10:1At night, sheep were often gathered into a sheepfold to protect them from thieves, weather, or wild animals. The sheepfolds were caves, sheds, or open areas surrounded by walls made of stones or branches. The shepherd often slept across the doorway of the fold to protect the sheep. Just as a shepherd cares for his sheep, Jesus, the good shepherd, cares for his flock (those who follow him). The prophet Ezekiel, in predicting the coming of the Messiah, called him a shepherd (Ezekiel 34:23).
Life Application Study BibleJohnChapter 10
John 10
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1773, 1774, 1775
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
10John 10
1Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we'reblind?”
4" Tf you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty,” Jesus replied.
6But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. Jesus Is the Good Shepherd (151) 10 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 7But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.?The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ¢After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 8They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” 6Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: 11I tell you the truth, [am the gate for the sheep. ® All who came before me* were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, [am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.* They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. ‘©The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 1t"J am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14"T am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 161 have other sheep, 9:35 Some manuscripts read the Son of God? “Son of Man’ is a title Jesus used for himself. 9:38-39a Some manuscripts do not include “Yes, LORD, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus. Then Jesus told him. too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 17"The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” 19When he said these things, the people* were again divided in their opinions about him. 20Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” Religious Leaders Surround Jesus at the Temple (152) 22]t was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work! do in my Father’s name. 26But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.* No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. 30The Father and I are one.” 31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32Jesus said, “At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” 33They replied, “We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures* that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’* 35And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God's message were called ‘gods,’ $6 why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After ail, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world. 37Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father's work. 38But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” 39Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them. 40He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile. 41And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” #2And many who were there believed in Jesus.
3. Jesus encounters crucial events in Jerusalem
Lazarus Becomes Sick and Dies (165)
Textual footnotes
- more powerful than anything; still others read for regarding that which my Father has given me, he is greater than all.
- 10:8 Some manuscripts do nat include before me.
- 10:9 Or will find safety.
- 10:19 Greek Jewish people; also in 10:24, 31.
- 10:29 Other manuscripts read for what my Father has given me is
- 10:34a Greek your own law. 10:34b Ps 82:6.
Life Application Notes 14 notes
10:7In the sheepfold, the shepherd functioned as a gate, letting the sheep in and protecting them. Jesus is the gate to God’s salvation for us. He offers access to safety and security. Christ is Our protector. Some people resent that Jesus is the gate, the only way of access to God. But Jesus is God’s Son—why should we seek any other way or want to customize a different approach to God? (See also the notes on 14:6.)
10:10In contrast to the thief who takes life, Jesus gives life. The life he gives right now is abundantly rich and full. It is eternal, yet it begins immediately. Life in Christ is lived on a higher plane because of his overflowing forgiveness, love, and guidance. Have you taken Christ's offer of life?
10:11,12A hired hand tends the sheep for money, while the shepherd does it out of love. The shepherd owns the sheep and is committed to them. Jesus is not merely doing a job; he is committed to love us and even lay down his life for us. False teachers and false prophets do not have this commitment.
10:16The “other sheep” were non-Jews. Jesus came to save Gentiles as well as Jews. This is an insight into his worldwide mission—to die for the sins of the world. People tend to want to restrict God’s blessings to their own group, but Jesus refuses to be limited by the fences we build.
10:17,18Jesus’ death and resurrection, as part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world, were under God's full control. No one could kill Jesus without his consent.
10:22,23Hanukkah commemorated the cleansing of the Temple under Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C. after Antiochus Epiphanes had defiled it by sacrificing a pig on the altar of burnt offering. The festival was celebrated toward the end of December.
10:23Solomon's Colonnade was a roofed walkway supported by large stone columns, just inside the walls of the Temple courtyard.
10:24Many people asking for proof do so for the wrong reasons. Most of these questioners didn’t want to follow Jesus in the way that required them to submit to his leadership. They hoped that Jesus would declare himself Messiah for perverted reasons. They, along with the disciples and everyone else in the Jewish nation, would have been delighted to have him drive out the Romans. Many of them didn’t think he was going to do that, however. These doubters hoped he would identify himself so they could accuse him of telling lies (as the Pharisees did in 8:13).
10:28,29Just as a shepherd protects his sheep, Jesus protects his people from eternal harm. While believers can expect to suffer on earth, Satan cannot harm their souls or take away their eternal life with God. There are many reasons to be afraid here on earth because this is the devil's domain (1 Peter 5:8). But if you choose to follow Jesus, he will give you everlasting safety.
10:30This is the clearest statement of Jesus’ divinity he ever made. Jesus and his Father are not the same person, but they are one in essence and nature. Thus, Jesus is not merely a good teacher—he is God. His claim to be God was unmistakable. The religious leaders wanted to kill him because their laws said that anyone claiming to be God should die. Nothing could persuade them that Jesus’ claim was true.
10:31The Jewish leaders attempted to carry out the directive found in Leviticus 24:16 regarding those who blaspheme (claim to be God). They intended to stone Jesus.
10:34-36Jesus referred to Psaim 82:6, where the Israelite rulers and judges are called “gods” (see also Exodus 4:16; 7:1). If Gad called the Israelite leaders gods because they were agents of God's revelation and will, how could it be blasphemy for Jesus to catl himself the Son of God? Jesus was rebuking the religious leaders, because he is the Son of God in a unique, unparalleled relationship of oneness with the Father.
10:35“The Scriptures cannot be altered” is a clear statement Of the truth of the Bible. if we accept Christ as LORD, we also must accept his testimony to the Bible as God’s Word.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 1774
MINISTRY EAST OF THE JORDAN Jesus had been in Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters (7:2); then he preached in various towns, probably in Judea, before returning to Jerusalem for Hanukkah. He again angered the religious leaders, who tried to arrest him, but he left the city and went to the region east of the Jordan to preach.
Mediterranean
Study feature · page 1775
Significance Jesus’ favorite reference to himself. It emphasized his humanity—but the way he used it, it was a claim to divinity. Refers to his life-giving role—that he is the only source of eternal life.
THE NAMES OF JESUS In different settings, Jesus gave himself names that pointed to special roles he was ready to fulfill for people. Some of these refer back to the Old Testament promises of the Messiah. Others were ways to help people understand him.
Reference 6:27 6:35 8:12 10:7 10:11 44:25 14:6
Name Son of Man Bread of life Light of the world Gate for the sheep Good shepherd The resurrection and the life The way, the truth, and the life
Light is a symbol of spiritual truth. Jesus is the universal answer for people’s need of spiritual truth. Jesus is the only way into God’s Kingdom. Jesus appropriated the prophetic images of the Messiah pictured in the Old Testament. This is a claim to divinity, focusing on Jesus’ love and guidance. Not only is Jesus the source of life; he is the power over death.
Jesus is the method, the message, and the meaning for all people. With this title, he summarized his purpose in coming to earth. This title has an important second part, “you are the branches.” As in so many of his other names, Jesus reminds us that just as branches gain life from the vine and cannot live apart from it, so we are completely dependent on Christ for spiritual life.
15:1 The true vine