John 10

Parable of the Good Shepherd

1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is 1a thief and a robber.
2 "But he who enters by the door is 2a shepherd of the sheep.
3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear 3his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and 4leads them out.
4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know 5his voice.
5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know 6the voice of strangers."
6 This 7figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am 8the door of the sheep.
8 "All who came before Me are 9thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 "10I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go * in and out and find pasture.
10 "The thief comes only * * to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they 11may have life, and have it abundantly.
11 "12I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd 13lays down His life for the sheep.
12 "He who is a hired hand, and not a 14shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
14 "15I am the good shepherd, and 16I know My own and My own know Me,
15 even as 17the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and 18I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 "I have 19other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become 20one flock with 21one shepherd.
17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I 22lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 "23No one has taken it away from Me, but I 24lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 25This commandment I received from My Father."
19 26A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them were saying, "He 27has a demon and 28is insane. Why do you listen to Him?"
21 Others were saying, "These are not the sayings of one 29demon-possessed. 30A demon cannot * open the eyes of the blind, can he?"

Jesus Asserts His Deity

22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;
23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of 31Solomon.
24 32The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long * will You keep us in suspense *? If You are the Christ, tell us 33plainly."
25 Jesus answered them, "34I told you, and you do not believe; 35the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.
26 "But you do not believe because 36you are not of My sheep.
27 "My sheep 37hear My voice, and 38I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give 39eternal life to them, and they will never * perish; and 40no one will snatch them out of My hand.
29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
30 "41I and the Father are one."
31 The Jews 42picked up stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"
33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for 43blasphemy; and because You, being a man, 44make Yourself out to be God."
34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in 45your 46Law, '47I SAID, YOU ARE GODS '?
35 "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot * be broken ),
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father 48sanctified and 49sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, '50I am the Son of God '?
37 "51If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe 52the works, so that you may know and understand that 53the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."
39 Therefore 54they were seeking again to seize Him, and 55He eluded their grasp.
40 And He went away 56again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there.
41 Many came to Him and were saying, "While John performed no 57sign, yet 58everything John said about this man was true."
42 59Many believed in Him there.

Cross References 59

  • 1. John 10:8
  • 2. John 10:11
  • 3. John 10:4f, 16, 27
  • 4. John 10:9
  • 5. John 10:5, 16, 27
  • 6. John 10:4, 16, 27
  • 7. John 16:25, 29; 2 Peter 2:22
  • 8. John 10:1f, 9
  • 9. Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:2f; John 10:1
  • 10. John 10:1f, 9
  • 11. John 5:40
  • 12. Isaiah 40:11; Ezek 34:11-16, 23; John 10:14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4; Revelation 7:17
  • 13. John 10:15, 17, 18; John 15:13; 1 John 3:16
  • 14. John 10:2
  • 15. John 10:11
  • 16. John 10:27
  • 17. Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22
  • 18. John 10:11, 17, 18
  • 19. Isaiah 56:8
  • 20. John 11:52; John 17:20; Ephesians 2:13-18; 1 Peter 2:25
  • 21. Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24
  • 22. John 10:11, 15, 18
  • 23. Matthew 26:53; John 2:19; John 5:26
  • 24. John 10:11, 15, 17
  • 25. John 14:31; John 15:10; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8
  • 26. John 7:43; John 9:16
  • 27. John 7:20
  • 28. Mark 3:21
  • 29. Matthew 4:24
  • 30. Exodus 4:11; John 9:32
  • 31. Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12
  • 32. John 1:19; John 10:31, 33
  • 33. Luke 22:67; John 16:25
  • 34. John 8:56, 58
  • 35. John 5:36; John 10:38
  • 36. John 8:47
  • 37. John 10:4, 16
  • 38. John 10:14
  • 39. John 17:2; 1 John 2:25; 1 John 5:11
  • 40. John 6:37, 39
  • 41. John 17:21f
  • 42. John 8:59
  • 43. Leviticus 24:16
  • 44. John 5:18
  • 45. John 8:17
  • 46. John 12:34; John 15:25; Romans 3:19; 1 Corinthians 14:21
  • 47. Psalms 82:6
  • 48. Jeremiah 1:5; John 6:69
  • 49. John 3:17
  • 50. John 5:17; John 10:30
  • 51. John 10:25; John 15:24
  • 52. John 10:25; John 14:11
  • 53. John 14:10f, 20; John 17:21, 23
  • 54. John 7:30
  • 55. Luke 4:30; John 8:59
  • 56. John 1:28
  • 57. John 2:11
  • 58. John 1:27, 30, 34; John 3:27-30
  • 59. John 7:31

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Or "have abundance"
  • [b]. Lit "do You lift up our soul"
  • [c]. I.e. the Messiah
  • [d]. One early ms reads "What My Father has given Me is greater than all"
  • [e]. Or "a unity;" or "one essence"
  • [f]. Lit "know and continue knowing"

John 10 Commentaries

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