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"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. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 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. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 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. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep. 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. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 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."
- John 10:1-18
Over the past two days, we've read the story of the sixth miracle or sign in John's Gospel, that of healing a man who was blind since birth. Through chapters 7 and 8, we read about the events at the Feast of Tabernacles, in which Jesus was also in confrontation with the Pharisees. On Monday, we read of Jesus' healing of the blind man; see What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes? Yesterday, we read the leadership did not believe that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself." His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?" Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."
"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. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Of today's reading, my study bible says, "This parable of salvation uses the symbolism of the shepherd and his flock." It notes that this is the Gospel reading in the Orthodox Church on the days the Church honors her true bishops and theologians. Here, in conversation that continues from the previous chapter and the episode of the healing of the man blind from birth, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they, rather than the blind man, are alienated from God. My study bible says that Jesus' message to them in today's reading is that "they are blind, and false shepherds of God's people."
Then Jesus spoke to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." My study bible tells us, "In calling Himself the door, Jesus signifies He will bring His flock into an enclosed sheepfold with a central gate. Normally a hired guard would tend the gate while the shepherds rested through the night. But Jesus is the tireless Shepherd, always guarding the entrance. No one can enter except by way of Him."
"All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." A note says, "The thief -- the devil -- steals, kills and destroys the virtues of Christian life and lays waste those who follow his heresies. Life more abundantly is the life of God's Kingdom, offered us by Christ Himself (see Ps. 23:5)."
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." My study bible says, "This is a prophecy of Jesus' impending death, through which his people are to be reconciled to God the Father. The good shepherd, Christ, and His under-shepherds look after the sheep even to the point of giving their lives for them."
"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. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep." A note here tells us that "the hireling, the non-committed religious leader, is contrasted with the shepherd, who considers the sheep his own. The hired hand looks primarily after himself."
"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." My study bible says, "Other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock under the one shepherd. Hence, the Church cannot e divided along denominational, ethnic, cultural or family lines."
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 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." Jesus' death clearly will be voluntary. My study bible tells us that He does nothing apart from the authority of His Father. It says, "If we seek to experience God's love and His power, we do so as Christ Himself does; by obeying willingly the Father's commands. As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him, willingly and out of love."
There are some things we can see from this talk about the Good Shepherd, some things that define for us who Christ is, really. We notice that He never falls back upon His own authority here; it's not just because He is Son. No, Jesus is the door because, first of all, His voice is something that characterizes Him -- and it's characterized by the fact that His sheep know His voice. This is perhaps one of the most powerful statements in all the Gospel. Christ's power as the door isn't because of some material kind of a force, it isn't because of some kind of power or authority such as we can imagine belong to kings or officials of states. Christ's power or position as door comes precisely because of the loyalty and love of the sheep. "My sheep hear My voice." Whatever else we may say about Christ, His majesty or glory, or authority, or Sonship, this characterization of the Good Shepherd speaks to us of a depth of love and loyalty, something far more profound and even harder to grasp, in some sense, than authority and power. The blind man who's been healed is an example of one of those sheep, who has given testimony and been thrown out of the temple. Jesus says, "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them," another validation of the power of the hearts of the sheep, and Whose voice it is they truly respond to. He tells them, "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. " Here we get to a deeper element of faith: that of trust (which is the true root meaning of faith or belief in the original Greek pistis/πιστις). Again, Jesus contrasts the experience of the hireling with that of the true shepherd: "I know My sheep, and am known by My own." And, beyond these things, Jesus has yet more sheep, not of this fold, which He will bring in, who will know His voice. Moreover, the final power, the final act of love, will be that He is willing to lay down His life for the sheep. In light of this, the following statement becomes even more potent: "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." In a truly existential act, Jesus will lay down His life and He will take it up again. This is the final statement here, and it is the one in which He finally reveals and states His own power, His own authority. But, as always, it is tied to the Father and His relationship to the Father. In fact, however, the most striking thing of all is that this great act is not one of awesome, fearsome power, but one of tremendous love. Jesus' crucifixion is an act of tremendously overwhelming love, clothed in total humility so there can be no mistake at all in its real intent. There are no trappings of authority in the Cross, there will be no air of kingly majesty but rather the effects of humiliation and mockery. Stripped down to the core root meaning of this self-sacrifice, there can be no mistaking that what we are left with is love. And this is the great moving force of John's Gospel. It is the whole meaning of the Good Shepherd. If we lose that, we fail to understand Him at all.
