John 10 - CSB Spurgeon Study Bible

10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus stands in the same relationship to his people as a shepherd does to his flock. He owns his people; every one of them belong to him. He prizes them because they are his—sets a value on each of them. He takes care of them, remembering them both night and day. His heart is never off them, and because of his inward love, there is an outward goodness that he constantly extends to them. He protects them from the wolf. He guards them from a thousand dangers. He supplies all their needs. He guides them in the right way. He brings them back when they wander. He strengthens them when they are weak. He carries them when they are too feeble to go on. He sees that they are a weak flock, a silly flock, and a wandering flock; therefore he is their strength, their wisdom, their righteousness, their all.

10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The security of the people of God lies, first of all, in the character of the life they received (“eternal life”) and in the glorious character of the one who says, “I give them.” The life that Christ gives is not that poor, paltry life that lasts the professor three weeks or three months and then dwindles down and dies. The children of God are safe, not only because of the life they receive but because of the dangers that are averted. They are in his hand—that is, in his possession. He grasps them as a man holds a thing and says, “It is mine.” No one can take them away from his protection. Someone may wickedly say, “They may get out of his hand themselves.” But how can this be true, for Jesus says, “They will never perish.”