Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(John 10:1) "Verily, verily, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."
This seems to be a continuation of the discourse between Jesus and the Pharisees at the end of the last chapter. The Pharisees were angered by Jesus's insinuation that they were blind because of course, they were so certain they could see clearly and rejected Him. Jesus now went on to explain the right way to come to the real truth. He told them that truthfully, if a person did not enter the sheepfold, the church of God, the right way, but tried to come to it in a different way, he was a thief and a robber.
(2) "But he who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."
However, the one who entered by the door was the shepherd of the sheep. In this case Jesus was talking about Himself, being the good Shepherd. However, it can be said of anyone who shepherds a flock in a church. They must come to the truth first in the correct way, which is through Jesus, to be able to rightly shepherd their flocks, which of course, was a direct dig to the Pharisees who had obviously tried to enter the wrong way.
(3) "To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
If Jesus was the Shepherd, then the doorkeeper may be God, for He is the one who created the plan for His sheep to be cared for. God, the doorkeeper, opens the door for the true Shepherd, and the sheep hear the Shepherd's voice, and He calls them by name and leads them.
(4) "And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice."
When the shepherd brings forth his sheep, he leads them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
(5) "And a stranger they will not follow but will flee from him for they don't know the voice of strangers."
The shepherd's sheep will not follow a stranger but will flee from him because they don't recognize his voice. Even so the Good Shepherd Jesus's flock will not follow a stranger when they know Jesus's word.
(6) This parable Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
This parable, or illustration, that Jesus gave them about how only the rightful shepherd could enter and lead his sheep, the Pharisees could not understand.
(7) Then Jesus said to them again, "Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."
Jesus went on to explain further. Not only was He the Good Shepherd, but He was the door by which any must enter, sheep or shepherds. He was the only way through which men could be saved. To try to go through any other way was to be a thief, robbing the sheep of care and life (verse 1).
(8) "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them."
Jesus did not mean the prophets who God sent to the people, but rather all who came before Him to these people pretending to pastor and guide them. Those people, those Pharisees, were thieves and robbers, but the sheep of God would not hear them and those are the ones who would be more receptive to hearing Jesus because they knew there was something lacking in the robber shepherds. Those sheep heard the Good Shepherd's voice and they followed Him.
(9) "I am the door; if anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture."
Again Jesus stated He was the door, and if anyone entered in by Him, he would be saved and would be able to move freely in and out and would find pasture for his soul.
(10) "The thief does not come except 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 thief who tried to climb in another way, who is being led by a different spirit than Jesus's, namely Satan, the chief thief, comes to steal the sheep's path to salvation, which would destroy and kill them. The Good Shepherd came that His sheep might have everlasting life and that they might have it richer and more fulfilling, that they may have something more abundant than life itself.
(11) "I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep."
Jesus was both the door by which all must enter to be saved, and He was the Good Shepherd who perfectly led His sheep and would even give His life for His sheep.
(12) "But he who is a hireling and not the shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep."
However, the hireling, one who pretended to lead the sheep but was only in it for pay and reward, as the Pharisees who were only in it for vanity and glory, had no responsibility and ownership of his flock. When the wolf came which represented any persecution or adversity, he would flee and leave the sheep which could be snatched away by the enemy and scattered.
(13) "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. (14) I am the Good Shepherd and know My sheep and am known by My own."
The counterfeit shepherd only in it for reward flees because he is only in it for himself, and he does not care about the sheep. However, Jesus was the Good Shepherd, the real and true Shepherd, and He personally knew His sheep and cared for them, and they knew Him.
(15) "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep."
As the Good Shepherd knew His sheep and they knew Him, it was as the Father in heaven knew Jesus and Jesus knew the Father. It was that Christlike knowledge that He gave His sheep, and He would lay down His life for them.
(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."
There were other sheep of Jesus's that were not yet of His fold, but He would be calling them to come into the fold, and they, too, would hear and know His voice, and all His sheep would be part of one great fold, the Christian church, and they would all have one Shepherd, Jesus.
(17) "Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again."
That was the very reason Jesus was sent to the world, to call all His sheep to Him and lay down His life for them and be resurrected again so that they, too, might have everlasting life. God loved Jesus because as God Himself, Jesus was His plan to save the world.
(18) "No man takes 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 I have received from My Father."
This is such an important part of the salvation plan. The Jews did not kill Christ; He laid down His life of His own accord. He could have easily disappeared at any point before they killed Him and prevented it. However, He willingly gave His life so that the world might be saved. But He also had the power to take His life again, which He would do, and that was the plan that was directed by Father God in heaven.
(19) There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
As in John 9:16, again there was a division among the Jews over what they thought about Jesus's most recent words.
(20) And many of them said, "He has a devil and is mad; why listen to him?"
As before, many of the Jews thought Jesus was mad and must be possessed by a demon and therefore they should not listen to Him.
(21) Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?"
Also as before, other Jews rightly reasoned that such words were not the words of a devil, and a devil could not make the blind see.
(22) And it was at Jerusalem the Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter.
It was winter and the time of the Feast of the Dedication. This was a feast instituted in 164 BC by Judas Maccabeus in commemoration of his purifying the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. John Wesley pointed out in his Notes on the Bible that Jesus "observed festivals even of human appointment. Is it not, at least, innocent for us to do the same?" I love this! I wish I realized it before. Although my husband went along with celebrating Christmas and Easter with me, his family condemned those holidays as pagan and not instituted by God. He grew up in a household where he had to be absent on Christmas party day. I always thought that was sad. After all, even if we celebrate those holidays that were originally not celebrated, but have come to be celebrated in honor of Jesus, if that is what is in our hearts, I could see no harm. I love seeing that Jesus attended festivals that were not instituted by God and there is no harm if they are not against God's word.
(23) And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
Solomon's porch was a structure made by King Solomon himself. It was on the east side of the temple and was covered and had supporting walls and overlooked a deep valley.
(24) Then came the Jews round about Him, and said to Him, "How long do You make us doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Here come the Jews again. They surrounded Jesus and asked Him how long He would keep them in doubt. If He was truly the Christ, they wanted Him to plainly say so.
(25) Jesus answered them, "I told you and you did not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
Jesus told them that He had already told them but they did not believe Him. Additionally, His very works that He did in His Father's name bore witness of Him. Perhaps Jesus never actually said the words, "I am Christ." As a matter of fact, the only places you find those exact words in the Bible are when Jesus warned that deceivers would arise claiming, "I am Christ" (Matthew 24:5, Mark 13:6, Luke 21:8). Jesus spoke in parables and analogies rather than directly to reveal the secrets of the kingdom of heaven to those whose hearts were willing to listen and really consider. In Luke 8:10, Jesus said to His disciples, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand." Why would Jesus not want some to understand? It's not that He doesn't want some to understand, it's that through parables He is able to reach people on a more spiritual level. Open and willing hearts are able to understand. Hardened hearts that really don't want to know truth cannot understand, and that is why Jesus did not answer the Jews directly as they wanted Him to. It's obvious in the division that arose among them that some could see truth, so those were more receptive to Jesus's words, while others were stubborn and had already made up their minds, so Jesus's words would not penetrate their hard hearts. There was no need to cast His pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6) when they would not see truth.
(26) "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you."
Jesus told them that they did not believe Him because they were not of His sheep. As He had said before, His sheep knew His voice and they followed Him. If they were His sheep, they would hear and know Him, as well. However, as He had said in John 8:47, those who were of God heard God's words, but they could not hear because they were not of God and therefore not Jesus's sheep.
(27) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (28) And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of My hand."
Jesus alluded to the conversation He had had with them about the Good Shepherd and His sheep before the festival. He told them that His sheep could hear and understand His voice and He knew them as His sheep and they followed Him. He gave His sheep eternal life and no one would be able to take His sheep from Him. Whereas the wolf in verse 12 above could snatch and scatter the sheep of a hireling, no one would be able to snatch His sheep out of His hand.
(29) "My Father who gave them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. (30) I and My Father are One."
Jesus said it was His Father God in heaven who gave His sheep to Him. It was the Father's will that they come to Jesus who was their only way to eternal life in His kingdom. His Father was the greatest of all, and no one could ever snatch His sheep out of His Father's hand. He then stated what was seen as the ultimate blasphemy by the Jews, He and His Father were One.
(31) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
Indeed, as they had done before when they ran out of arguments and questions, the Jews took up stones to cast at Jesus.
(32) Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shown you from My Father; for which of those works do you stone Me?"
In response to their picking up stones, Jesus spoke to the Jews and told them they had witnessed many good works He had done in the name of His Father in heaven and to fulfill His purposes. He asked for which one of those things did they intend to stone Him.
(33) The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You being a man make Yourself God."
The Jews answered that they did not intend to stone Him for any good work, but rather for what they considered to be blasphemy because He made Himself God when He had said that He and His Father were One.
(34) Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?"
In reply, Jesus asked them if it wasn't written in their law that came directly from the scriptures, and He then quoted Psalms 82:6, "I have said, 'You are gods...'" That scripture continued to say, "...and all of you are children of the Most High." By this statement, the Lord had given those to whom the word of God came a commission and authority to represent Him.
(35) "If He called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, (36) Do you say of Him, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, 'You blaspheme,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?"
Jesus asked the Jews that if God had called those to whom the word of God came "gods," and they believed scripture could not be broken or denied as truth, then how was it that they called Him a blasphemer because He called Himself the Son of God? Not only was the word of God given to Him (in reality He was the Word), but Father God had sanctified and sent Him into the world to proclaim truth.
(37) "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; (38) But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him."
Jesus rationalized to them that if He did not do the works of God, then they shouldn't believe Him. However, if He did do the works of God, even if they did not believe in Him, they should believe the works of God that He did. If they believed those works were the works of God, then they might come to believe and know that the Father was in Him and He was in His Father. Such a patient response to those about to stone Him! I love the Gospel of John. He shows us in much more detail just how much Jesus had done to prove He was the Son of God, so that His executioners had no excuse for what they did to Him.
(39) Therefore they sought again to take Him, but He escaped out of their hand, (40) And went away beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized, and there He abode.
Rather than listening to His simple logic and therefore saving themselves, the Jews just tried to seize Jesus, but He escaped from them and went away beyond the Jordan River to the place John the Baptist had first baptized people, and He stayed there.
(41) And many resorted to Him, and said, "John did no miracle, but all the things that John spoke of this Man were true." (42) And many believed in Him there.
Many people came to Jesus, correctly rationalizing that John the Baptist had done no miracles like Jesus did, and all the things that John had said about Jesus were true. Many of those people came to believe in Him there.
This chapter of John proved that just good old common sense could bring people to Jesus and to salvation and eternal life through Him. However, those wise in their own eyes, refused to listen to common sense, and sought to destroy the One speaking truth and offering salvation. I can't help but relate this to what's going on in our world at this present time. So many of the cultural lies we are being told can be so easily refuted with plain old common sense, but those highly educated "fools" are so very wise and superior in their own eyes. However:
"There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord." - Proverbs 21:30
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God..." - 1 Corinthians 3:19
"Every man is senseless and without knowledge..." - Jeremiah 10:14
"Professing to be wise, they became fools." - Romans 1:22
There is no such thing as wisdom that comes against God and His Word. It's just man's foolishness and it will never save him. As a matter of fact, it will destroy him.
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