John 10 - Jon Courson's Application Commentary

In what is most likely the oldest book of the Bible, we are told Job had fourteen thousand sheep (Job 42:12). On the day the temple was dedicated, Solomon offered one hundred twenty thousand of his sheep as a sacrifice to God (1 Kings 8:63). David and Moses, the two great leaders of Old Testament Israel, were both shepherds. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Zechariah all drew analogies from sheep and shepherds. Therefore, talking to Jews about shepherds would be similar to talking to West Virginians about coal miners, to Texans about cowboys, to Californians about surfers, or to Oregonians about loggers. It was an analogy to which they could easily relate.

A shepherd of Jesus’ day would wear a cotton tunic held together by a leather cord belt, upon which hung a leather pouch to carry dried fruit or small stones for the sling that also hung upon his belt. The sling was used not only to ward off predators but also to herd wandering sheep, for an experienced shepherd would have such precise aim that he would be able to drop a stone right in front of the nose of a straying sheep, thereby drawing it back to the flock. Another item attached to the belt of the shepherd was a horn of oil. Oil was used to anoint the heads of the sheep in the flock-not only as an insect repellent but also to reduce the friction that occurred when they butted each other. Fourthly, attached to the shepherd’s belt was a small clublike instrument called a rod that was used to fight predators in close “hand-to-hand combat” situations. The rod was also used as an instrument of correction, for if a lamb continually, persistently wandered away from the flock, the shepherd would use the rod to break its legs. Then he would put the lamb on his shoulders and carry it until its legs healed. When at last the lamb was again able to walk on its own, because of the bonding that took place during the time the shepherd carried the lamb on his shoulders, it never again wandered. Finally, in his hand the shepherd held a staff-a large stick seven or eight feet long with a crook at one end with which the shepherd would hook lambs or sheep headed in the wrong direction. With this picture of a Middle-Eastern shepherd in mind, Jesus begins His discourse…

During certain times of the year, shepherds would lead their flocks away from the village to greener pastures. During such times, the sheep slept in temporary sheepfolds made of brush. When the sheep remained in the village, however, all of the shepherds of the community brought their sheep nightly into a common sheepfold that had stone walls six or seven feet high. Theft from these communal sheepfolds was common. A two-man operation, a thief would stand upon the shoulders of a partner and climb into the sheepfold. Then, with great stealth, he would slit the throats of four or five sheep and toss them over the wall to his buddy.

While the sheep stayed in the communal sheepfold, all of the shepherds would return home each night except the one who would act as a porter, or watchman. In the morning, the shepherds would return for their flocks. How did they know whose sheep was whose if they were all mixed together in the sheepfold? Each shepherd had a distinctive call, or song, to which only his own sheep responded.

In Revelation 2:17, we are told that our Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, will give us new names that will fit us perfectly and that we’ll possess for eternity.

Shepherds never drove the sheep, never beat the sheep, never pushed the sheep. They led the sheep. Go to Israel today, and you’ll see shepherds just walking along with a stream of sheep following right behind them. Americans tend to drive themselves and others. Not so a Middle-Eastern shepherd. So, too, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, doesn’t drive me. He leads me. In other words, He goes first through the valley of the shadow of death before He ever asks me to go through it. Scripture declares that Jesus, our Shepherd, our Leader, was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Consequently, there is nothing you will ever face He hasn’t felt or isn’t feeling presently. Gang, Jesus doesn’t send you into battle or drive you into any given trial. He doesn’t pontificate or preach. He leads.

You can always tell when a stranger creeps into the flock. He will cause division. Knowing something’s not quite right, the sheep will scatter.

I have the word “again” circled in my Bible. Jesus didn’t say, “You dumb sheep. How can you miss this obvious picture? I’m going to write you off.” No, He came to them again. And haven’t you found that the Lord keeps coming to you time and time and time again, saying the same thing until it finally sinks in? Have you ever resisted something the Lord has told you, only to hear a teaching over the radio on the same subject or a scripture from a friend along the same line? The Lord is faithful to keep coming time and time again, dealing with you and me concerning those issues that need to be addressed in our lives.

“Wait a minute,” you say. “Is Jesus mixing metaphors? I thought He was the Shepherd. But here He’s talking about being the Door. Is He drawing another analogy?” No. Jesus’ audience would have understood this perfectly. You see, neither the sheepfolds made of brush in the high country nor the sheepfolds made of stone in the community had need of doors, for once the sheep came in to the fold, the shepherd would lie down across the opening and would literally become the door. That way, no sheep could leave, and no man could enter without stepping on the shepherd and waking him up. Thus, in referring to Himself as the Door, Jesus was saying, “I’m the Shepherd on duty. I’m the One whose job it is to guard the flock.”

“I am the Door-not a door, not one of the doors. I am the Door. And everyone else is a thief.” Jesus alone makes this claim. Whether you read the writings of Krishna or Buddha, Confucius or Zoroaster, you’ll find that every one claimed to be one of the ways in which the God-consciousness was manifested. Jesus uniquely says, “I am the Door and everyone else is a rip-off.” How do we know Jesus is truly who He says He is? It gets back to the foundational issue of the Resurrection. Buddha kicked the bucket-and he’s still down. You don’t see Confucius walking around. These guys gave their rap until death came and terminated their so-called ministries. Only Jesus fulfilled His ministry by dying for our sins and rising again to verify, to validate, to substantiate His claim to be the Door.

It would do us well if we really grasped the fact that Satan only wants to rip us off. He tantalizes us with a variety of fancy lures, but ultimately all he wants to do is destroy us. In my reading this week, I came across an interesting little nugget in the Book of 1 Chronicles. Tucked away in the fourth chapter is the prayer of a man named Jabez, who prayed, “Lord, that You would keep me from evil so that it won’t grieve me” (see 4:10). So often we think of sin only in terms of its grieving God-which indeed it does. Jabez, however, shows great insight in saying, “Keep me from evil, Lord, so it doesn’t grieve me.” There’s a misconception in our society today that sin brings pleasure, that sin is fun, that there’s happiness in a little escapade here and a little carnality there. Jabez, this man of God, knew better. He knew sin would grieve him.

I love John 10:10, but increasingly as I hear testimonies and preaching, it comes across this way: “Come to Jesus, and you will have abundant life. Get saved, and you’ll have peace, joy, and love you’ve never known.” While that is all true, if people respond to the gospel based solely upon John 10:10, when they get fired from their job or dumped by their girlfriend, they say, “Wait a minute. Jesus said I would have life abundantly-but look at me.” And they become disillusioned and disoriented in their faith. John 10:10 is the result of the gospel but not the essence. The essence of the gospel is found in the next verse.…

The essence of the gospel is not what Jesus will do for you-it’s what He already did for you when He died for your sin. Because Jesus bore the wrath of God we deserved, our sins past, present, and future are forgiven in totality. Thus, the gospel means we need to be about the business not of saying, “Get saved so you can buy a new car,” or, “Get saved so you won’t have any more problems,” but, “Get saved because Jesus Christ died for your sins.”

Usually, the shepherd was either the owner of the sheep or a son of the owner. In some cases, however, a man would have to hire help. Hirelings had the tendency to split the scene when danger came. That’s why, according to Amos 3:12, if a flock was harmed while under the care of a hireling, the hireling would have to produce the ears or the legs of the lambs that were carried off as proof that he did everything in his power to fend off the attack. The Good Shepherd tenaciously cares for His flock because He’s not a hireling. He’s the Son.

I don’t think we have any idea how big our Shepherd is. That’s why we must watch out for sectarianism-for thinking people are suspect concerning their place in the kingdom if they don’t believe exactly as we do on nonessential issues. “I have sheep you don’t even know about,” Jesus says.

One fold, one Shepherd. Unity in the body of Christ is not our responsibility-it’s reality. When I was pastor of Applegate Christian Fellowship, people would often ask what we were doing to unify the believers in the Rogue Valley in Oregon. My answer was, “We’re already unified.”

“But the believers don’t get along,” they would protest. “They squabble.”

“Well, so do my kids,” I would say, “but we don’t have big rallies to remind ourselves that we’re all Coursons.”

So, too, did I worry that some folks only worshiped with us for three months and then worshiped somewhere else?

No. Did I chase them down when they weren’t around any longer?

No. I didn’t chase them in. Why would I chase them down?

The Lord is alive. He’s the Good Shepherd, and His is a big fold. He’ll lead people to that corner of His pasture for however long they’re supposed to be there.

In New York City on February 24, 1925, Dr. Evans Keith, a surgeon who had practiced medicine for thirty-seven years, took part in an operation he had performed dozens of times previously. The only solution for the patient complaining of severe intestinal pain was an appendectomy-a rather common operation. This particular appendectomy, however, was unusual for two reasons. One was that it was the first time in medical history that a local anesthetic was used. Dr. Keith had been arguing for a number of years that the use of local anesthesia was a safer, less complicated procedure. Yet although other doctors agreed in theory, none would endorse the practice until it was actually performed successfully. And therein lay the problem, for no one was brave enough to volunteer for the procedure. Consequently, this day in February was unusual not only because of the medical procedure, but because of the patient, for, you see, the patient was Dr. Keith. The doctor became the patient in order that patients might trust their doctors.

Jesus did something infinitely more remarkable than that. He willingly laid down His life that we might find life. The Shepherd became a Sheep that we sheep might know our Shepherd.

As an Old Testament believer, if you wanted to be touched by God, you would bring a lamb to the temple. There, the priests would carefully inspect and scrutinize it for any spot or blemish. It was not the worshiper who was judged. It was the lamb. In this lies a fabulous truth. You see, I can be guided by the Father tonight and led by the Father tomorrow. I can expect to receive abundant life. I can look forward to His blessing upon me and upon my family. I can trust He will anoint my head with oil and that He will take care of the predators who are coming out to get me. I can expect that He will lead me through the valley of darkness. I can expect all of this not because I’m spotless, but because the Lamb has been inspected and found perfect. Worthy is the Lamb. I can receive blessing not because I’ve gone to church, not because I’ve read fifteen chapters in my Bible, not because I didn’t watch television. I enjoy the blessing of God upon my life solely because of the Lamb.

“I lay down My life,” Jesus said. He didn’t say, “You’d better lay down your life if you expect to be blessed.” While it is true that He would call us in discipleship to take up our cross daily and follow Him, my entry into the presence of the Father is not based upon who I am, what I do, or what I don’t do. It is based upon who He is, and what He did on the Cross. The Shepherd became a Lamb that we dumb sheep might know the Shepherd.

In laying down His life, Jesus became the Door through which we enter His fold. In taking it up again by rising again, Jesus remains our Good Shepherd, guiding us, watching over us, tending us, His flock.

The Puritans rightly said that not all unity is holy, and not all division is from hell. Over and over again in John’s Gospel, we see people divided because of Jesus.

The Feast of Dedication, which took place on December twenty-fifth, commemorated the overthrow of the terrible Syrian General, Antiochus Ephiphanes, by Judas Maccabee and his band of brave guerrillas. To this day, the Jews still celebrate the Feast of Dedication, also known as the Feast of Lights, or Hanukkah.

The Greek meaning of the Greek text is, “They boxed Him in, hemmed Him in, surrounded Him.”

Like a little child crossing the street, holding Mommy and Daddy’s hands-on one hand, we have the Father, on the other we have our Lord Jesus Christ. We are eternally secure because we are secure in the Eternal One.

For topical study of John 10:27-30 see “You’re in Good Hands”.

In verse 24, the Jews said to Jesus, “If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” Here, Jesus gives His answer.

Sometimes people ask questions not because they want to know the answer, but because they want to argue. Such was the case here. The Jews didn’t want to know the answer. They just wanted to hear Jesus give it again in order that they might have reason to stone Him.

The fact that the Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus proved they understood His claim to deity. The fact that they were unable to throw them shows they experienced the proof of His deity.

Quoting Psalm 82:6, Jesus refers to the Old Testament, wherein judges were called gods because they held the power of life and death in their hands. “Doesn’t Scripture say you are gods?” asked Jesus. “Why, then, are you so upset when I say I am the Son of God?” He throws them a curve ball-and they have a tough time hitting it.

When I went through a time of questioning and wondering why I wasn’t perceiving the power of the Holy Spirit moving through my life in the way I desired, I began to become somewhat disoriented in my walk-until the Lord laid this passage on me. Jesus said the greatest prophet born in the history of the world was a man who did no miracle. None. At that point, I realized that if I were never to see any miracle through my life, if I were never to see the power of the Spirit in a tangible way, it would be fine with me if it could be said of me what was said of John: that all things I spoke of Jesus were true.

What’s the priority of ministry? Doing exactly what John did: talking about Jesus, pointing people to Jesus, exalting Jesus. No wonder John was the greatest prophet of all (Matthew 11:11).

For topical study of John 10:39-42 see “Resorting Unto Jesus”.