‏ John 10

* The parable of the good shepherd. (1-5) Christ the Door. (6-9)

Christ the good Shepherd. (10-18) The Jews' opinion concerning

Jesus. (19-21) His discourse at the feast of dedication. (22-30)

The Jews attempt to stone Jesus. (31-38) He departs from

Jerusalem. (39-42)

1-5 Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of

the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures

depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture.

The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to

deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows

all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by

his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as the Eastern

shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his

steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual

concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open

door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be

cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in

him to fancies about him. 6-9 Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it,

because they will not. But we shall find one scripture

expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the

blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has

the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all

its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication.

Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must

come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the

great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious

promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all

that care of his church, and every believer, which a good

shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every

believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture. 10-18 Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet

were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was

much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The

Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they

also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here

the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he

laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself

to be the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case

calling for it, he offered himself for the Sacrifice. He was

both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his

life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that

he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set

free from the punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their

sin; and that his death should obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid

not his life down for his doctrine, but for his sheep. 19-21 Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the

word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their

necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of

what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the

cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his

sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed

it, but remember our Master was thus reproached before us. 22-30 All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in

the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves

doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his

words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious

disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and

believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and

none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one.

Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies,

which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally

with the Father. 31-38 Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over

all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He

is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends,

he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will

employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the

Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son

was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This

we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know

and believe these declarations of Christ. 39-42 No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He

escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his

hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows

how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a

way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his

gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive

him or it out of the world. When we know Christ by faith in our

hearts, we find all that the Scripture saith of him is true.