own sheep cannot be allowed to stay there. When He thus casts them out, puts them forth, He goes before them.

The point He brings them to is painful expulsion. It is His doing. He "puts them forth." We are ever fearful of doing this. The Lord has His own way of doing it. "He goeth before them." He was the first rejected of the ekballomenoi, yet it was indeed in one sense His own doing, the necessary result of His moral presenting Himself to the unbelieving body disowning God; and the sheep follow Him, for thus they knew their path. They knew His voice in the fold. When He goes forth it was "He putteth forth." To Him too, though going knowingly forth; they "follow him; for they know his voice." They know it is His voice. They learnt it (through grace) when He spake in the fold. His business with His own sheep is to put them out. This is appropriating: "the sheep follow him" is the character. He knows them personally, "by name." Besides, in His case, they are His own. This is true, properly speaking, of none else. So He says, "Feed my sheep." Though it would seem that in some sort there was appropriate Judaism. He was the apostle of the circumcision. There is generic result afterwards; sheep not put forth, but brought in, but to the same "flock," but the point of the putting forth and following is acquaintance with Him personally by His word: they know His voice. Consequently, a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him. And here is the safety of the sheep. The voice is the separating power, because it is voice. Those within the fold may call the sheep forth, as though they were the Shepherd; but they have not the voice of the Shepherd. Now, all their defence is in the Shepherd, and therefore when they hear the voice they flee from it, and the effort of the stranger proves but the protection of the sheep. We may note the Shepherd's voice is the security of the sheep, for it implies personal knowledge of Him, and this leads to the knowledge of the Person. It is not the fold, nor where they enter in being thus put forth, but the Shepherd's voice. Consequently others' voice makes them fly, for they have no strength in themselves, and therefore the voice of others alarms them; it is a stranger. All is identified with them with the voice of Jesus. Their distinction is knowing His voice, and following Him.

The Lord is still speaking to the Pharisees in the tenth chapter. They not only professed to see, but to guide and shepherd God's sheep. The question is, How came they thus in the place of shepherds? Had they a Divine or human qualification? Had they gone in by the door? for if they had climbed up some other way, they were only thieves and robbers. A very solemn, searching announcement. The true Shepherd enters by the door; the porter opens to Him; the sheep hear His voice; they are His own sheep, and He leadeth them out. Yes, He leads them out from former ways and associations; outside everything that dishonours God — outside the path of sight, because into the path of faith and love.

It will be clearly seen that the subject here is not the responsibility of man, as such; nor that of the lost ones of the fold; but first His title to the name and place of Shepherd, and then His visit to the fold for the purpose of leading the sheep out of the ancient enclosure, the fallen Jewish system, already set aside in the mind of God. "He that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." The door was the way appointed of God, all the predicted circumstances relative to His first advent up to that moment were accomplished, the rest were about to be fulfilled.

"He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." Everything that was foretold of the Lord Jesus He answered to; every rightful ordinance for Him to pass through He recognized and fulfilled, and He passes into the sheepfold by the door, and "to Him the porter openeth." The people of Israel were shut off from all other people, still the sheepfold was only Judaism, and into this sheepfold the true Shepherd of Israel comes. He enters into this system, which God had organized, answering to every claim of Scripture. Then "to Him the porter openeth" - the porter, Jehovah acting by the Spirit of God in Israel, the one who had the care of Israel opened to the Messiah; and the moment He entered the sheep recognized His voice, "the sheep hear His voice" as the promised One, such as Simeon and Anna in Luke 2. There was the full, distinct recognition of Christ when He entered in.

All this has not to do with us Gentiles, but it is an immense thing to contemplate something that has nothing to, do with us. We were Gentiles entirely outside it; we never were in it, or shall be. Then it. goes on, "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." It was not to be a continuation of this system, for "His own received Him not," and it is about to be set aside as no longer God's system, on the earth. The Lord Jesus calls out from Israel, and in. chap. 9 a man is found outside in the company of Christ. "He calleth His own sheep by name." After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, what a moment of recognition there was between Him and Mary! "Jesus saith unto her, Mary." There should be such personal acquaintance between Christ and His sheep; and if there is anything necessary in this day it is individual acquaintance with Christ. He leads His sheep outside the recognized systems of earth. It is not at all a question of what they are coming to, but He calls them by name, and leads them out. That word "leadeth" is beautiful; it is. not, drive them out. He never drives anybody out. If we are stubborn He deals with us, and chastens us; but He delights to lead His people, only there must be on our side real confidence in Vim to confide ourselves to His guidance - no resistance, but a beautiful spirit of subjection.

The first door then to which our Lord calls attention is "THE DOOR INTO THE SHEEPFOLD." Into this door our Lord entered, and the porter opened to Him, because He brought all the credentials belonging to the Shepherd of Israel, the true Shepherd of the sheep. Prophets had long ago marked out His characteristics. Moses wrote of Him as "The Shepherd, the Stone of Israel," and said unto the people, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear." (Gen. 49:24; Acts 7:37:) We are further told that He who should stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, would be of Abram's seed, out of David's loins, the virgin's Child, and born in Bethlehem, "whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." (See Gen. 22:18; Ps. 132:11; Acts 3:20; Isa. 7:14; Micah 5:2-4.) Wise men announced His coming into the world, as His star in the heavens had guided them. The angel of the Lord visited the shepherds, who were watching their flock by night, and while the glory of the Lord shone round about them, announced the glad tidings, saying, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," when suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host gave glory to God in the highest. (Luke 2) The faithful remnant too, divinely taught, welcomed Him into the sheepfold with great delight. Simeon took Him up in his arms, and joyfully exclaimed, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared," &c.; while "Anna spoke of Him to all them who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." But it was for John, when Jesus was about thirty years old, publicly to announce Him as the Son of God, and the Lamb of God, saying, "I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:33-34.) Thus the man Christ Jesus brought every proof with Him that He was Jehovah's Shepherd, the fellow of the Lord of hosts, and to Him the porter opened. Besides, He called His own sheep by name, whether it was Matthew, the publican; Mary of Magdala, out of whom He cast seven devils; a Samaritan adulteress, or industrious fishermen, those whom He called heard His voice, and followed Him. He loved His sheep; He came to give them life more abundantly; to feed them, care for them; lead them out of false things; do everything for them - without money and without price. In purest love He freely laid down His life for them, and His purpose was to gather them together into one flock. (John 10:16.) Thus we see clearly that He entered into the sheepfold by the door, and that He manifested in every way that He was "the Shepherd of the sheep."

The second door mentioned in this beautiful discourse is "THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP" - Christ Himself, the door by which the sheep would be led out of Judaism; for we are informed that the Shepherd of the sheep not only calleth His own sheep by name, but leadeth them out. (v. 3.) It is very important to see this clearly. We are told that Jesus came to His own (His loved nation), and His own received Him not. They were so sunk in sin that they hated Him without a cause, and at length openly declared that they preferred a murderer to their own Messiah whom God had sent. The loved nation had terribly departed from God. Though they contended for the outward observance and sanctity of the Sabbath day, and the periodical observance of certain feasts, yet they had so far forgotten God, and corrupted His truth, that these became mere formalities. Instead, therefore, of reading in the gospels of "the feasts of Jehovah," as they are called in Leviticus, we find "the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh;" and again, "the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand." (John 6:4, 7:2.) The nation, too, had been given up to the Gentiles, in God's governmental displeasure, because of their sins. We do not therefore find our Lord re-establishing Judaism, or restoring the sheep to that from which the nation had so manifestly fallen, but He led them individually outside corrupt things with Himself. When they knew Christ, and became associated with Him, they not only heard His voice, but knowing that He putteth forth His own sheep, and goeth before them, they were. constrained to follow Him. It is important to see not only that Christ is the Good Shepherd, but that He is "the door of the sheep" - the door whereby the sheep were led out of a corrupted Judaism; through His calling them to have to do with Himself.

Only One could do this, and the Doorkeeper opens the door to admit Him (v. 3). The Doorkeeper is evidently God by His Spirit making the way fully clear for the Lord Jesus to enter into the sheepfold, which was His own possession, to do with the sheep as His divine wisdom decides. For of course He is the true Shepherd who had in the first place established the sheepfold, and He alone has the right to make any changes.

In the first place, all those who, before Him, had pretended to be the shepherds and leaders of Israel; all those, whoever they might be, who did not enter by the door, were thieves and robbers, climbing over the wall, forcing an entrance by violence or cunning; thus 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, very far from being one with the Father. I say this in order to establish the Lord's position more distinctly. The second verse presents to us this position in its first features: "He who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." He entered in by the door; He came by the way chosen by Him who had established the sheepfold, there, where the porter was; he who could open the door, or keep it shut; thus He attracted the attention of him who was the keeper of the fold.

The door is always the place indicated and appointed by the architect to enter by it. This is why Jesus says lower down, "I am the door of the sheep," because, it is He that God has appointed as the door of exit for the Jewish remnant, and as the door of entrance for us all into the sanctuary, into His holy presence. Christ Himself had entered into the fold, following out what God had prescribed for the Shepherd. All that was laid down in the prophets, all that was fitting for Him who walked according to God's will, Jesus followed out, and accomplished at every point. He did not seek to arouse men by exciting their passions, like the false Messiahs, nor to draw in His footsteps an unconverted and stiff-necked people; meek and lowly in hearts, He followed the path Jehovah had traced for Him; He entered by the door. Providence and the Spirit of God opened the way for Him. All the efforts of the high priests and scribes could not prevent His voice from reaching the ears and hearts of the sheep. God opened the door to Him, and the sheep heard His voice. Here it is not a question of any other than they; they are the real object of His service, carried into effect, in spite of all the power of Satan. The Lord knows His sheep; they are His; He calls them each by his name, and leads them out of the fold.

215 It is interesting and touching to see how Jesus' own sheep are here the only object of His heart, and with what intimacy He knows them individually; He thinks only of them. He comes, and calls them, to the exclusion of all the other Jews. He does not fail either in His purpose. He does not leave them in the Jewish fold; He leads them out of the fold where the Jews abode, outside the enclosure where those who were "of their father, the devil," still remained. Moreover, He does not leave them when they are outside; He goes before them in the way of life and of faith. They are His own sheep, they belong entirely to Him, and in leading them out, He goes before them; He conducts them Himself; He is Himself at their head in the difficulties they should meet. His voice is known to them; they follow Him. If He is exclusively occupied here with the sheep, they recognise no other voice but His. In Him, and in Him alone, they have confidence; they trust in Him, and in Him alone. Every other voice is, for them, that of a stranger; it is enough that they do not know it, that it be not His. It is His voice that inspires them with confidence: weak in themselves, they flee when the voice is not His.