JOHN 10:1-6 1
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by
the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the
doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep
by name and leads them out. 4 And when he
brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no
means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the
voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this
illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Who’s the "shepherd" and the "sheep" in John 10:2?
Jesus is the shepherd and His followers are the sheep.
Who’s the "thief and a robber" in John 10:1?
Satan.
How about the "doorkeeper" in John 10:3?
Leaders who are supposed to guard and protect Jesus' followers on
His behalf.
What do you think of the depiction above? How much of it is figurative and how
much literal?
All of it is literal. Jesus is describing a sheepfold in a town, where the
sheep of visiting shepherds are kept together. When a shepherd is ready to
leave town again, he returns to the sheepfold and calls out his sheep, who
recognized his voice and follow through the gate, which the doorkeeper
opens. Individual flocks in the region were not thousands of animals but
small enough for the shepherds to know their sheep individually and even
name them like we name our pets.
What is the context of this passage?
It's the continuation of Jesus' words to the Pharisees at the end of
chapter 9. He is saying that their inability to understand or follow Him
shows that they don't belong to God. Since they don't understand, He shifts
to another analogy below.
JOHN 10:7-11 7
Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the
door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came
before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me,
he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to
steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly. 11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
In John 10:7 and John 10:9, Jesus calls Himself a
"door". Is that figurative or literal?
Once again, it's literal. What Jesus is now describing is a shepherd's own
sheep pen, which was either a cave or a fenced-in area with a gap in the
fence. Once the sheep had been brought into the sheep pen for the night, the
shepherd lay and slept across the mouth of the cave or the gap in the fence
so that no sheep can leave or predator enter without awaking him; he
literally served as the door of the sheep pen.
Who do you think “All” refers to in John 10:8?
The false Messiahs that came before Jesus, and by extension, after Him.
How about the "thief" in John 10:10?
Satan.
And what about the "life" to be had "more
abundantly" in John 10:10?
Jesus is talking about eternal life in heaven, not a materialistically
abundant life on earth, which can be had without Jesus.
What do the sheep have to do to "be saved" (John
10:9)?
"Enter" by Jesus (John 10:9).
What do the sheep do in the "pasture" (John 10:9)?
They feed.
What are we supposed to feed on?
The
"Word" (John 1:1) of God, our
"bread of life."
(John 6:48)
How did the "good shepherd gives His life for the sheep"
(John 10:11)?
By dying on the cross.
Jesus' sacrifice separates Him from the gods of what other
religion?
All of them. The only true God turns out to be the one who gave His life for us.
JOHN 10:12-13 12
But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the
sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf
catches the sheep and scatters them. 13
The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the
sheep.
What is a "hireling" (John 10:12)?
Someone hired.
What does a hireling care about?
His own self-interest.
Who were the hirelings of the day?
The leaders of Israel.
Should Jesus' words have rang a bell by now with the
Pharisees, who knew the Old Testament?
Yes, they should have remembered the prophecy given through the prophet
Ezekiel:
"And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus
says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and
clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not
feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed
those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was
driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have
ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they
became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My
sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My
flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking
or searching for them.” ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the
LORD: “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a
prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there
was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves and did not feed My flock” - therefore, O shepherds, hear the
word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the
shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to
cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more;
for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be
food for them.” (Ezekiel 34:1-10)
JOHN 10:14-21 14
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I
know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not
of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and
there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may
take it again. 18 No one 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 command I have received from My Father.”
19 Therefore there was a division again
among the Jews because of these sayings. 20
And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to
Him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the
words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
What does he mean by “other sheep... which are not
of this fold” who will also "hear My voice" (John 10:16)?
Gentiles who will believe in Him.
Who took Jesus' life on the cross - the Jews or the Romans?
Neither. Nobody "took" Jesus' life. He gave it voluntarily:
"I lay
down My life... No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself."
(John 10:17-18)
What powers does Jesus have?
The power to lay down His life, and the power to
"take it again"
(John 10:18) through resurrection.
JOHN 10:22-29
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in
Jerusalem, and it was winter.
23
And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said
to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell
us plainly.” 25
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that
I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
26 But you do not believe, because you
are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My
hand. 29 My Father, who has given them
to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My
Father’s hand.
What is the "Feast of Dedication" (John 10:22)?
It's a feast to celebrate the re-consecration of the temple of Jerusalem in
164 BC after the Jewish victory over the Syrian occupiers after the latter,
in an effort to unify religion across its empire,
built an altar to Zeus in the temple 3 years earlier.
What is the present name of this Jewish feast, held in late December?
Hanukkah.
Did Jesus keep the Jews in doubt about His identity and not speak plainly as
they claim?
He spoke so plainly about it that
"they took up stones to throw at
Him" (John 8:59) the last time they squared off. (Note that a couple of months had
elapsed between John 10:21, which was right after the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of
Dedication in John 10:22.)
Then what are they trying to do push him towards with their question
in John 10:24?
What they consider to be blasphemy.
Why? And why did they "surround Him" (John 10:24)?
To try to arrest Him.
What does Jesus do?
He tells them
"plainly" (John 10:24) once again.
Based on John 10:28, once you become Christian, who can
"snatch" you away from Jesus?
Nobody, and for emphasis Jesus repeats His statement in John 10:29
referencing God the Father.
Then what about the people who give up Christianity and
choose another religion or become atheist?
They were never really Christian - the sheep of Jesus - to begin with.
What about the "christians" who say, “Since we can't be
snatched away, let's do whatever we want?"
John 10:4 says His sheep
"follow" Him. If they don’t follow Him, they
aren't His sheep either.
JOHN 10:30-39 30 I and My Father are
one.” 31 Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone Him. 32
Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father.
For which of those works do you stone Me?” 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.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not
written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?
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 sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are
blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
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.”
39 Therefore they sought again to seize
Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40
And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was
baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41
Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the
things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
42 And many believed in Him there.
What charge are the Jews bringing against Jesus that merits picking up
"stones again to stone Him" (John 10:31)?
"You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:33)
What are they referring to?
Jesus' declaration in John 10:30,
"I and My Father are one",
which does equate Him with the Father.
Then are the Jews' charge against Him justified?
No, Jesus isn't a man who is making himself God; He is God declaring His
deity.
What is Jesus referring to in John 10:34-36?
Psalm 82, which sarcastically calls unjust judges, "gods" (Psalm 82:6) and
foretells "God" (Psalm 82:8) arising to judge the earth justly -
"1
God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show
partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the
poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from
the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know,
nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of
the earth are unstable. 6 I said, “You are
gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You
shall inherit all nations."
What is Jesus saying in John 10:37-38?
That since He walked His talk, His actions support His claim to deity, which
they should believe.
How many founders of religions walked their
talk like Jesus?
None. They said some things deemed to be virtuous but had trouble living up
to their own words.
How do you think Jesus “escaped out of their hand” in John 10:39?
Probably just walked right through them again like He did in John 9:59.
Where did He go thereafter?
He went
"Beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at
first", (John 10:40) which sounds like Bethabara on the other side of the Jordan
river that we read about in John chapter 1:
"These things were done
in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was
baptizing." (John 1:28)
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