“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he brings all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they will never follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
John 10:1-18
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees—and the wolf snatches and scatters them— because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Introduction
A teaching from the Lord that feels so normal and natural to us today would have been quite radical to His listeners in His own day. This is even indicated by the text when John tells us, “they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.” His message is full of metaphor and symbolism, making it difficult to follow for one who does not immediately understand the full context, including the fact that Jesus is God.
Are you noticing a theme in John’s gospel? All the other gospels highlight this fact that Jesus is God, but John repeatedly reminds us. From the very first verse of his book where he tells us that the Word is God until now, John not only tells us Jesus is divine, but takes it as a granted fact.
Invoking the 23rd Psalm
Perhaps one of the most quotable and memorable passages of scripture is the twenty-third Psalm: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1 KJV) I chose to quote the King James Version here because of how iconic that phrase is. But if you read this in the Legacy Standard Bible, which I typically use, it reads, “Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.” That is because the text does not say “lord”, but rather places the name of God as the One who shepherds David.
The One who shepherds His people is God Himself. And so it is telling that Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd in opposition to two different types of people. The first is called “a thief and a robber” because of his approach to the sheep. He does not come to them properly, but with improper motives. Sheep are quick to follow, and thieves know that. The thieves Jesus references are those who try to lure the sheep into following them, much like the Pharisees who imposed rules and regulations as an exercise of power rather than one of righteousness.
The second type of person Jesus highlights is the hired hand. Less malicious than the thief, the problem with the hired hand is that he abandons the sheep when danger arrives. This also describes generations of leaders of the Jewish people who were quick to abandon the people to their sins; sins who crouch like a lion waiting to devour. It was the apathy of these leaders which allowed more power-hungry ones to creep in.
But Jesus is the good shepherd who does not abandon His sheep. Nor does He deceive them. Instead, He lays down His life for their sake, giving them His own life and righteousness. And as a final statement of His divinity, Christ reminds His listeners that He has “authority to lay [His life] down, and… …to take it up again.”
A sheep is always a sheep
An often overlooked element of this passage is the fact that the sheep know their shepherd. Verse 15 tells us explicitly that the sheep know Him as He knows the Father. And verse 16 tells us that the sheep who are not of “this fold” (that is, not from the ethnic line of Israel) hear His voice and become one flock with Him. Note that nothing becomes His sheep upon hearing His voice. They were always His sheep and merely respond to His calling.
How comforting a truth it is that those who do not listen to His voice were not His sheep to begin with? Someone’s choice to reject the gospel has nothing to do with the quality of your presentation or the fervor with which you delivered it. If they are His sheep, they will respond to His calling. That means the inverse is true: that if someone does not respond to His calling, it is because they are not His sheep. And there is nothing that can make a sheep into not-a-sheep. You cannot prevent someone from being saved whom God has chosen to save.
But as a faithful servant of the good shepherd, we are given the incredible gift of being His voice before the flock. His sheep will inevitably respond and come into the fold to become one with Him and with you. You get all the joy and none of the responsibility: it is all His. So share the gospel with boldness, knowing that those who ought to respond will respond, because it is He who renews the heart and opens the eyes of the blind.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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