John 10 - The Moody Bible Commentary

10:1 For truly, truly, see comments on 1:51. The Pharisees (Cf. 9:40) are the false shepherds (leaders) of Israel (cf. Ezk 34:1-10; Jr 23:1-4). A Jewish family could have several flocks in one sheepfold and assign a gatekeeper for nighttime to guard the single opening. The shepherd would enter by the door into the fold of the sheep to get his particular flock out for grazing. A thief needed to sneak over the stonewall enclosure to steal sheep.

5 The Good Shepherd Message (10:1-21)

Although the events of chap. 10 occurred almost three months after chap. 9 (Cf. 7:2, 37, associated with the Feast of Booths in the fall; the Feast of Dedication in 10:22 was held in December), John joined the narratives of the chapters without a break (cf. the reference to the blind man in 10:21). Chapter 10 comprises an extended metaphor comparing Jesus and His followers to a shepherd and his sheep.

10:2-3 In the OT, a shepherd was an image of an ideal leader and king. God was the supreme Shepherd (Ps 80:1; Is 40:10-11) and the Messiah was a King-Shepherd (Ezk 34:23-24; 37:24; Jr 23:1-5; Mt 2:6). Jesus, as Shepherd, enters by the door, i.e., He is the legitimate shepherd, and He fulfills messianic prophecy. Just as the best man stands with the bridegroom (Jn 3:29), so the words, To him the doorkeeper opens (v. 3), may depict John the Baptist’s role as forerunner to Jesus (1:6-8). But most interpreters hold that the “doorkeeper” should not be given any symbolic significance. The sheepfold represents Israel (cf. v. 16). The sheep, those who have believed in the One true God of Israel, recognize the voice of Jesus to be the true Messiah (Cf. 5:37-38, 46-47; 8:47). The “leading out” means, within the metaphor, that the shepherd takes them out to find food and water. On the spiritual side of the metaphor, it means Jesus provides spiritual sustenance for His sheep.

10:4-6 Shepherds in Israel would lead their sheep (he goes ahead of them) rather than drive them. The sheep responded only to the voice of their shepherd. They would not follow a stranger’s voice (v. 5), much as the blind man refused to be convinced against Jesus by the Pharisees. Jesus spoke this figure of speech to the Pharisees (v. 6), but they did not understand because of their blindness (9:40-41). They thought that they were the true sheep of God.

10:7-8 Since the Pharisees did not understand Jesus’ parable (v. 6), He changed the imagery slightly (vv. 7-10). In vv. 1-6, Jesus was the Shepherd. Here Jesus claimed, I am the door or gate of the sheep. (See “Jesus’ Seven ‘I Am’ Claims” at 6:35.) The sheepfold represents all who have eternal life. Jesus is the only means (“door”) by which one can enter the sheepfold, i.e., have eternal life (vv. 9-10; 14:6). There were many true prophets in the OT. So all who came before Me are thieves and robbers refers to those false leaders (including the Pharisees) and messiahs who claimed to be the way to God. God’s sheep (true OT believers) did not hear them.

10:9-10 The words if anyone establish that faith in Jesus is available to all. In the simile, he will be saved means delivered from thieves and wild animals, but pictures eternal life (cf. v. 10). Will go in and out (a merism) together with find pasture describes complete provision and security in all of life (Cf. 4:14; 6:35). Contrary to the thief, Christ came that believers may have eternal life, both now and in the world to come. Eternal life is not a static quality. Once received, it can be enriched through obedience so that it may be experienced abundantly (cf. 2Pt 1:11). The thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy is not Satan, as commonly thought, but refers to the false teachers who predated Jesus and who led Israel at this time (v. 8).

10:11-13 I am the good shepherd begins a third illustration (the fourth of the seven “I am” statements). Jesus is the good shepherd because He lays down His life voluntarily for the sheep (vv. 15, 17-18; 15:13). While the thief is devious in his concern only for himself (not the sheep), the hired hand (v. 12) is disinterested and self-preserving since he is not the owner of the sheep. “Owner” hints at the purchase Christ will make with His blood to redeem the sheep (1Co 6:20; 7:23). The hireling is driven by fear and is not concerned about the sheep (v. 13); the Shepherd is compelled by love for them.

10:14-15 As the good shepherd, Jesus enters into a reciprocal, intimate relationship with His sheep (I know My own and My own know Me). Amazingly, this relationship is as personal and intimate as the relationship shared by the Father and Son (v. 15). The Shepherd’s death for the sheep is a substitutionary death, one life for another (2Co 5:21; 1Pt 2:24; 3:18). This is supported by the Greek word “for” (hyper), which carries the notion in this context that the death of Jesus was “for our sakes” as well as “in our place.”

10:16-17 Other sheep, which are not of this fold (Israel) refers to Gentiles who will come to faith in Christ and form one new flock with one shepherd (Gl 3:28; Col 3:11). The universal outlook of John (1:9, 29; 3:16-17; 4:42; 6:33, 51; 8:12; 9:5; 12:47) supports this interpretation. This passage directly states that the Father loves the Son (v. 17). Just as the Father’s love for the Son results in the Father’s “giving” to the Son (3:35; 17:24), so the Son’s love for the world results in His “giving” to the world (3:16; Gl 2:20; Eph 5:2).

10:18 I lay My life down on My own initiative (v. 18) repeats vv. 11, 15, 17. Since Jesus was without sin (8:46; 14:30; 2Co 5:21), if Jesus had not voluntarily chosen to die, He would have never died at all. He also declared He had the authority to take His life up again by initiating His own resurrection according to the command of the Father. According to this verse, Jesus had the authority to resurrect Himself from the dead, something that would be impossible for a mere human. The Father (Ac 2:32; 4:10; Rm 10:9) and the Son (Jn 2:19) were both active in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

10:19-21 On two other occasions (7:43; 9:16), a division took place over Christ’s teachings. And on two other occasions (7:20; 8:48, 52), the Jews said He had a demon (v. 20). Those who were favorably disposed to Jesus reasoned that even a demon in a possessed person could not open the eyes of the blind (the blind man of 9:1-41). To “have a demon” (v. 20; also 7:20; 8:48-49, 52) is synonymous with being “demon-possessed” (v. 21).

10:22-23 The Feast of the Dedication (modern “Chanukah,” Hb. for “dedication”) was an eight-day festival held on Kislev 25 on the Hebrew calendar—the month of Kislev is comparable to December in the western calendar. It celebrated the restoration of the temple (165 BC) after its desecration by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. Symbolically, Jesus is the One who restores the true temple of God and is true Leader (Shepherd) over Israel. The date was probably December 18, AD 32, roughly three-and-a-half months before Jesus’ crucifixion. The portico of Solomon ran along the eastern wall of the temple complex.

6 Events at the Feast of Dedication (10:22-42)

10:24 The words gathered around Him literally mean “surrounded” Him (NET, NKV, HCSB). The question of the Jewish leaders, If You are the Christ, tell us plainly, veiled their real attempt to gain further evidence of blasphemy against Jesus (Cf. 8:25). For “Christ,” see comment on 1:20.

10:25-26 I told you, and you do not believe shows that Jesus had not hidden from them His true identity. The root problem was an unwillingness to believe. The works or sign-miracles gave clear evidence that He was the Messiah. You do not believe because you are not of My sheep (v. 26) may refer to Jesus’ rejection of them as not among the elect. More likely, Jesus was speaking of their present condition (cf. His later appeal to them to believe, vv. 37-38; Cf. 8:47).

10:27-28 These rulers should not think they sincerely want to believe in the Messiah. Those who wanted to believe in the Messiah were sheep who hear the true Messiah’s voice (Jesus) and follow Him (i.e., believe). He gives His sheep eternal life (v. 28) because of their faith. Christ’s sheep will never perish (emphatic in Gk.). The Good Shepherd does not lose any of His sheep. No one will snatch them out of My hand underscores the power of the Shepherd apart from any conduct of the sheep.

10:29-30 For My Father, who has given them to Me, see comment on 6:37. No one is able to snatch (harpazo, the same word in v. 12) the sheep out of the Son’s (v. 28) or the Father’s hand. This united security points to a unity between the Father and the Son: I and the Father are one (v. 30). The word “one” is neuter, not masculine, confirming that the Father and Son are one in nature and purpose, not one in identity. In other words, Jesus is fully divine, but He is a divine Person distinct from God the Father.

10:31-32 The Jewish authorities argued that Jesus was vague about His identity (v. 24). But now they picked up stones again (Cf. 8:59) to stone Him for blasphemy, as the law instructed (Lv 24:16). Jesus questioned His opponents about their charges. Of all the wonderful miracles He had shown them, for which of them were they stoning Him? This sarcasm was designed to shake them from their evil prejudgment.

10:33 This is the first time in John the Jews charged Jesus directly with blasphemy. They accused Him of being a man who made Himself out to be God. Ironically, Jesus was claiming that He was the second member of the Godhead who became a man (1:14; Gl 4:4; Php 2:6-7; 1Tm 3:16).

10:34-36 In His defense, Jesus quoted from Ps 82:6, written in the Law. Here “Law” refers to the entire OT (cf. Jn 1:45; 12:34; 15:25; Mt 7:12; Rm 3:21). Jesus’ argument is as follows. In Ps 82:6, even sinful Israelite leaders were given the title gods since they had the divine responsibility to speak the word of God and carry out justice under God. There is no error in Scripture (Scripture cannot be broken). Therefore, how much more should the Christ, sanctified and sent into the world (v. 36) on a divine mission to speak the word of God as the incarnate Word of God (1:1, 14) and to carry out justice (5:22, 27, 30), be rightly called the divine (sinless) “Son of God?”

10:37-38 Jesus set before the Jewish leaders His works or miracles as proof of His unity with the Father (v. 30). He challenged them, saying, If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if He did do them (v. 38), even though they stumbled over His claims, they were obligated to believe the works were from God. Then faith in Christ might follow faith in the miracles (cf. Nicodemus, 3:2).

10:39-42 They were seeking again to seize Him repeats a familiar theme of Jewish opposition that began early in Christ’s ministry (5:18; 7:1, 19, 25, 30; 8:37, 40; 11:8). Behind the words He eluded their grasp is God’s sovereign timing of Jesus’ death. But the apostle may also imply an unspecified miracle (Cf. 6:21; 8:59; 21:6). Jesus (v. 40) went away (Cf. 11:54; 12:36) beyond the Jordan (see comment on 1:28) to Perea (the east side of the Jordan river) to finalize His public ministry in the location He first began (where John was first baptizing). The location prompted people to recall the forerunner’s testimony of Christ (v. 41), and many believed in Him there. Like the book of Acts, the success of Christ’s message took place as He moved away from Jerusalem.