6 Jesus spoke this parable to them,
but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again,
"Most assuredly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s
door.
8 All who came before me are thieves
and robbers,
but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters
in by me, he will be saved,
and will go in and go out, and will find
pasture.
10 The thief only comes to steal,
kill, and destroy.
I came that they may have life, and may
have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand, and not
a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep,
and flees.
The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters
them.
13 The hired hand flees because he
is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know
my own, and I’m known by my own;
15 even as the Father knows me, and
I know the Father.
I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep, which are
not of this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will hear
my voice.
They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 Therefore the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life, that I may
take it again.
18 No one takes it away from me,
but I lay it down by myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again.
I received this commandment from my Father."
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of
these words.
20 Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane! Why
do you listen to him?"
21 Others said, "These are not the sayings of one possessed
by a demon.
It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is
it?"
But what is more interesting is that those who are of God also recognize the true shepherd's voice. There's a sense of familarity and intimacy in one's spirit with the Lord and between the Lord's people. John writes, "They (unbelievers) are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us." 1John 4:6 But another aspect is the idea of submission. Being a Christian is not simply having a relationship with Christ. It involves following him. It's not an egalitarian relationship. It's not the idea of taking Jesus along wherever we go. It's following Jesus wherever he leads us. If you go off on your own, don't expect Jesus to follow you. He's not a follower. He's a leader.
But this brings up a paradox. For there are also indications that Christians can be led astray by false teachers:
"I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough." 2Corinthians 11:3,4But then again doesn't Paul write to these same "Christians" in a couple of chapters after this: "Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." 2Cor 13:5 For if they weren't behaving as Jesus' sheep, then perhaps they weren't Jesus' sheep.
But even to his apostles Peter, James, and John Jesus said, "Be careful that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray." Mark 13:5,6 But if they were his sheep, then they would need no such warning. Or would they?
Perhaps these warnings from the Lord are the very reason why his sheep avoid being led astray by strangers, much in the same way that parents warn their children to avoid strangers who would lead them astray. In which case it is not absolutely certain that they won't be led astray to a degree, but rather their avoiding of strangers is a general lifestyle characteristic. And so also repentance is a general lifestyle characteristic of his sheep. If they do stray, they will return. And similarly in saying that the sheep don't listen to others, John in 1st John and Jesus here are speaking in general and in an overall lifestyle sense.
"But there also arose false prophets among the people, as among you also there will be false teachers, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words:" 2Peter 2:1-3
"They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them." Galatians 4:17The hired hand are those who are only artificially in the role of shepherd, but don't behave as real shepherds. They run away when the wolves come.
"I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them." Acts 20:29,30But the good shepherd fights the wolves even to the death. What kind of a spiritual leader do you have, or what kind of spiritual leader are you? One which fights the wolves, or one which runs away from such conflicts? Jesus died because of his conflicts with the religious elite, and Paul also did not shrink back from such conflicts, even when Peter did. (Gal 2:11,12) Yet today in popular Christianity if you try to spare the flock from wolves, you will generally be reckoned as a sinner, a trouble maker, a judgmental person, and one who doesn't love others. But such an attitude is a result of the wolves and the thieves having corrupted the flock already. It is the wolves and thieves who promote the idea of it being sinful to examine them. Good shepherds follow the examples set by Jesus and Paul while imposters discourage following such examples.
vs 16 The other sheep he refers to are the Gentiles who would come to faith in Christ, who now make up the majority of the sheepfold. And now there is no division between Jew and Gentile among those who have faith in Christ. "For he is our peace, who made both (Jew & Gentile believer) one, and broke down the middle wall of partition." Eph 2:14
vs 17,18 As Jesus laid down his life, so also he calls us to lay down ours. 1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." And one way we do this is in fighting off the wolves. But more generally this means to give our lives to the seeking of the edification of the flock.
From a certain point of view, Jesus' mission may be viewed essentially as a suicide mission. He purposely gave his life to save others. He was not forced to do so, nor was his death accidental. It was his choice, as we see in the garden of Gethsemane, "not my will but yours be done." So also God has called us to go on a suicide mission. There's no virtue in dying for nothing. Worldly suicide is selfish. Yes be willing to give up your life, but do it for the benefits of others and the edification of the body of Christ. But of course we realize also that just as with Jesus, our resurrection from the dead is inevitable.
vs 19-21 As we can see, the crowd was divided as to their opinion
of Jesus. Those who opposed him quite literally "demonized" him, which
is quite typical especially when religious people oppose the truth. In
demonizing him they avoided a rational analysis of what he said. Have you
met such people that don't even go so far as to listen and give an intelligent
critique of your opinion, but simply throw away your words as if they were
satanic? You're not alone. Even God runs into the same problem with these
kind of people. If they throw away what is spoken in the Spirit, then they
can never come to faith in Christ. I think that is why sinning against
the Holy Spirit is so severe and unforgiveable a sin. But the more Berean
type of people (Acts 17:11) while not gullibly accepting whatever
was said, were more open to an honest evaluation of the situation. And
that's what God expects.
Jer 50:6,7 "My people have been lost
sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on
the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own
resting place.
7 Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are
not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the
LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
Eze 34: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against
the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the
Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care
of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter
the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound
up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the
lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.
5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when
they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.
6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill.
They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked
for them.
7 ¶ "’Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my
flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for
all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my
flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,
9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the
shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove
them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed
themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no
longer be food for them.
11 "’For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.
12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with
them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the
places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the
countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture
them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the
settlements in the land.
14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of
Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good
grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the
mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.
16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will
bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the
strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.