John 10 - NIV Study Bible
10:1 Very truly I tell you. See note on Mk 3:28. sheep pen. An enclosure with only one entrance. Its walls kept the sheep from wandering away. See photo.
10:1–30 Should be understood in light of the OT (and ancient Near Eastern) concept of “shepherd,” symbolizing a royal caretaker of God’s people. God himself was called the “Shepherd of Israel” (Ps 80:1; see Ps 23:1 and note; Isa 40:10–11; Eze 34:11–16 and note on 34:2; Zec 10:2 and note), and he had given great responsibility to the leaders (“shepherds”) of Israel, which they failed to respect. God denounced these false shepherds (Isa 56:9–12; Eze 34) and promised to provide the true Shepherd, the Messiah, to care for the sheep (Eze 34:23).
10:3 gatekeeper. Apparently in charge of a large sheep pen, where several flocks were kept. his voice. The sheep responded only to the voice of their own shepherd. his own sheep. Shepherds did not call sheep randomly, but only those that belonged to them.
10:4 he goes on ahead. Palestinian shepherds led their sheep (they did not drive them), and the sheep followed because they knew their own shepherd’s voice (see photo in the Images folder, under the Resources tabs here and here).
10:6 did not understand. See 8:27; 12:16; Mk 8:16 and note; Lk 2:50; 9:45; 18:34.
10:8 All . . . before me. “False shepherds” like the Pharisees and the chief priests, not the true OT prophets (see note on vv. 1–30; cf. Zec 11:5,8 and notes).
10:9 the gate. The one way into salvation. Inside there is safety, and one is able to go out and find pasture, i.e., the supply of all needs.
10:10 thief. His interest is in himself. Christ’s interest is in his sheep, whom he enables to have life to the full (see note on 1:4). life . . . to the full. Salvation, which begins in this life, and is spiritually fulfilling and rewarding. There is no necessary promise here of a certain level of health or wealth or of a life free from persecution.
10:11 I am. See note on 6:35. lays down his life. Shepherds might risk danger for their sheep (see Ge 31:39; 1Sa 17:34–37). Jesus said that the good shepherd is willing even to die for his sheep (cf. 15:13 and note; Isa 53:6–7).
10:12 hired hand. Interested in wages, not in the sheep (v. 13).
10:14 I know . . . my sheep know. A deep mutual knowledge, like that of the Father and the Son.
10:15 I lay down my life. See v. 11 and note; the fact of central importance.
10:16 other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. Those outside Israel. Here is a glimpse of the future worldwide scope of the church. one flock and one shepherd. All God’s people have the same Shepherd (17:20–23) and are to be a unified community of believers (cf. Eph 2:14–18 and notes).
10:17–18 That Christ would die for his people runs through this section of John’s Gospel. Both the love and the plan of the Father are involved, as well as the authority he gave to the Son. Christ obediently and voluntarily chose to die; otherwise, no one would have had the power to kill him (cf. Lk 23:46).
10:19 divided. See 7:43; 9:16.
10:20 demon-possessed. A repeated accusation against Jesus (see note on 7:20).
10:22 Festival of Dedication. Known today as Hanukkah. The commemoration of the dedication (see NIV text note) of the temple by Judas Maccabeus in December, 165 bc, after it had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see article). This was the last great deliverance the Jews had experienced. It was winter. A reference for those unfamiliar with the Jewish calendar (see bottom of chart).
10:23 Solomon’s Colonnade. See Ac 3:11 and note; 5:12. It was a roofed structure—somewhat similar to a Greek stoa—with large columns on the east side of the temple courts commonly but erroneously thought to date back to Solomon’s time.
10:24 If you are the Messiah. Because of the different ideas about Messiahship then in vogue, it was not easy for Jews to resolve this critical issue. See notes on 1:25; 20:31.
10:25 I did tell you. Jesus had not specifically affirmed his Messiahship except to the Samaritan woman (see 4:26 and note). He may have meant here that the general thrust of his teaching made his claim clear or that such statements as that in 8:58 (see note there) were sufficient. Or he may have been referring to the evidence of his whole manner of life (including the miracles)—all he had done in the Father’s name (for the name, see note on 2:23).
10:27 voice. See v. 3 and note. I know them. See v. 14 and note. they follow. See v. 4 and note.
10:28 eternal life. Christ’s gift (see note on 3:15). never perish. The Greek construction here is a strong denial that the sheep will ever perish. The sheep’s security is in the power of the shepherd, who will let no one take them from him (3:16).
10:29 My Father. See note on 5:17. no one can snatch them. The Father’s power (“hand”) is greater than that of any enemy, making the sheep completely secure (cf. 17:11–12 and notes).
10:30 one. The Greek is neuter—“One thing,” not “one person.” The two are one in essence or nature, will and purpose, but they are not identical persons. This great truth is what warrants Jesus’ “I am” declarations (see 6:35; 8:24,58; 17:21–22 and notes).
10:31 his Jewish opponents. See note on 1:19. to stone him. They took Jesus’ words as blasphemy and therefore prepared to carry out the law (Lev 24:16), though without due process.
10:32 good works. See Mt 5:16; 1Ti 5:10, 25; 6:18. The good works are primarily but not exclusively Jesus’ miracles (see note on v. 38).
10:33 blasphemy. The Jewish leaders correctly understood the thrust of Jesus’ words, but their preconceptions and unbelief prevented them from accepting his claim as true.
10:34 your Law. In its strictest sense the term meant the Pentateuch, but it was often used, as here, of the whole OT. you are “gods.” The words Jesus quotes from Ps 82:6 (see note on 82:1) refer to the judges (or other leaders or rulers), whose tasks were divinely appointed (see Ex 22:28 and NIV text note; Dt 1:17; 16:18; 2Ch 19:6).
10:35 Scripture cannot be set aside. Jesus testified to the complete authority and reliability of the OT.
10:36 Jesus is making an argument from the lesser to the greater: If there is any sense in which humans can be spoken of as “gods” (as Ps 82:6 speaks of human rulers or judges), how much more may the term be used of him whom the Father set apart and sent!
10:37 the works of my Father. The kind of works of compassion that the Father himself does.
10:38 works. Miracles were only a part of Jesus’ works. It was Jesus’ quality of life, not people’s inability to explain his marvels, that he primarily spoke of here (see note on v. 32).
10:39 they tried to seize him. It is not clear whether this was to arrest him for trial or to take him out for stoning. he escaped. John does not say why they failed, but he often makes it clear that Jesus could not be killed before the appointed time (see note on 2:4; see also Lk 4:30 and note).
10:40 where John had been baptizing. See 1:28 and note.
10:41 all that John said. For John the Baptist as a witness, see 1:7 and note.
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