John 10
“The Father and I are one”
Sheep Know the Shepherd’s Voice
1Jesus said, “This is the truest truth. [1] Most people get into a sheep pen by opening the gate and walking inside. But some people sneak in another way. Those folks are crooks and robbers. 2The shepherd goes inside the sheep pen through the gate. 3A person guarding sheep in a pen opens the gate for the shepherd and lets him in. When the shepherd calls for his flock, they respond. His sheep recognize his voice and follow him as he leads them out. 4When all his sheep get outside the pen, he starts walking ahead of them. They recognize their shepherd’s voice, so they follow him. 5His sheep won’t follow anyone else. They run from strangers. That’s because they don’t recognize the voice of a stranger. To them, a stranger is danger.” 6The people didn’t understand what Jesus meant by this story.A Good Shepherd Protects the Sheep
7Once again Jesus said, “This is the truest truth. So, let me make it clear. When I talk about the gate for the sheep, [2] I’m talking about myself. I am the gate. 8All the supposed shepherds who came before me were thieves. The sheep didn’t recognize them and didn’t listen to them. 9I am the gate. Everyone who comes and goes through me will have nothing to fear. They’re protected and will be saved. They will go out into the world and find the pasture they need. 10Thieves come to steal and butcher the sheep, destroying them. I’ve come to give life, and plenty of it.11“I’m the good shepherd. The good shepherd puts his life on the line for his sheep. 12A hired worker won’t do that. The sheep don’t belong to him because he’s not the shepherd. When he sees a wolf coming, he’ll run in the opposite direction. He’s going to protect himself. So, when the hired worker disappears, the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters the entire flock. 13The hired worker runs away because he has no investment in the sheep. He doesn’t care about them. This is just another job to him, and it’s not worth his life.
14“I’m the good shepherd. [3] I know my sheep and they know me, 15just as my Father knows me and I know him. I will die for these sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not part of this flock. [4] I need to gather them in too. They will recognize my voice. There’s going to be one flock with one shepherd.
17“The Father loves me for what I’m about to do: give my life away, to get it back again. 18No one is going to take my life from me. I’ll give it away. It’s my decision. I have the power not only to give my life away but to take it back again. This is what the Father has told me to do.”
19These words of Jesus again split the Jewish leaders into opposing groups. 20Many said, “This guy is demon-possessed and out of his mind. How can you take him seriously?”
21Others said, “A demon-possessed man wouldn’t talk like this. Besides, could a demon heal the eyes of someone born blind?”
“The Father and I Are One and the Same”
22It was winter in Jerusalem. Jews were observing the annual Temple Dedication Festival. [5] 23Jesus was walking on the Temple grounds, in an area known as Solomon’s Porch. [6] 24Some of the Jewish leaders caught up with him and surrounded him. They asked, “So how much longer are you going to keep causing trouble trying to make us mad? If you are the Messiah, just come right out and say so.”25Jesus said, “I did tell you. But you don’t believe what I told you. I told you with my actions. What I’ve been doing on my Father’s behalf tells you all you need to know about me. 26But you don’t believe me. Why should you? You’re not part of my flock. 27My sheep recognize my voice. I know them too. My sheep follow me. 28I’m giving them a life that will never end. Death can’t have them. I’ve got them. No one will ever pry them out of my hand. 29My Father gave them to me. No one is stronger than he is. No one can pry them out of his hand, either. 30The Father and I are one and the same.”
31The Jews, once again, starting picking up stones so they could stone him to death.
32Jesus said, “I’ve shown you a lot of wonderful miracles from the Father. Just so I know, which one of those miracles is the reason you’re going to stone me?”
33The Jews said, “We’re not going to stone you for anything you did. We’re stoning you for what you said. It’s blasphemy. You’re just a man. But you’re making yourself out to be God himself.”
34Jesus said, “Doesn’t your own Bible say, ‘You are gods’? [7] 35The Bible called people ‘gods.’ And the Bible is God’s word—a promise that can’t be broken. 36So tell me this, why would you accuse me of blasphemy? The Father sent me into the world on a mission. All I said is that ‘I’m the Son of God.’ 37If I’m not doing my Father’s work, then you don't have to believe me. 38But if I’m doing my Father’s work, believe what you see with your own eyes, even if you don’t believe in me. Then in time you might come to realize that the Father is in me and I’m in the Father.”
39The Jews tried to arrest him again, but he slipped away. 40Jesus left the region and went across the Jordan River to the place where John the Baptist had baptized people. [8] Jesus stayed there. 41Crowds of people came to Jesus. Some said, “John didn’t do any miracles, but everything he said about this man came true.” 42While Jesus was there, many people started believing in him.
Footnotes
See the footnote for John 5:19.
“I Am” is God’s name. When God told Moses to go to Egypt and free the Jewish people, Moses said the Jews would want to know who gave him the assignment. God told him to tell the people that “I Am” (Exodus 3:14) sent him. In John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to apply that name to himself as well, in seven “I Am” phrases.
I Am:
- “the life-giving bread” (John 6:35)
- “the light in this world” (John 8:12)
- “the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7)
- “the good shepherd” (John 10:14)
- “the resurrection” (John 11:25)
- “the way, . . . the truth, . . . the life” (John 14:6)
- “the Genuine Grapevine” (John 15:1)
See the footnote for John 10:7.
This may be a reference to people outside the Jewish faith. The Christian movement began as a Jewish movement, in which Jews taught that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Within a few decades, the Christian movement shifted to becoming a predominantly non-Jewish community of faith.
Jews later came to call this eight-day religious holiday Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. Jewish priests ritually cleansed the Temple in December 167 BC, after a Greek invader named Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the Temple with pagan sacrifices to Zeus. Jewish rebel fighters led by Judas Maccabaeus drove out the invaders and won their independence. Until the Romans arrived.
Also called Solomon’s Colonnade, this was an open-air walkway some 300 yards (274 m) long. It rested beneath a cedar roof supported by rows of columns. It became a popular meeting place because it offered shade from the sun and protection from rain.
Psalm 82:6
Sometimes called Bethany beyond the Jordan. The site today is identified as Al-Maghtas, about six miles (9 km) north of the Dead Sea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, in what is now the country of Jordan. It’s about a day’s walk from Jerusalem, some 20 miles (32 km) as the dove flies. Today it’s an archaeological site. The site has been added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Christian pilgrims, since Roman times, have venerated the site as the place where John the Baptist performed baptisms. Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a monastery and the remains of churches and ponds reportedly used for baptism.
Discussion Questions
- 1
If Jesus is the good shepherd in his parable, who are the “crooks and robbers” (John 10:1) who sneak into the sheep pen so they can “steal and butcher the sheep” (10:10)?
- 2
Here’s a mystery. Who do you think Jesus was talking about when he said, “I have other sheep that are not part of this flock? I need to gather them in too. They will recognize my voice. There’s going to be one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16).
- 3
Jews picked up stones and were getting ready to kill Jesus after he said, “The Father and I are one and the same” (John 10:30). They apparently understood Jesus to mean that he was equal to God. What are we supposed to make of what Jesus said? Pick one of the ideas below or add one of your own.
- God is the Father in heaven, Jesus on earth 2,000 years ago, and the Holy Spirit in people since then.
- God the Father and Jesus are united in spirit because they are spiritual beings.
- The Father and the Son are one being that can express itself in various ways.
- Just as water can freeze into ice or evaporate into steam, one thing can take different forms. Which, sadly, tells us nothing about God. But it’s good to know when ice fishing on a warm day.
- 4
When Jews started picking up stones to kill Jesus because he said he and the Father are one and the same, he probably caught them off guard when he told them, “Doesn’t your own Bible say, ‘You are gods’?” (John 10:34). Scholars say Jesus was probably referring to Psalm 82:6, “I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High’” (New Living Translation). What on earth are we supposed to do with that?
- 5
LIFE APPLICATION. Jesus said, “The good shepherd puts his life on the line for his sheep. A hired worker won’t do that” (John 10:11-12). Let’s say we’re going to make the case that a modern version of this would be to compare a business owner with an employee. What do you think would be the similarities between the business owner and the shepherd along with the hired worker in each scene?
- 6
LIFE APPLICATION. Trying to figure out the difference between God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is like biting into gristle. The longer you chew it, the bigger it gets. That’s not to say we should spit out the Trinity. But if we are developing a spiritual relationship with God, we have to find a way of thinking about him. How do you approach the Trinity?
Maps/Guides
