John 10 - The Swindoll Study Bible

CHOOSING YOUR GATE John 10:9 Use discernment when choosing your gate. Do you know why? Because all other gates will lead you to a wilderness. You won’t be saved; you’ll be lost. You won’t find pasture; you’ll find barrenness. You’ll be trapped. Only Jesus is the gate to life.

A RICH AND SATISFYING LIFE John 10:10 The Good Shepherd says, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Jesus came to give life. He wants you to enjoy life. He doesn’t manipulate you with guilt. He doesn’t hold over you some sword of warning or legalism that says you must always do this, that, or the other. Instead, He opens the Word, which is the pastureland of God’s flock, and says, “Feed here. Learn. Grow. Eat. Drink. Enjoy My truth.” Doing that is the secret to a rich and satisfying life.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD John 10:11 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” as opposed to a faithless one. He is the Shepherd who comforts, cares for, is in love with, and knows His sheep. That’s why He is the Good Shepherd. Not only that, but He also willingly sacrifices His life for the sheep.

ONE WITH THE FATHER John 10:30 Jesus is one with the Father. He is the Lord of eternity. He is the Lord of the vanishing point of the past. He is the Lord of divine decrees. He is the Deity who has become humanity. The little lips that Mary kissed in the manger at Bethlehem were the very lips that once formed the words of Creation. The precious life that she held in her hands as she looked into those eyes was a life that bore the nature of eternity past. It was God Himself in infant form.