Context: The suspense (John 7:1–5, John 9:1,6-14, John 10:19-22)
- Time: Either during or after the feast of booths and during Feast of the dedication
- Place: Solomon’s porch in the temple
- Context:
- Perhaps two different situations
- One a continuation of the discussion with the Pharisees
- Regarding the blind man who was healed and believed
- Another regarding a suspense that the Jews were dealing with
- Is Jesus, the Christ?
- One a continuation of the discussion with the Pharisees
- Perhaps two different situations
What are the qualities of the Good Shepherd? (John 10:7-18)
- He is the door by which the sheep can enter and be saved
- Will provide pasture for the sheep
- Unlike the thief who only wants to steal, kill and destroy
- Will provide pasture for the sheep
- Carry the lambs in his arms
- Lead gently – those who need to be lead gently
- He will search and seek out the sheep that are scattered
- He will deliver them
- He is the source of life, abundant life
- He lays down His life for the sheep
- When the going gets tough & wolves show up, the hired shepherd will take off
- Because he doesn’t care for the sheep
- Good Shepherd will not abandon His sheep
- When the going gets tough & wolves show up, the hired shepherd will take off
What does Jesus reveal about Himself to the Jews? (John 10:17-30, Exodus 4:11)
- Jesus did everything in His Father’s name
- The blind man was healed in His Father’s name
- Jews should know this because only God can make someone see
- The blind man was healed in His Father’s name
- Jesus has the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again
- Hence, the works themselves testify who Jesus is
- “It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind”
- Jesus and the Father are one!
What is different about the sheep that belong to Jesus? (John 10:7-30)
- Will believe Him
- Unlike sheep who don’t belong to Jesus
- Will hear His voice
- Will follow Him
- Will never perish
- Because Jesus gives them eternal life
- Are one flock with one Shepherd
- Are sealed in Jesus hands – no one can steal them
- Are also sealed in the Father’s hands!
- No one is greater than the Father
Conclusion / Application:
- Am I hearing and following God’s voice, through God’s Word?
- Rest in the confidence that we are double sealed: Jesus’ hands and His Father’s hands!
Main Passage John 10:7-30 – World English Bible (WEB)
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 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. 10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. 13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 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. 17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 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.”
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 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?”
22 It was the Feast of the Dedication[a] at Jerusalem. 23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 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.”
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. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Footnotes
- 10:22 The “Feast of the Dedication” is the Greek name for “Hanukkah”, a celebration of the rededication of the Temple.
Notes / Cross References
John 9:1,6-14 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
Exodus 4:11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh?
Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22 “‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh. 22 therefore I will save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Isaiah 56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.”
Isaiah 53:7-8 7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth. 8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
1 Samuel 17:34-35 34 David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after him, struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, struck him, and killed him.
Psalm 23:1-4 Yahweh is my shepherd:I shall lack nothing.2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
