1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
The prior exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning their spiritual blindness forms the context for the series of parables in this chapter. The Pharisees believed they were the guardians and administrators of spiritual truth – the rightful shepherds of Israel. Jesus shows that actually, He is the authentic Good Shepherd and they are impostors, thieves and robbers.
The analogy of sheep and shepherds to Christians and their leaders should have been familiar to the Jews because their prophets had written whole chapters using the same imagery. The children of Israel were like sheep and her leaders were their shepherds (see Eze 34; Jer 25; Zec 11). My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray (Jer 50:6). Several important prophecies compared the Messiah to a shepherd too (Eze 34:23; Zec 13:7).
In this parable, the sheep are the people of God (Ps 100:3; Jer 23:2) and the true shepherd of the sheep is Jesus Christ (John 10:16). However, the porter (thuroros, Mark 13:34; John 18:16) is also Christ, who is later called the door of the sheep (thura). This three-fold symbolism seems to point to the tri-une nature of God, and it may be helpful to see the shepherd as the Father (Ps 23:1, 80:1; Heb 13:20; 1Pet 2:25), with the porter being the Holy Spirit (the ark door was closed by Elohim, Gen 6:16; 7:16) and Jesus Christ the door (John 10:7). This separation, however, is not necessary to understanding the general meaning of the passage.
According to Phillip Keller (“A Shepherd looks at Psalms 23“), it was customary in Bible times for a shepherd to return his flock after a day of grazing on the pastures to a large fenced area. The flocks of several shepherds would be put into this pen for the night without separating them. The next morning, when the shepherds would come to take their flocks to graze again, they would raise their voices and call to their flocks. The sheep would recognize the voice of their shepherd and separate themselves from the rest of the sheep and follow their own shepherd.
He that entereth not by the door. Jesus spoke plainly of the Jewish religious leaders listening at that moment. The scribes and Pharisees were in Moses’ seat, but they were also hypocrites of the highest order. They demanded hard burdens of others, but made rules that allowed themselves to avoid carrying them (Mat 23:2-8). These had not entered by the door, but had scaled the walls and entered among the sheep as impostors and hirelings (Mat 7:15; Acts 20:29). They were greedy, ravenous, and ready to flee at the approach of any wolf (v12). Of course, both leaders and individuals must enter by the door, for the only entrance into the Kingdom is through Christ (Mat 7:14; John 14:6). Any person who has entered into the sheepfold by other means is not a true sheep. They know not the voice of the Shepherd and will not follow Him when He calls.
He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd. Jesus is the true Shepherd, and the Porter knows Him and openeth. Jesus’ sheep recognize His voice and He knows each one of them by name; they trust Him, follow Him and listen to His call. He goeth before them, so that they might know the correct path to take (Is 30:21). What a beautiful, comforting picture of Christ and His people!
A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. Sheep are one of the few animals that are easier led from the front of the herd than by pushing from the back of it. However, that can be done only when the sheep have come to know and trust the shepherd. They will not follow a stranger because they do not recognize his voice. So too, the true children of God will not follow false prophets, for they are well-acquainted with the voice of the true shepherd.
6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The Jews again did not understand, so Jesus interprets the parable for them. He affirms that there is just one door to salvation and claims that He is that very door. Looking back upon the life of Christ today, those words seem neither shocking nor arrogant. But to some of the Jews, it was all of that and more; it was the blasphemy of a madman (v20) in making Himself out to be God (v33). Others pointed out that no madman had ever done the miracles and signs that Jesus could do at His own will.
This passage could be called the Psalms 23 of the New Testament. It speaks of safety, contentment and true Life. Jesus Christ is the door of the sheep, which is to say that He is the keeper of the flock. He opens and shuts according to His own good will (Rev 3:7), and only those who enter by Him are truly His sheep. He keeps, guards and feeds them. He gives them abundant life, even though it means sacrificing His own life (v11). All others are impostors, like the false shepherds of Israel who came before Christ. They have not entered by the door. Jesus as the metaphorical door or gate into the Kingdom may be seen in other passages such as Mat 7:13-14; Rev 3:20; Luke 13:24-25; Mat 25:10.
The wicked, scandalous priests of the Roman Catholic Church, while claiming to be shepherds of the flock, are the very picture of these verses – thieves, hirelings and killers they were, in both the physical and spiritual sense. In more recent times however, some Protestant leaders have equaled them in wickedness, excess and thievery (Luke 20:47). False leaders have always been a serious problem in christendom (Mat 7:15; 2Tim 3:13; 1John 4:1; 2Thes 2:3-4).
The thief which comes to steal, kill and destroy is commonly applied to Satan, but clearly its primary application is to false brethren (Gal 2:4), false teachers (2Pet 2:1) and seducing spirits (1Tim 4:1), all of which enter into the flock unawares and privily bring in damnable heresies. These are grievous wolves (Acts 20:29), ungodly men (Jude 1:4) which with feigned words make merchandise of men’s souls (2Pet 2:3). Someone has said that the worst damages the churches of the Kingdom have experienced have come not from secular enemies, but from well-intentioned and yet deeply flawed leaders within. It is no wonder the NT contains so many warnings and prophecies concerning false leaders in the churches.
I am come that they might have life. Jesus is not speaking of a better, more fulfilled physical life, but of spiritual life, eternal life, heavenly life. Many Protestant churches employ the prospect of a better life on earth for evangelism: “Come to Jesus and He will heal you, bless you, enrich you, make you happy.” What? The New Testament teaches everywhere that the true Christian’s earthly experience will be difficult and marked by trial, struggle and temptation. See verses such as John 12:25; Mat 16:24-25; Luke 14:26-27, 33; Acts 14:22; 2Tim 3:12. In the world ye shall have tribulation, Jesus said, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Jesus contrasts Himself, the good shepherd, to the current leaders of Israel, who are thieves and hirelings that care not for the sheep. The hirelings would flee when they saw their lives endangered, but the good shepherd will give His life for the sheep. The boy David was a true shepherd and risked his life defending the flock from bears and lions (1Sam 17:34-36). Jesus Christ, though, laid down His life for the sheep. See this pictured in the remarkable passage of Ezekiel 34.
The good shepherd knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him (v14). The word know implies intimate knowledge, understanding and friendship (Phil 3:10; 2Tim 2:19), even as Jesus and the Father know each other (v15). Jesus knows His flock. He knows their hearts, their earthly struggles, desires and difficulties. He know the circumstances of each sheep – which ones are struggling, which are hurting, which are out and lost on the mountains. He will not leave them comfortless, nor leave them alone (John 14:18; Luke 15:4).
It is a beautiful phrase and filled with meaning, “I know My sheep.” The apostle Peter wrote, Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you (1Pet 5:7). He careth for you. Blessed words without peer. Jesus loves and cares for His own so much that gave up His own life. Centuries before Christ came, the Spirit moved the prophet Isaiah to paint a similar beautiful picture: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young (Is 40:11). Jesus’ promise is full and overflowing, I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep (v14).
While the hireling is a partner with the thieves and robbers, he represents the more sinister danger of a spiritual leader who does not really care for Flock of Christ. Hirelings are those ministers in the Kingdom who follow their own interests, well-being and reputation. Their decisions and actions on behalf of the Flock do not accord with the deep, sacrificial love that the good Shepherd has demonstrated. When the wolf comes, the hireling leaves the sheep, and the wolf catches them and scatters them.
The hireling does not have the good of the sheep in mind (see 1Pet 5:2-3). It is a very sober warning to every deacon, minister and bishop. Be sure that you judge not according to the appearance, but righteous judgment (John 7:24; James 3:1). Follow after truth, righteousness, mercy and faith. Require the same of the sheep. True shepherds will always lead the flock into pastures of spiritual goodness, safety and sustenance. They will not be influenced by internal politics nor by external pressures.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Jesus was sent personally unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mat 15:24), yet He knew that many other sheep not of the Jewish fold would later hear His voice and enter into the Kingdom of God. There would not be two folds, one for Jews and the other for Gentiles, but one fold and one shepherd. In the face of this plain teaching, I am baffled that so many Christians of the Pre-millenialist stamp can hold the contrary belief – that God has two separate programs, one for the Jews under the Old Covenant and the other for the Gentiles under the New Covenant. Presently, they say, God is working in the Church Age, but He will revert to the Jewish Covenant after the Church has been raptured from the earth. It is a doctrine that this passage and others expose to be flatly erroneous. God has one olive tree made up of Jewish and Gentile branches which will endure unto the end of the Age (Rom 11). The Apostle Paul, in particular, took care to show that the Kingdom of God was revamped by receiving the adopted children of Abraham, in other words, the Gentiles have become the true sons of Abraham, not by blood but by faith (Gal 3; Eph 2:13-15).
The Prophets of old had predicted the extension of the Covenant to the Gentiles, but the Jews never understood or believed (see Is 49:6; 56:8). Even the disciples of Christ did not understand until Peter’s vision which resulted in the saving of the Gentile household of Cornelius.
There are two different Greek words in this passage for the English word “fold.” In verse 1, sheepfold is aule (hall, court, palace), as also, this fold in verse 16. On the other hand,one fold comes from poimne (flock).
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Jesus and the Father are depicted as separate personages in these verses, yet the relationship between the two is intimately close. Jesus always exercises the power He intrinsically possesses in total agreement with the will of the Father (John 14:31). Being fully God, He has full authority to lay down His life and to raise it up again (John 2:19), meaning that no being, human or otherwise, can take it from Him.
Jesus laid down His life voluntarily. He was not compelled by divine justice to atone for the sins of Mankind and neither did the Father demand that He die in order to appease divine wrath. Jesus acted in the freedom of His will, motivated by love and mercy; therefore, He says, doth My Father love Me.
19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
Jesus was a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, wheresoever He went (1Pet 2:8). The Jews constantly clashed sharply over His words and actions (John 7:12; 9:16). The honest, true seekers recognized that Jesus’ authoritative speech and powerful works could not originate in Man (John 3:2). But the wicked and hypocritical Jews, many of them leaders, scribes and influential Pharisees, refused to acknowledge that obvious truth. Their common conclusion was that He was a demon-possessed madman (John 7:20; 8:48).
Actually, many of those who rejected Jesus surely knew that He could not be a madman. No, they refused to believe on Him because they didn’t want to believe. See this illustrated in John 3:19-21. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? Indeed.
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
The feast of the dedication was a relatively recent addition to the feasts of Moses that came between the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Unleavened Bread (or Passover). It consisted of an 8-day joyous commemoration of Judas Maccabeus’ re-dedication of the temple about 190 years earlier. It is known and celebrated today as Hannukah, or the feast of lights.
Solomon’s porch was a public place at the temple which became the scene of several notable early Christian acts (see Acts 3:11; 5:12). In describing this porch, Josephus says it was the work of Solomon (1Kings 6:3), but many scholars believe that the original porch had been destroyed by the Babylonians and was rebuilt sometime after the Jews had returned to Jerusalem. Perhaps it was from this area that Jesus drove out the moneychangers and pigeon-sellers.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
The Jews wanted Jesus to proclaim plainly that He was the Messiah, not because they wished to consider His claim, but so that they could reject Him openly (John 7:52). Their minds were already made up, their eyes seeing but not understanding, their ears hearing but not believing. Jesus had admitted to being the Messiah in private (John 4:25-26), but not in plain words publicly. Nevertheless, His works and words were so powerful that the thought was on everyone’s heart (John 7:31), and clear statements like John 5:19 can hardly be applied in any other way. These evidences are more powerful than verbal affirmations and witnesses (John 5:31-37).
I told you. Perhaps not in literal words, but certainly in ways that were sufficiently clear. Three times in chapter 8, for example, the Jews disputed with His verbal claims. First for declaring Himself to be the Light of the world (John 8:12-19), second for confessing Himself to be the Son of man (John 8:28) and third for claiming to be the great I AM (John 8:58). And furthermore, the works Jesus was doing in His Father’s name were making that statement all on their own!
Ye believe not because ye are not of My sheep. To repeat, the Jews had already decided not to believe on Jesus and their root reason was envy, selfish power and hatred (Mat 27:18; John 11:47-48; 15:24). Those traits betray them, that they are not of God, they are not His sheep (John 8:47).
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
The parables in this chapter involve shepherds, thieves, hirelings, sheepfolds and flocks, but perhaps the best picture is saved for last, which depicts a beautiful scene of the true sheep of Jesus Christ. The sheep who hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd are truly His own, and they alone, with no possibility of error, will receive eternal life. This little parable teaches the same doctrine Jesus taught in plain words throughout His earthly ministry (such as John 15:10; 6:39; 17:12).
Calvinists, who believe that it is impossible for a saved person to fall away from Christ regardless of his personal will and conduct, try to use these verses as a proof text for their pernicious doctrine. Yet they conveniently overlook the serious detail that the true sheep of Christ know their shepherd; they are listening to His voice and following His commandments. These are the ones who the Father guards safely in the palm of His hand and every one of them is eternally secure. Those that do not listen to His voice and do not follow the path of the Shepherd are false sheep; they do not have eternal life and are not even in the Father’s hand, they not His sheep (v26).
My sheep hear My voice. The true sheep of Christ are obedient, fervent God-seekers. They are searching the Scriptures to hear the will of their Shepherd; they are ever listening, ever instructed by the Spirit and the Word. They are knowledgeable and attentive to Jesus’ call, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Mat 16:24). The weight of these words has been largely lost in present-day Christianity in which people seek their own will and pleasure.
I know them. Jesus knows which one is His sheep and which one is an impostor in the flock. The tares grow with the wheat in the Kingdom, but when the day of harvest has come the good will be separated from the bad. To each of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, Jesus says, I know thy works. It is a comforting thought to the true Christian, but an alarming one to the lukewarm and unconcerned. Jesus knows His sheep! He beholds their inward hearts, thoughts and motives at every moment.
They shall never perish. Jesus is speaking spiritually, for every man must die physically. To be dead spiritually is to be sinful, lost and estranged from God, while to be alive spiritually is to be forgiven, redeemed and known by God (Eph 2:1; Rom 7:11; John 5:25; Rom 8:11). The latter group shall never perish, for they are with Christ eternally.
Some groups have taken passages such as this one to mean that while the souls of the righteous will live forever, the souls of the wicked will cease to exist. While it is possible to infer that idea from this passage, that is not what it says. Furthermore, that belief must be rejected for being disproved by other Scriptures, which teach that the souls of both righteous and wicked men do not die, but wait for the great Judgment in their respective places, the wicked in Hades and the righteous in Paradise with Christ. At the appointed day, every soul will be re-united with its body (a new, spiritual one) and must stand before the judgment seat of God (Acts 24:15; Heb 9:27). The righteous will go to live eternally with Christ in heaven, while the wicked are confined forever in the lake of fire (Rev 20:10), alive and conscious (Mark 9:43-44) yet estranged forever from God and thus spiritually dead. This last condition is referred to as the second death (Rev 20:14), for it takes place after the resurrection at the last day.
No man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. This promise applies only to the true sheep of God. There is no being or power that is able to separate them from His love (Rom 8:38-39), nothing can snatch them from His hand (John 6:39). Nevertheless, the Father does not obligate any man to remain in His hand. Just as every sheep makes a decision to hear the voice of the Shepherd and enter the Fold, so every sheep is free to decide on his own to leave that refuge and thus fall from the Father’s hand. The Calvinist idea that a man has no ultimate choice in salvation is so absurd and anti-Scriptural it beggars belief. As Jesus said to those who refuse to hear the voice of the shepherd and will not follow His steps, ye are not of My sheep. The analogy is sure.
I and my Father are one. This statement follows because of Jesus’ twin declarations concerning His sheep: no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand (v28), and, none can pluck them out of My hand (v29). Thus, Christ and the Father are one; not that they are one and the same person, but that they are one in thought, purpose, power and action. The doctrine of the Trinity may not be simple to understand, but the Scriptures describe it in simple terms.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
This marks the third time in John’s Gospel that the Jews have tried to stone Jesus for making Himself to be God (John 5:18; 8:59). Notice the manner in which they justify themselves: “We do not stone You because of what You are doing, but because of what You are saying.” Yet, which is the greater proof, miracles and signs from God, or His spoken word?
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Here Jesus quotes from Psalms 82:5-8, in which God declares, I have said, Ye are gods (elohim); and all of you are children of the most High. The word elohim occurs thousands of times in the Hebrew Bible, and when accompanied by the definite article and a singular verb or adjective it refers to Jehovah-God. The same word is used for pagan idols and gods, but without the definite article and with a plural verb or adjective. However, in a handful of cases, elohim refers to human judges. Examples are Ex 21:6; Ps 82:1-6; Ex 22:8-9.
The force of Jesus’ argument is that if men are called “gods” in the Scripture, the Jews have no grounds to charge Him with blasphemy by saying, I am the Son of God. The Jews had no ready answer for Jesus’ statement and even if they had, the way forward in that line of argument would have been difficult. For while the gods in the psalm were simply judges who would eventually die like men, the One whom the Father had sanctified and sent into the world had demonstrated the works and words of God in all authority and power.
The Scripture cannot be broken, which is to say, it cannot be wrong. Jesus appeals to the Jewish belief that their Scriptures were infallible and thoroughly true. While Jesus at times condemned the scribes and Pharisee’s interpretation and application of the Old Testament, He always held the Scriptures in the highest honor as being the very words of His Father (Mat 5:18; John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27).
In saying that the Scriptures call men, “gods,” it might be possible to justify the humanistic, New Age error which gives out that man can become God, but that takes the meaning in this passage far beyond its intention. It is blatantly impossible that a mere man might attain to the position of a God, and besides, that idea formed the core of the very first temptation by which Satan tempted mankind (see Gen 3:5).
Sanctified. In the NT, the word typically means to make holy. See note on John 17:19.
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
This simple, direct means of verifying the authenticity of the Gospel is what Jesus said in numerous other occasions. “My words are validated by the works, miracles and signs that only the Father is able to do. Accept and believe them and you will know that the Father and I are one” (John 14:11). While Jesus’ works are powerful testimony of His divine origin and message, His teaching and words are to me the most stunning confirmation of His identity. They simply could not have originated in the natural human mind. They clearly come from above. A few chapters earlier we read the account of the Jewish officers who were sent to arrest Jesus, but who returned empty-handed. “Why didn’t you arrest Him?” the Pharisees demanded. The Jewish officers could only say, “Never has a man spake as this Man” (John 7:46).
The Father is in Me, and I in Him. This reciprocal statement is very strong.
39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. 42 And many believed on him there.
Escaping their hands once again, Jesus left Jerusalem and journeyed to the other side of the Jordan, to the very place that His ministry had begun (John 1:28), and where His identity was first revealed to John the Baptist, who proclaimed to all that Jesus was the Lamb of God sent to save the world (John 1:32-34).
All things that John spake of this Man were true. Was there a better evangelist than John the Baptist? Probably not, and the testimony of these people concerning John could not have been higher. John’s example is a standing testimony to evangelists everywhere, that they truthfully, accurately and fully proclaim Christ’s Gospel to the world. “All that John told us about this Man was true.” A job very well done. Amen.