John · chapter 10 of 21
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John 10 presents Jesus as the door of the sheep and the good shepherd who lays down his life for them and knows each by name. At the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem he says his sheep hear his voice, no one will snatch them from his hand, and he and the Father are one. The Jews try to stone him; he withdraws across the Jordan, where many believe.
The chapter continues the dialogue with the Pharisees of John 9, whom Jesus has just described as blind. With the well-known Old Testament image of the shepherd, he contrasts leaders who exploit the people with the true shepherd. John 10 contains two of the Gospel's I am statements and one of the clearest claims of Jesus' unity with the Father.
Jesus speaks of the one who enters the sheepfold by the door: he is the shepherd of the sheep, and the gatekeeper opens to him. The sheep hear his voice, he calls them by name and leads them out, and they follow him because they know his voice; they will not follow a stranger. Jesus declares that he is the door of the sheep: whoever enters through him will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; he came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Then he says he is the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, unlike the hired hand who flees when the wolf comes. He knows his sheep and they know him, as the Father knows him and he knows the Father. He has other sheep not of this fold, and he must bring them too, so there will be one flock, one shepherd. The Father loves him because he lays down his life in order to take it up again; no one takes it from him, but he lays it down of his own accord, for he has authority to lay it down and to take it up again.
It is winter, and the Feast of Dedication is being celebrated in Jerusalem. Jesus walks in Solomon's portico in the temple, and the Jews ask him to tell them plainly whether he is the Christ. He answers that he has told them and the works he does in his Father's name testify, but they do not believe because they are not his sheep. His sheep hear his voice and follow him; he gives them eternal life and no one will snatch them out of his hand or the Father's hand. He says that he and the Father are one. The Jews pick up stones to stone him for blasphemy, and he asks for which of the good works they stone him. He cites a Psalm and asks them to believe his works. They try to seize him, but he escapes. He goes across the Jordan to where John had been, and many come to him and believe.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus contrasts the thief, who comes to steal, kill and destroy, with his own mission: to give life, and abundant life. His work is not only to save from death but to give a full life.
Jesus declares himself the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. With this image he anticipates his voluntary death on the cross as a gift for his people.
Jesus' sheep hear his voice, he knows them and they follow him, and he gives them eternal life so that no one can snatch them from his hand. It is a promise of security grounded in Christ's care, not in the strength of the sheep.
Jesus says that he and the Father are one. His hearers understand that he makes himself equal with God and pick up stones, which shows that the phrase claims a real unity and not merely agreement of purpose.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They hear his voice, he calls them by name and they follow him. — John 10:3-4
Answer: Life, and life abundantly. — John 10:10
Answer: He lays down his life for them, while the hired hand flees when the wolf comes. — John 10:11-13
Answer: That he has other sheep not of this fold, and he must bring them too, so there will be one flock and one shepherd. — John 10:16
Answer: He gives them eternal life, they will never perish and no one will snatch them from his hand. — John 10:27-28
Answer: They picked up stones to stone him. — John 10:30-31
The image of the shepherd is both comfort and calling. Comfort, because Jesus knows our name, guides and cares for us; no one can snatch us from his hand. In a group you can reflect on which voices compete with Jesus' and how to learn to distinguish his through Scripture and prayer.
It is also a calling, since those who lead in the church are called to imitate the good shepherd and not the hired hand: to care for people even when it costs, and not to seek their own gain. And the reference to other sheep reminds us that Christ's flock is wider than our circle; we must welcome those he brings.
John 10 shows Jesus as the shepherd who lays down his life and as the Son who is one with the Father, and it leaves many believing across the Jordan. In John 11, one of his friends, Lazarus, falls ill and dies, and Jesus raises him.
Jesus claims that access to salvation and God's care passes through him: whoever enters through him will be saved. The image of the sheepfold stresses his uniqueness as the way and also his generosity, since whoever enters finds pasture and abundant life.
Many interpreters understand that Jesus is speaking of people who were not of the Jewish nation, such as Gentiles, who would be gathered with Jewish believers into a single flock. The rest of the New Testament shows that unity in the church.
It was the feast that recalled the cleansing and rededication of the temple in the days of the Maccabees, in the second century BC. It was held in winter. John mentions it only here, and it is the setting for the question whether Jesus is the Christ.