John chapter 10

True shepherds go through Jesus. He is the gate to the sheep. He came to give us life to the full. He is our Good Shepherd. He and the Father are One.

 


 

TRUE SHEPHERDS GO THROUGH JESUS

 

VERSE 1. “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.

enter by the door. A shepherd would enter through a gate into a walled area which had several flocks in one sheep pen.

the sheep fold. This was a low stone wall. It encircled an area that was open to the sky. It was guarded at night by a doorkeeper to prevent thieves and beasts of prey from entering.

a thief and a robber. Anyone who would climb the wall would do it for no good purpose. This is a synonym for the Pharisees or other religious leaders. They do not enter the sheep fold by the Gate of Jesus Christ.

 

VERSE 2. But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

the shepherd of the sheep. In the ancient Middle East, it was common for kings and priests to call themselves shepherds and their subjects sheep.

 

VERSE 3. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

The gatekeeper. That is, the watchman.

opens the gate for him. The watchman opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in to call his own sheep by name (out from the other flocks).

the sheep listen to his voice. Those who follow Jesus Christ listen to his voice.

John 20:16. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

 

VERSE 4. Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

John 20:16. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

 

VERSE 5. They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

 

VERSE 6. Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

 

JESUS HIMSELF IS THE GATE

 

VERSE 7. Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.

Most certainly, I tell you. Jesus wishes us to be convinced of this.

I am the sheep’s door. Jesus is the gate. He is a door that we go through to enter the Father’s kingdom.

 

VERSE 8. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

 

VERSE 9. I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.

NLT translation. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.

I am the door:

Ezekiel 44:2. The LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened, no man shall enter in by it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore it shall be shut.

If anyone enters in by me. Jesus sees himself as the way for people to be saved.

he will be saved. Jesus describes himself as the gateway to eternal life.

 

JESUS CAME TO GIVE US LIFE TO THE FULL

 

VERSE 10. The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.

I came that they may have life. What was the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ? How did he himself define it? Here are the verses we find in the four gospels.

The thief. The Enemy is a Thief. He steals and kills and destroys. Read more »

I came that they may have life. The Lord Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly. Read more ».

 

JESUS IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD

 

VERSE 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. The Lord Jesus is the great Shepherd. He lays down his life for his people. He knows them, and they know him. Read more »

 

VERSE 12. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.

 

VERSE 13. The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.

 

VERSE 14. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;

The Lord Jesus is the great Shepherd. He lays down his life for his people. He knows them, and they know him. Read more »

 

VERSE 15. even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.

 

VERSE 16. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. That is, the Gentiles.

Mormons claim that after Jesus ascended into the heavens, he went to Central America and preached to the Indigenous Peoples.

However, their theory is not consistent with biblical texts which say he ascended into heaven. It does not say he ascended into Central America.

Mark 16:19. So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

 

VERSE 17. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

 

VERSE 18. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

I have power to take it again. Will Jesus Christ resurrect himself? Or does God the Father do it?

 

VERSE 19. Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.

 

VERSE 20. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”

He has a demon. People said Jesus Christ was possessed by a demon.

He .. is insane! People said he was insane!

 

VERSE 21. Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

 

JESUS AND THE FATHER ARE ONE

 

VERSE 22. It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.

the Feast of the Dedication. That is, Hanukkah. It is an eight-day festival of lights.

 

VERSE 23. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

Solomon’s porch. That is, the Portico of Solomon. It was on the east side of the temple, and blocked the cold winds coming from the desert.

 

VERSE 24. The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

 

VERSE 25. Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.

 

VERSE 26. But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.

 

VERSE 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

 

VERSE 28. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

NIV translation. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.

I give eternal life to them. This is remarkably clear. Jesus did not see himself as a “good teacher” or a rabbi with a slightly different message. Rather, he saw himself as the one who grants eternal life!

They will never perish. We will not be snuffed out or eliminated.

no one will snatch them out of my hand. Nobody can take us away from Jesus.

Isaiah 43:13. From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done. (NLT translation)

 

VERSE 29. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.

My Father, who has given them to me. God the Father has decided to give individuals to Jesus Christ.

is greater than all. This could also be rendered, “What the Father has given me is greater than all.”

 

VERSE 30. I and the Father are one.”

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.

I and the Father are one. The Greek word for “one” is ἕν (“hen”). It means they are one thing. Many Christians assume Jesus was an ordinary person like us, but astutely gifted. However, that is dangerously wrong. God the Father and God the Son are one. They are one thing.

 

THEY TRY TO STONE JESUS TO DEATH

 

VERSE 31. Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.

 

VERSE 32. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”

 

VERSE 33. The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

 

VERSE 34. Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’

you are gods. Psalm 82:6 says an unexpected thing: “You are gods.” Many centuries later, the Lord Jesus quotes this exact phrase. He does not correct it. Read more »

 

VERSE 35. If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),

 

VERSE 36. do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’

 

VERSE 37. If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.

 

VERSE 38. But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

 

VERSE 39. They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.

 

JESUS TRAVELS BEYOND THE JORDAN

 

VERSE 40. He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there.

 

VERSE 41. Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”

John indeed did no sign. John the Baptist did no miraculous signs. Rather, the sign he offered was baptism.

 

VERSE 42. Many believed in him there.

 


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JOHN

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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.