Guest Contributor: Carmen Gasilao Ph.D
John 10: 1-42
I AM THE DOOR (JOHN 10: 1-10)
The sheepfold was an enclosure of rocks and there was only one door that was guarded by the shepherd or gate keeper. There may be several flocks sheltered together and in the morning the shepherds come to call their sheep and they assemble their own flocks. Each sheep recognized its own master’s voice.
Jesus made it clear that the sheepfold refers to the nation Israel (John 10:16) and that the Gentiles are the “other sheep”.
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.
They are thieves and robbers who enter the sheepfold and steal, kill and destroy. These are not true shepherds and were there even before Jesus came.
Jeremiah 23:1″Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the
Ezekiel 34:2″Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
These false shepherds did not love the sheep but instead they exploited and abused them.
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
Mark 12:40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.
Matthew 21:13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Behind the false shepherds is “the thief” (John 10:10) – mission-vision: steal, kill, destroy.
When you go through the Door, you go “in and Out” and enjoy the rich pastures, the abundant life of the Lord. His sheep enjoy fullness and freedom. Jesus not only gave His life for us, but He gives His life to us right now!
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD (JOHN 10:11-21)
Here Jesus continues to contrast Himself from the false shepherds or the JRL.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 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. 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 [c]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?”
The word “good” means “perfect, intrinsically good, beautiful, fair”. The Lord’s goodness was inherent in His nature. To call Him “good” is to say He is “God” (Mark 10:17-18).
Jesus pointed out four special ministries that He performs as the Good Shepherd.
He dies for the sheep (vv 11-13). He did not die as a martyr, killed by men; He died as a substitute, laying down His life for us. (11, 15, 17-18 – five times)
While the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the salvation of the world, it is efficient only for those who will believe.
Jesus contrasted Himself to a hireling who watches over the sheep only because he is paid to do so. But when there is danger, the hireling runs away, while the shepherd stays and cares for the flock.
Sheep are clean and peaceful animals, unlike pigs and dogs (2 Peter 2:20-22)
But by nature, sheep are dumb and prone to get into danger, “prone to wander”. and they need a shepherd to care for them (Psalm 23)
He knows His sheep (vv 14-15). Know means more than intellectual awareness, it refers to an intimate relationship.
The Lord knows our names (10:3) He knew Simon (1:42), Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5)
He knows our nature, our distinctive characteristics, our traits, our fears, our joys, our special needs, deepest desires.
Psalm 23 is a poetic description of how the Good Shepherd cares for His sheep.
.
The Good Shepherd brings other sheep into the flock (v16)
In the Lord’s early ministry, He concentrated on the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”
(Matt 10:5-6, 15:24-27) but He had the world in mind (John 3:16).
On several occasions, Jesus ministered to non-Jews and even commended their faith – Matthew 15:21-28 there was a Greek mother with a daughter who was demon-possessed
The Good Shepherd takes up His life again (vv 17-21)
His voluntary death was followed by His victorious resurrection.
Jesus is God’s beloved Son who willing fulfils the will of the Father and lays His life for the redemption of sinful man, but death has no power to hold Him down and after three days He resurrected, sits now on the right hand of the Father and will come again to take His people with Him for eternity! HALLELUJAH!
How did the listeners respond to the message? Division again (John 10:19)
Since Jesus is “the Door”, we should expect division.
One door and only one and yet its sides are two. The inside, the outside. On which side are you?
One door and only one and yet its sides are two. I’m on the inside, on which side are you?
He is the Good Shepherd who not only takes care of the sheep but separates the sheep from the goats. It is impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ, for what we believe about Him is a matter of life or death (John 8:24)
C. I AM THE SON OF GOD (John 10: 22-42)
The events in this section occurred a bout two and a half months after John 10:1-21.
John may be decided to include this section here because of the same imagery of the shepherd and the sheep.
The encounter (vv 22-24)
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.”
The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah, the feast of lights, feast of the renewing) takes place in December, near the time of Christmas. It commemorates the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164 BC, after it had been desecrated by Antiochus of Syria.
The leaders surrounded Jesus and challenged Him by saying – tell us plainly are you the Messiah?
The explanation (vv25-42)
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. 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.
Jesus reminded them that he had already taught them v 25 told you and showed you the works I do. But the Lord went deeper into His explanation why the JRL cannot understand or believe – they were not His sheep.
Jesus’ sheep hear His voice, He knows them and they follow Him (v 27)
From the human standpoint, we become His sheep by believing.
From the divine standpoint, we believe because we are His sheep.
BELIEVE = confidently trusting, surrendering the self-will daily and obeying God’s will
Divine election and human responsibility are both taught in the Bible and they are perfectly balanced and do not contradict.
The lost sinner who hears God’s Word knows nothing about divine election. He hears only that Christ died for the sins of the world and that he may receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life by trusting the Saviour. When he trusts the Saviour, he becomes a member of God’s family and then he learns that he was “chosen …in Christ, before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and like a gift he is given by the Father to the Son (John 10:29).
Jesus went on to explain that His sheep are secure in His hand and in the Father’s hand. “And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 3:16, 6:39, 17:12, 18:9)
* This eternal life is a gift, not something that we earned by our merits.
Romans 11:6 And if God chose them by grace, it is not ·for the things they have done [by works]. If they could be made God’s people by ·what they did [works], God’s gift of grace would ·not really [or no longer] be a gift.
* The true believer will never perish – he will not be destroyed or punished in hell.
* No one, however mighty in rank, no devil with all his cunning or enticement shall be able to seize or take him away (as a thief does) or overcome him by force.
* The hand of Jesus and the Father’s hand keeps the believer safe and secured.
If we are not saved by our good works, but by His grace, then we cannot be lost by our bad works. But this does not mean that we can live anyway we want to.
What happens to our salvation when we sin?
Let us see what John said in his letter to the believers.
1 John 2:1-5
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did
John writes so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case. He goes on to say that knowing God means obeying His commandments, loving God and living as Jesus lived.
1 John 3:5-10
5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
What happens to our salvation when we sin?
Jesus came to take away our sins – before and after we became believers.
The foundation of our salvation is Jesus Christ not our goodness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins (1 John 1:9)
Though we may be saved, sin has its consequences.
One who claims to be a Christian yet never bears fruit and continues in a habitual life of sin, suggests an unchanged (unsaved) heart.
It is important to keep in mind that Jesus was talking about sheep – true believers – and not counterfeits. The counterfeit will talk about his faith and even boast about his works, but he will never make it into heaven.
Matthew 7: 21-231 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
Note that our Good Shepherd has a loving relationship with His sheep because He died for them. He has a living relationship because He is alive and cares for His sheep. Jesus has also a lasting relationship for He keeps His promise and not one is lost.
Our Lord made a statement that He know would startle Hs enemies and give them more reason to oppose Him (John 10:30). Clearly, Jesus is saying “I am God!”
One does not suggest identical persons, one in essence. The Father is God and the Son is God, but the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father. He is speaking of unity.
The JRL understood clearly what Jesus was saying and was ready to stone Him for blasphemy (Lev 24:16, Deut 21:22) but Jesus cited Psalm 82:6 where the judges of the earth were referred to as Elohim (another name for God) but used for people who acted as judges. So Jesus was saying if God called human judges as “gods”, then why should they stone Him for applying the same title to Himself?
John 10: 36 is crucial because it gives a double affirmation of the deity of Christ. He gave the “plain answer” they asked for, but they would not believe it.
Could they have believed? Jesus invited them, urged them to believe, if only on the basis of His miracles (John 10:37-38).
Why did Jesus spend time disclosing Himself to the Jews who were clearly unwilling to believe?
To show us -how much He desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9)
-how to face opposition and not give up.
Jesus retreated and stayed away from Jerusalem until the “Palm Sunday” when He presented Himself as Israel’s King. He prepared for His final week of public ministry when He would lay down His life for the sheep. (John 10:40)
The common people continued to seek Jesus and He continued to minister to them. Note that John the Baptist’s witness was still bearing fruit long after he was dead. John was not a miracle worker, but he was a faithful witness who pointed to Jesus Christ. (John 10: 41-42)
SUMMARY:
Jesus is the Door through whom we can enter and find life.
He is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep, now and always.
He is the Beloved Son of the Father who completed fully the will of His Father.
Let come and worship Him all the days of our lives!
revdotdavid 