Chapter Ten

1–21. Speech of the Lord about Himself as the good shepherd and the effect of this speech on His listeners. – 22–42. Speech of the Lord about Himself as the Messiah and His withdrawal to the land beyond the Jordan.

Christ’s speech about Himself as the good shepherd begins with a parable in which is depicted the contrast between the shepherd to whom the sheep belong as his property and the hireling shepherd who treats the entrusted flock with indifference (verses 1–6). The Lord explains this speech, which is constructed in the form of a parable, by speaking further about His position in the Kingdom of God: He is the door leading to the sheep (verses 7–10) and, on the other hand, the good shepherd (verses 11–18). As a result of this speech, a dispute arose among the Jews: they were perplexed about who Christ was (verses 19–21).

John 10:1. Truly, truly I say to you: he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs in by another way, he is a thief and a robber; John 10:2. but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Christ’s listeners at this time were the same Jews and Pharisees spoken of at the end of the previous chapter (cf. John 9:35). “He who does not enter by the door.” In the East, flocks of sheep were herded at night into special, often covered, enclosures, at the entrance to which were stationed watchmen who guarded the flocks from robbers and wild beasts. Several owners often jointly kept one such enclosure. Wishing to indicate the marks of a true shepherd-owner, on the one hand, and a thief-robber, on the other, the Lord makes the first mark of the thief the fact that the thief and robber enters the sheepfold not by the direct path, but by climbing over the fence, whereas the shepherd-owner goes straight to the door.

John 10:3. To him the gatekeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:4. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. John 10:5. But they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. The second distinguishing mark of the shepherd-owner is that before him the watchman “opens” the door. Nothing is said about the thief-robber here, but it is clear that the watchman will not open the door before him. “And the sheep hear his voice.” This is the third distinguishing mark of the shepherd-owner: the sheep do not go toward the voice of a stranger. Moreover, all the sheep in the enclosure relate to the shepherd-owner in this way: not one of his sheep fears him, because all are accustomed to his voice. “He calls his own sheep by name.” But the sheep belonging to the shepherd-owner feel an even stronger attachment to him. His own sheep he calls by name, giving each, consequently, a special designation, and in this way impels them to follow him. “And leads them out.” He leads them to pasture and himself goes before them, showing them the way.

John 10:6. Jesus spoke this parable to them; but they did not understand what He was saying to them. “Jesus spoke this parable to them.” This brief speech of Christ, John calls a parable (παροιμία) in the sense of a mysterious speech, containing a hidden meaning (the word is close to παραβολή, which the synoptics use to denote figurative speech). “But they did not understand.” The Lord wished to give them an opportunity to better understand His task, but they did not understand Him. In this they themselves were to blame, because the thought of the parable was quite clear. It was hard, indeed, not to understand that by the true shepherd Christ meant Himself. He was making them understand that it was wrong of the Pharisees to equate Him with the popular insurrectionist false messiahs (cf. John 7:12; John 8:12 and others). He, in the first place, had come by the direct path to His people, having received the baptism appointed by God, the baptism of John (John 1:31 and following), and was appearing for preaching in places appointed by law for the edification of the faithful—in the temple and in the synagogues (John 18:20). In the second place, He was allowed into these sacred places, where the spiritual sheep were gathered; no synagogue or temple rulers barred Him access (John 7:46), and the Sanhedrin itself had not yet taken decisive measures against Him (John 7:45-52). All, even His enemies, listened to Him (John 7:15) and sometimes even supported Him (John 7:26). In the third place, His teaching did not seem to the people completely foreign—many even believed in Him (John 8:30) or showed Him their sympathy (John 7:12). He already had among the crowd a considerable flock (Luke 12:32) of His own sheep who trustingly followed Him. So all this was so clear that an intelligent person could not fail to understand Christ; and if the Pharisees did not understand, then they pretended not to understand...

John 10:7. Then Jesus said to them again: Truly, truly I say to you, that I am the door of the sheep. John 10:8. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. Seeing such unwillingness on the part of the Pharisees to understand Him, the Lord, condescending to them, expresses His task still more definitively. “I am the door of the sheep,” or more correctly, “to the sheep.” Through the Lord Jesus Christ, all who wish to come forward as shepherds of these spiritual sheep—that is, of the faithful—may enter to the spiritual sheep. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers.” From this it is evident that Christ has always been, throughout the entire history of the chosen people, this door. Whoever wished to attain a high shepherding position (which is equivalent to a kingly or rulers’ position, cf. Isa 63:11; Jer 51:23) before Christ (πρὸ ἐμοῦ, in the Russian translation—“before Me”), was not a true ruler of the people, but a usurper. These people knew that the Messiah-King was supposed to come to the Israelite people, who would sit on the throne of David, and yet they themselves wanted to occupy that throne. These were, of course, not the Pharisees, who made no attempt to seize the throne in Judea, but rather representatives of the Herod dynasty. King Herod indeed came “by another way” (verse 1)—that is, attained royal power unlawfully. He was not a Jew by origin, but an Edomite (Idumean), whereas the law of Moses strictly forbade making a foreigner king (Deut 17:15). Thus Herod bore on his brow the first mark Christ indicated (verse 1) of a “thief and robber.” Then—the second mark—Herod was not admitted into the Israelite theocratic society, but forced his way in himself, because he himself appointed and removed high priests, whereas in places where believing Jews gathered, representatives of the Herod dynasty were not to be seen. Herod lacked the third mark of the true shepherd: the Jews did not love him; they hated and feared him, as they did his sons. But it was not only the Herods that Christ had in mind here. The Asmonean dynasty that preceded the Herods also ruled the Jewish throne unjustly. They, as priests, should not have taken the kingly title, and yet John Hyrcanus did this. Finally, the Lord here condemned all attempts by false messiahs to forcibly restore the independence of the Jewish state—attempts that ended in failure because of the lack of sympathy for this cause manifested by the Jewish people (“but the sheep did not listen to them”).

John 10:9. I am the door: if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. “I am the door.” Here the Lord speaks of Himself as a door in general (He does not add: “to the sheep”). Therefore, among those being “saved,” “entering,” and freely “going out” to good pasture, one can understand not shepherds, but sheep. These are the spiritual sheep—believers in Christ, whom He brings into a safe dwelling—the Church—and whom He allows to walk freely on the paths of life to find what is more useful to them. Some of the modern commentators see in this verse a prediction that all subsequent shepherds of the spiritual sheep must receive their authority precisely from Christ. But such an interpretation appears extremely artificial.

John 10:10. The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I came that they might have life, and have it to the full. John 10:11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Whereas a thief or a usurping ruler, whom Christ here has in mind as a thief, pursues only his own personal advantages in the work of government and often takes property and life from his subjects, Christ, on the contrary, Himself gives life to His subjects, and indeed in abundance. Moreover, as the “good” shepherd, or more precisely, the excellent—καλός—shepherd, Christ lays down His life for His sheep.

John 10:12. But a hired hand, not being a shepherd, to whom the sheep do not belong, sees a wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. John 10:13. And the hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and does not care for the sheep. A mere hired man never sacrifices his own life for the salvation of the sheep entrusted to his care. In a moment of danger, he is concerned only with saving his own life; the sheep do not belong to him after all! But who is meant by the name “wolf”? Most likely Christ wished to denote in this way all forces hostile to the development of the Kingdom of God. And after this it is easy to understand whom Christ means by the name “hired hand.” These are those to whom Christ entrusted His Church, but who often do not wish to give all their love to the benefit of the people entrusted to their care (cf. 1 Pet 5:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:8). This was especially true of the then current hierarchy, which was unwilling to sacrifice anything for the people, whom the Herods—the secular power—and the Pharisees caused much harm.

John 10:14. I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me. John 10:15. As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. In contrast to those abnormal relations that exist between Jewish shepherd-hirelings and the people, Christ here depicts the relations of mutual trust and love that exist between Him and His spiritual flock. He compares these relations to the relations existing between Him and the Father. “I know My own”—that is, I love them and know all their needs. “And I lay down My life.” If His sheep are threatened with danger, Christ lays down or is ready to lay down His own life for them. And the time was already approaching when these words of Christ were to be fulfilled.

John 10:16. And I have other sheep, not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd. But the activity of Christ as a shepherd is not limited by such self-sacrifice for the benefit and salvation of His sheep. It extends into the future time, when He will no longer be on earth, and extends beyond the boundaries in which the Israeli flock dwells. Christ must bring still “other” of His sheep, who wander far from the kingdom of Israel and await that moment when the calling voice of Christ will resound for them. Thus in one fold—that is, in the Church—will be united both the Jews who believe in Christ and the Gentiles who believe in Him, under the guidance of the Single Head—Christ (cf. Ezek 37:22). The Lord Himself will accomplish this bringing together of the Gentiles after His death (cf. John 12:32). From this it is clear that the death of Christ will not be an end to His activity in relation to His flock, but will only serve to expand it further.

John 10:17. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. John 10:18. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and have power to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father. The Lord concludes His thought about the great significance of His death here. The Father especially loves Him because He voluntarily, without compulsion, sacrifices His own life. This life is, as it were, a garment or adornment which He removes from Himself, to hand over into the hands of another (cf. John 13:4). He does this with firm assurance that He can take it (“life”) back again. The Father gave the Lord this “commandment”—that is, the right and power to take His life back. On what does this power and might rest? Christ spoke of this earlier: He has life in Himself (John 5:26) and His resurrection is, properly speaking, a resurrection of Himself by Himself (John 2:19). Thus Christ depicts His death, first, not merely as a suffering which He accepts out of obedience to the will of the Father, but also as a completely free deed, which He Himself resolved upon; second, as an act of obedience to the Father’s will and, consequently, as an essential point in the fulfillment of His calling; third, as an act of self-sacrifice for the benefit of those who believe in Him, through which He will save them from destruction; fourth, not as a destruction of His vitality, but as a transition to a manifestation of His life that conquers death after the resurrection; and, fifth, as a necessary prerequisite for the expansion of His activity beyond the limits of the Jewish people.

John 10:19. Because of these words, a division again arose among the Jews. John 10:20. Many of them said: He is possessed by a demon and is mad; why do you listen to Him? John 10:21. Others said: These are not the words of one possessed by a demon; can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Christ’s listeners, who had not departed from Him throughout an entire day after the Feast of Tabernacles (John 8:12-10:18), began to dispute among themselves. Some stood for Christ as a great miracleworker, others—of course, chiefly the Pharisees—called Christ demon-possessed, deranged, and tried to persuade the people not to believe Christ.

John 10:22. Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. The section from verse 22 to verse 42 contains a conversation of the Lord with the Jews at the Feast of Dedication. In response to a question from the Jews about whether He is the Messiah, Christ says that He has already spoken of this many times, but the Jews do not believe Him. When He then declared that He and the Father are one, the Jews wanted to stone Him as a blasphemer. Christ then pointed out to them the groundlessness of their protest against His declaration, and afterward withdrew beyond the Jordan, to Perea. About two months had passed from the Feast of Tabernacles, during which time Christ was either in Perea (cf. John 10:40) or somewhere within the limits of Judea (according to St. John Chrysostom). The Feast of Dedication, or the Feast of Purification of the Temple, now arrived, lasting about eight days (in the month of Kislev, or December). The occasion for the establishment of this feast was the purification of the Jerusalem Temple from idols, accomplished in the year 165 B.C. by the Maccabees (I. Rozanova. A Handbook to the Study of Sacred History, Moscow, 1909, p. 16).

John 10:23. And Jesus walked in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Lord came to Jerusalem at this feast. Whether He taught at this time, John does not say definitively, merely noting that the Lord “walked” in what is called Solomon’s portico—that is, a gallery that ran along the eastern side of the temple courtyard. In this gallery, of course, it was possible to shelter from winter weather—from rain and wind. It is quite possible that at this time His apostles also accompanied Him, but the evangelist does not mention them, since they did not take part in the conversation of Christ with the Jews.

John 10:24. Then the Jews gathered around Him and said to Him: How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. The Jews express their discontent to Christ that He “keeps them in suspense”—that is, in constant anxious expectation, thinking that He will finally declare Himself as the Messiah. “Tell us plainly” (παρρησία)—that is, boldly, openly, and not by parable (John 8:12) or by hint (John 8:24-28). The Jews, as it were, want to say to Christ that they will “support” Him.

John 10:25. Jesus answered them: I told you, and you do not believe; the works which I do in the name of My Father, they bear witness about Me. The Lord answered the Jews that He had already spoken to them about who He is, but they did not believe Him. Even Christ’s miracles did not awaken faith in Him.

John 10:26. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. The reason for this unbelief is the fact that these Jews do not belong to the sheep of the Shepherd—Jesus—that is, to those true Israelites who, even before they saw Christ, already longed for Him with all their hearts, and therefore gladly accepted His testimony.

John 10:27. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them; and they follow Me. John 10:28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. John 10:29. 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. John 10:30. I and the Father are one. In order to show the great blessings from which the Jews deprive themselves by refusing to follow Christ, Christ depicts the situation in which His sheep find themselves (cf. verses 3–4, 14, and John 6:37-40). In doing so, Christ identifies His care (hand) of the sheep (verse 28) with the care (hand) of His Father regarding them (verse 29). By this Christ says that the true chief Shepherd of Israel is the Father, but He acts through Christ (cf. John 4:34 and following). And from this Christ draws such a conclusion: “I and the Father are one.” These words can only denote the unity of Christ with the Father in nature, in essence: never has anything like this been said about any prophet. And Christ’s listeners understood His words in precisely this sense (cf. verses 31 and 33). But the unity spoken of here is, of course, not an identity, in which the distinction between the persons of the Godhead is completely obliterated (as in Sabellianism), but rather a unity of essence (cf. John 17:11-21).

John 10:31. Then the Jews again picked up stones, so that they might stone Him. Naturally, the Jews, who were hostile to Christ, must have seen in such a declaration simple blasphemy. They began to pick up stones (ἐβάστασαν, which the Russian translation inexactly renders as “picked up”) in order to carry out on Christ, as a blasphemer, the punishment prescribed by law (Lev 24:15 and following).

John 10:32. Jesus answered them: Many good works I have shown you from My Father; for which of these works do you want to stone Me? Undisturbed by this, the Lord continued to speak, and His enemies, amazed by this composure, stopped in bewilderment. The Lord asks them: For what do they want to stone Him? After all, He had done only “good” works (Matt 12:12)—that is, healings and other miracles—and moreover, had acted in such a way that all should have understood that He was acting by virtue of the authority received from the Father.

John 10:33. The Jews answered Him, saying: We do not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God. The Jews do not dispute the good works accomplished by Christ (the healing of the paralyzed man and of the man born blind, John 5; John 9). They come forward against Christ only for claiming the honor due to God alone, for His claims to Divine dignity.

John 10:34. Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: “I said, you are gods”? John 10:35. If He called “gods” those to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken— John 10:36. 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”? The Lord first removes the charge of blasphemy from Himself. Yes, He called Himself, though not directly, the Son of God. But does not the Word of God itself do the same even with ordinary people? Men of special standing, it sometimes calls “gods” (Ps 81:6), and yet no one will doubt the truth of Scripture and its authority for the chosen people (“the Scripture cannot be broken”). Why then did the Jews become so angry at Him? After all, the Lord Jesus Christ was sanctified—that is, chosen for His high ministry—and sent into the world by the very Father Himself. How could this selection, which took place from eternity (cf. Eph 1:4), have been accomplished if the very One being selected did not exist prior to this selection as a Person who could freely accept and reject this selection? Is it not clear that Christ, as existing from eternity and as having accepted from eternity a certain mission upon Himself, is an eternal Being? And eternity was for the Jews the first attribute of the Deity, and God they sometimes briefly called the Eternal One. Consequently, Christ points here to His eternal existence, by virtue of which He has the right to call Himself God in the proper sense of the word, and not in the sense in which Sacred Scripture calls certain men gods. He, therefore, is not a blasphemer, but proclaims pure truth. From this it can be seen how wrong are the scholars (for example, Beyschlag) who in this passage see an example of the fact that Christ Himself supposedly recognized Himself as the Son of God only in a moral or figurative sense. If Christ by these words had wished to say something like that, then, first, He would have said directly that His nature was not the same as the Father’s nature (St. John Chrysostom), and secondly, the Jews would not have armed themselves against Him on account of this explanation given by Him.

John 10:37. If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; John 10:38. but if I do them, even if you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father. In order to convince His listeners further of His Divine dignity, the Lord points to His works, which give Him full right to demand complete trust from the Jews (cf. John 5:36).

John 10:39. Therefore they sought again to seize Him; but He escaped from their hands, John 10:40. and went again beyond the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and remained there. John 10:41. And many came to Him, and they said: John indeed did no sign, but all things that John said about this One were true. John 10:42. And many believed in Him there. Seeing that Christ did not repent of His spoken words, the Jews wanted to seize Him in order to bring Him before the Sanhedrin as a blasphemer. But Christ once again imperceptibly withdrew from them and departed to Perea, from which He had come to the feast. Here the Lord spent more than three months until His final Passover, in which He was delivered to death. Many people came to Christ at this time, and those coming, explaining their conversion to Christ, referred to the fact that in Him were fulfilled all the words spoken about Him by John the Baptist (cf. John 1:26 and following). Moreover, those who came said that although the Baptist had not performed any sign, all that John had said about Christ turned out to be completely true: Christ appears to those who believe in Him as the true Savior, as the Baptist had foretold. It is clear that those converting at this time were formerly listeners of the preaching of John the Baptist. * * * But differs from it in that it denotes a comparison which Christ used to clarify the significance of His Person, whereas a parable in the proper sense (παραβολή) was used by Christ to depict the Kingdom of God that He established. Moreover, in παροιμία there is no historical movement or development, as there is in παραβολή.