John10
New Living Translation
1“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!
2But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.
5They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,
7so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
8All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.
9Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
10The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
12A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.
13The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,
15just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.
16I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.
18No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him.
20Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?”
21Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication.
23He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.
24The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.
26But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
29for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.
30The Father and I are one.”
31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.
32Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
33They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’
35And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’
36why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world.
37Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work.
38But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
39Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.
40He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile.
41And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.”
42And many who were there believed in Jesus.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for John 10.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The parable of the good shepherd. (1–5). Christ the Door. (6–9). Christ the good Shepherd. (10–18). The Jews' opinion concerning Jesus. (19–21). His discourse at the feast of dedication. (22–30). The Jews attempt to stone Jesus. (31–38). He departs from Jerusalem. (39–42).
vv1-5
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as the Eastern shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in him to fancies about him.
vv6-9
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all that care of his church, and every believer, which a good shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture.
vv10-18
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case calling for it, he offered himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set free from the punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for his sheep.
Key Words
ἀμήν (amḗn): properly, firm, i.e. (figuratively) trustworthy; adverbially, surely (often as interjection, so be it)
λέγω (légō): properly, to "lay" forth, i.e. (figuratively) relate (in words (usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas G2036 (ἔπω) and G5346 (φημί) generally refer to an individual expression or speech respectively; while G4483 (ῥέω) is properly to break silence merely, and G2980 (λαλέω) means an extended or random harangue)); by implication, to mean
ὑμῖν (hymîn): to (with or by) you
μή (mḗ): (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas G3756 (οὐ) expects an affirmative one)) whether
εἰσέρχομαι (eisérchomai): to enter (literally or figuratively)
εἰς (eis): to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.); also in adverbial phrases
πρόβατον (próbaton): something that walks forward (a quadruped), i.e. (specially), a sheep (literally or figuratively)
διά (diá): through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)
ἀλλά (allá): properly, other things, i.e. (adverbially) contrariwise (in many relations)
ἀναβαίνω (anabaínō): to go up (literally or figuratively)
Cross References
John 10Directly quoted by Jesus ('I said, Ye are gods') to defend His claim as Son of God.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Messianic prophecy of the one Shepherd whom God would set up over His flock.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin, JFB
Prophecy of the Shepherd of the Lord (His Fellow) being smitten for the sheep.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Explains 'other sheep' as gathering together in one the children of God scattered abroad.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Parallels the Jews' reaction to Christ's claims of divine oneness, charging Him with blasphemy.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Old Testament background condemning false shepherds who feed themselves and scatter the flock.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Expounds the metaphor of 'the door' as Jesus being the exclusive way to the Father.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The classic Old Testament identification of Jehovah as the personal, caring Shepherd.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Prophetic portrait of the Messiah gently feeding, gathering, and leading His flock.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Apostolic designation of Jesus as 'that great Shepherd of the sheep' through His blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel on God's secure, mutual knowledge: 'The Lord knoweth them that are his.'
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Fulfillment of making 'one fold' by breaking down the middle wall of partition.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin, JFB
Refers back to the division among the Pharisees concerning Jesus' miracles.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Previous instance where the Jews took up stones to stone Jesus for claiming divinity.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Instruction to under-shepherds to feed the church of God, purchased with His blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Describes believers returning unto the 'Shepherd and Bishop' of their souls.
Supported by John Calvin
Locates the post-resurrection ministry of the apostles in the same 'Solomon's porch' location.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jesus prays for the keeping of His sheep, grounded in their oneness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Mosaic law commanding stoning as the legal penalty for blasphemy.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the place 'beyond Jordan' where John originally baptized.
Supported by Matthew Poole