CHAPTER X.

Ch. 10:1-21. THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEPFOLD AND THE SHEPHERD.--THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AS ONE FLOCK.--TO THIS FLOCK THERE IS BUT ONE DOOR, JESUS CHRIST.--THIS DOOR IS OPENED TO THE SOUL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.--EVERY ONE WHO ENTERS IN BY THIS DOOR IS SAVED.--AND BECOMES A MINISTER OF GRACE (A SHEPHERD) TO OTHERS.--THE PATTERN IS JESUS CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD.--EVERY TRUE SHEPHERD LIVES FOR THE FLOCK.--HE WHO DOES NOT IS A HIRELING, AND IS RECREANT IN TIME OF DANGER.--THE LIFE OF THE FLOCK IS ASSURED BY THE DEATH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD.--THAT DEATH WAS NOT COMPELLED; IT WAS VOLUNTARY. This parable was probably uttered in Judea, and in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem. The figure is drawn from the spectacle, likely at any evening to be witnessed on the hillsides of Judea, a flock of sheep gathered from the different fields in which they had been wandering, and _following_ their shepherd, who conducts them to the sheepfold, which they enter, one by one, for protection, the shepherd going before and leading them in. To understand aright its meaning, two facts, often forgotten, must be borne in mind: (1) that the metaphor is used in the O. T., and for a double purpose; sometimes the shepherd is the religious teacher of Israel, whose unfaithfulness is rebuked in the prophets (Jer. 23:1-4; Ezek., ch. 34); sometimes the shepherd is the Lord, who leads, defends, and feeds the soul which trusts in him (Ps. 23; Isaiah 40:11); (2) the parable is closely connected with the discourse concerning blindness, growing out of the cure of the blind man, and is given for the purpose of emphasizing and carrying out the warnings therein contained against the Pharisees as blind leaders of the blind (Matt. 15:14). I understand, then, that it is a parable with a double application. First, Christ compares the Pharisees to shepherds, himself to the door, and declares that they alone are true shepherds who enter into Israel through, _i. e._, under command from, and with the authority of, Christ as the Messiah--all others are thieves and robbers (vers. 7-10); he then changes the application, retaining the figure, declares himself to be the shepherd, whose praises David and Isaiah sang, and indicates the nature of the service which he will render to his sheep, namely, giving his life for them. The parable itself embraces verses 1-6; the first application, a lesson against the false Pharisaical teachers, verses 7-10; the second application, a lesson concerning himself as the good shepherd, verses 11-18. The first application is interpreted by Ezekiel, ch. 34; the second, by Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40:11. The ordinary interpretation, which regards Christ as referring to himself throughout as shepherd, necessarily supposes that he employs a mixed metaphor, in which, without any apparent reason, he alternately represents himself as the door and the shepherd.

1 Verily, verily, I say unto you,[388] He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

[388] Rom. 10:15; Heb. 5:4.

=1. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold.= Sheepfolds, as usually constructed in the East, are low, flat buildings, erected on the sheltered side of the valleys, and when the nights are cold, the flocks are shut up in them, but in ordinary weather they are merely kept within the yard. During the day, of course, they are led forth to pasture by the shepherds. The folds are defended by a wide stone wall, crowned by sharp thorns which the wolf will rarely attempt to scale. The leopard and panther, however, when pressed with hunger, will overleap the thorny hedge, and make havoc of the flock. In Greece, folds are sometimes built merely of a parapet of bushes or branches, placed at the entrance of caves, natural or made for the purpose, in the side of hills or rocky ledges. A porter guards the door of the larger sheepfolds. See _Thompson’s Land and Book_, I, 299, and _Smith’s Bible Dict._, Art. _Sheepfold_. The sheepfold, in this parable, answers primarily to Israel, the then visible and organic church of God, but secondarily to the church of Christ in all ages, the visible and external organization, in which the professed disciples of Christ, his sheep, are gathered for better protection. He that enters not by the door, but furtively climbs up some other way, marks himself thereby as evil disposed.

[Illustration: AN EASTERN SHEEPFOLD.]

2 But he that entereth in by the[389] door is the shepherd of the sheep.

[389] Verse 7, 9.

=2. He that entereth in by the door the same is a shepherd of the sheep.= Not, as in our English version, _the_ shepherd. The definite article is wanting. Christ does not declare that the evidence that he is the Shepherd consists in the fact that he entered through the door, for he is himself the door. He declares to the Pharisees, who reject him as their Messiah, that there is a double test of the religious teacher: (1) he must enter into the church by the way by which he directs the sheep to enter. There is not one salvation for the teacher and another for the taught; the door is the same to all; and (2) he must enter by the one only door, Jesus Christ. Whoever comes in the name and with the authority of Jesus Christ is a shepherd of the sheep; whoever comes to preach any other Gospel, comes to rob the sheep of their Saviour and salvation (Gal. 1:8, 9; 2 John, ver. 10).

3 To him[390] the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth[391] his own sheep by name and leadeth[392] them out.

[390] Rev. 3:20.

[391] Ezek. 34:11; Rom. 8: 30.

[392] Isa. 40:11.

=3. To him the porter openeth.= “The Holy Spirit is especially He who opens the door to the shepherds; see frequent uses of this symbolism by the apostles (Acts 14:27; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3); and instances of the porter shutting the door (Acts 16:6, 7).”--(_Alford._) There is the implication here of a truth elsewhere abundantly taught in Scripture, that the teacher has access to the heart of the church only through the influence of the Spirit of God, who opens and closes the heart of the hearer (1 Thess. 1:5; 2:1), and the door of opportunity (Acts 4:7, 8; 16:9; 17:10, 11).--=And he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out.= This figure exactly corresponds with the actual facts of shepherd life in the East. “As we eat and looked, almost spell-bound, the silent hillsides around us were in a moment filled with life and sound. The shepherds led their flocks forth from the gates of the city. They were in full view, and we watched them and listened to them with no little interest. Thousands of sheep and goats were there, grouped in dense, confused masses. The shepherds stood together until all came out. Then they separated, each shepherd taking a different path, and uttering, as he advanced, a shrill, peculiar call. The sheep heard them. At first the masses swayed and moved, as if shaken by some internal convulsion; then points struck out in the direction taken by the shepherds; these became longer and longer, until the confused masses were resolved into long, living streams, flowing after their leaders. Such a sight was not new to me, still it had lost none of its interest. It was, perhaps, one of the most vivid illustrations which human eyes could witness of that beautiful discourse of our Lord recorded by John.”--(_Porter._)

4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.[393]

[393] Cant. 2:8; 5:2.

5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee[394] from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

[394] 2 Tim. 3:5; Rev. 2:2.

=4, 5. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.= The true pastor is an example and leader as well as a teacher of his people (1 Cor. 11:1; Gal. 4:12; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6).--=A stranger will they not follow.= The stranger is not the shepherd of another flock, but one who is a stranger and a foreigner, outside the fold and separated from the great flock of the Israel of God. The true Christian is never a stranger to the disciples of Jesus Christ (Ephes. 2:19).--=They know not the voice of strangers.= The shepherd knows his own sheep by name, and they know his voice; but the stranger’s voice they do not know. The figure is all true to the life. “The shepherd calls sharply to them from time to time to remind them (the sheep) of his presence. They know his voice and follow on; but if a stranger calls, they stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and if it is repeated, they turn and flee, because they know not the voice of a stranger. This is not the fanciful costume of a parable; it is a simple fact.”--(_Thompson’s Land and Book_, I, 301.) This personality of relation between the true religious teacher and the taught, abundantly illustrated by Christ’s personal love for his disciples, and by Paul’s love for the converts gathered under his ministry, is in strong contrast to the distance which was maintained between the Pharisees and the common people. It is not then a fanciful deduction that, under ordinary circumstances, the pastor should have a personal acquaintance with his people, should not have so large a charge that he cannot know his people by name, and should ordinarily depend for his influence upon his personal acquaintance with them, and their personal confidence in him.

6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

=6. This parable spake Jesus unto them.= Rather _allegory_ or _obscure saying_. The original word (παροιμία) is different from that in the other Evangelists translated _parable_, and the structure of the teaching is somewhat different from that of the parables narrated by the other Evangelists. See on the nature of the parable, Matthew, ch. 13, Prel. Note. This, however, more nearly approximates a true parable than any other of Christ’s instructions reported by John.--=But they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.= That is, the Pharisees to whom he was speaking did not understand the meaning and application of his imagery. “They did not feel the application of it; they did not see what shepherds and sheepfolds had to do with them. They could hardly have given a greater proof how little they understood the things which were written in the books they prized most--how their worship of the divine letter had destroyed all commerce between their minds and the realities which it set forth.”--(_Maurice._)

7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I[395] am the door of the sheep.

[395] Eph. 2:18.

=7.= Verses 7-10 inclusive, contain the first application of the parable, primarily to the Pharisees as religious teachers of Israel, and secondarily to all that claim to be shepherds of God’s people, then or now.--=I am the door.= “That is, through me all the truths and blessings of religion are to be communicated to the flock, or people of God. Whoever addresses them as an authorized teacher must enter through me.”--(_Norton._) It is the Holy Spirit (the porter, ver. 3) who opens Christ to the heart and the heart to Christ, and makes it possible for either the sheep (the learners) or the under-shepherd (the teacher) to enter into the fold through him (chaps. 6:37, 44; 14:26; 15:26).

8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

=8. All whosoever came before me are thieves and robbers.= This verse is declared by Tholuck to be “one of the most difficult sentences in the N. T.” If _before_ (πρό) be taken as an adverb of time, as is generally done, then Christ’s declaration is that all religious teachers who preceded him were thieves and robbers, and this would on its face include the long line of prophets from Moses to Malachi; or if the sentence is modified, as some propose, by the fact that the verb is in the present tense, _are_ thieves and robbers, so that Christ embraces only the then living teachers, still this would include such instructors as Gamaliel and Nicodemus, if not John the Baptist, who belonged to that generation. The qualification of this, by the supposition that Christ did not include true teachers but only the false, not only falsifies his declaration which points out the way in which the true may be distinguished from the false, but reduces the sentence to a truism, viz., All false religious teachers who came before me, are thieves and robbers, _i. e._, teachers of falsehood, depriving men of the truth. The other proposed qualification, All who have come claiming to be Messiah, are thieves, etc., not only adds an important qualification to Christ’s declaration, but is historically an anachronism, inasmuch as there is no historical evidence that any false Messiah preceded the time of Christ. I am inclined, therefore, to take _before_ (πρό) as an adverb signifying precedence in rank or authority, as it does in Col. 1:17, James 5:12, and 1 Pet. 4:8, and to understand the passage, _All whosoever come claiming precedence above me are thieves and robbers_. The verb _come_ (ἦλθον) is in the aorist tense, and does not necessarily indicate a coming in the past only, but would be properly used for the enunciation of a general principle. The prophets of the O. T. claimed no such precedence above Christ; on the contrary, they were but his heralds; and John the Baptist distinctly disavowed such precedence (Matt. 3:14; chaps. 1:26, 27; 3:30). The Pharisees, on the other hand, denied Christ’s right to teach, because he did not belong to their schools (ch. 7:15), and in their conference with the blind man had put themselves above Christ (ch. 9:16, 24). Where there is no general agreement among scholars, I hesitate to offer an interpretation which differs from all, but this appears to me on the whole more consistent with the context, and with the teaching of the N. T. elsewhere, than any other, and not inconsistent with the original. If this be a correct interpretation, Christ’s claim here is directly antagonistic to those who would make an eclectic religion, by selecting truth from all the world’s religious teachers, including Christ among the rest. For he declares all to be robbing the world of truth, not imparting it, who deny him the pre-eminent rank as a religious teacher. On the other hand, he does not stigmatize genuine moral teachers, such as Buddha or Socrates, as thieves and robbers, for they had no knowledge of Christ, and claimed no precedence above him.--=But the sheep did not hear them.= This has been eminently true of all teachers in the church who have put themselves above Christ; it is the preachers of Christ who alone have secured the world’s attention. This is illustrated by the history of Paul (2 Cor. 4:5), Luther, Wesley, and in our own times Spurgeon, Moody, and others.

9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

=9. I am the door; by me if any enter in, he shall be safe.= Christ is not only the door by whom the shepherd (the teacher) can alone enter in to feed the flock, he is also the door by which alone the sheep (the disciples) can enter into the church and into security (Acts 4:12). The extent and assurance of this safety is expressed below (vers. 28, 29). And observe, the promise is not merely _shall be saved_ in the future, but _shall be safe_, _i. e._, from the time of entering the door (ch. 3:18, 36; Rom. 8:1, 28, 31, etc.)--=And shall go in and out and find pasture.= To “go in and out” was a common Hebraistic phrase to denote the whole life and action of man (Deut. 28:6; Psalm 121:8). Here, therefore, the meaning is that he who thus enters the door, shall be blessed in all his ways. His pasture is the bread of life and water of life, promised in chaps. 4:14; 6:48-51. So that Christ is at once the door, the shepherd, and the pasture; the entrance, the guardian and guide, and the food of the disciple.

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have _it_ more abundantly.

=10. The thief cometh not but for to steal * * * * I am come that they might have life=, etc. A contrast between false religion and the true, heathenism or Pharisaism and Christianity. The false religion comes to deprive men of their liberty, their property, their earthly happiness, to kill their natural and free life, and to destroy, finally, the soul. The true religion comes first to give this present life more abundant development, and then through that to give eternal life. Hence, whatever form of religion tends to deprive mankind of its free, natural, and joyous life is anti-Christian; the constant tendency of Christ’s teaching and influence is to make the whole life, social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, more abundant.

11 I[396] am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

[396] Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25.

12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth[397] the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

[397] Ezek. 34:2-6; Zech. 11:17.

=11, 12.= With these verses Christ gives a new direction to the preceding parable. He has thus far spoken of religious teachers in general, and of himself as the _door_ by which they alone can enter in to feed the flock, and by which alone the flock can enter in to find safety. He now speaks of himself as the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls (1 Pet. 2:25), under whom are all the shepherds, and in contrast with whom are the hirelings.--=I am the Good Shepherd=, more literally the _beautiful_ Shepherd; but this word (καλός), though strictly speaking esthetic, was used by the Greeks to designate moral beauty, and referred to the most symmetrical and perfect goodness. Throughout the O. T. the church of God is regarded as a fold, Israel as a flock, and Jehovah himself as the Shepherd (Ps. 23; Isa. 40:11; Ezek., ch. 34; Jer., ch. 23; Micah 5:3; Zech., ch. 11). It is impossible but that Christ’s auditors should have understood him as claiming to be this Shepherd of Israel. Observe the difference between the phraseology here and in verse 2; here _the_ good Shepherd; there _a_ Shepherd.--=The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.= This is not a prophecy, equivalent to, I am about to die for my sheep; it is the enunciation of a general principle by which every good shepherd can be distinguished from the hireling; for every good shepherd is ready to sacrifice his life for his sheep because they are his; the hireling flees when danger threatens, because he is an hireling and has no real interest in the sheep. Neither is the expression _to lay down the life_ a circumlocution for _die_. Christ rarely uses circumlocution of any kind. The good shepherd may or may not be called on to die for his sheep; but he always lays down his life for them. To lay down the life is to consecrate it, devote it to the flock; as a mother, who is always ready to die for her children, but who, living or dying, belongs to her children and surrenders herself to them. So we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16), though comparatively few are ever called on to die for them. Wickliffe and Luther as truly laid down their lives for the flock as Huss and Tyndale. The sacrifice of Christ consisted not merely in his death--which was indeed in its mere physical aspects the least part of it--but in his whole incarnation. His entire life from his advent to the grave was laid down for his sheep. This laying down of his life includes his death; but it includes much more. The whole thirty years was a living sacrifice for sinful humanity (Phil. 2:5-8).--=But he that is an hireling, not being a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth.= Every clause in this sentence must be carefully weighed by the student; for every clause is full of weighty significance. There is nothing in the sentence, if the whole be considered, adverse to a paid ministry. Not every one who is hired is an hireling (1 Tim. 5:18); only he who _serves for hire_, whether emoluments or reputation; who accordingly is not a shepherd, _i. e._, has none of the shepherd’s instincts and none of the shepherd’s love for his flock; _whose own the sheep are not_, _i. e._, who has none of that sense of ownership in his flock which Paul experienced and expressed (1 Cor. 4:14, 15; 1 Thess. 2:11; 1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 10); who, therefore, _careth not for the sheep_ (ver. 13), but only for himself. Here, as everywhere in Christ’s instructions, it is the evil spirit which he condemns and the right spirit which he exalts. The hirelings of Christ’s day were those among the chief rulers and the priests, the religious teachers of Israel, who believed on Jesus, but would not confess their faith for fear of the hierarchy (ch. 9:22; 12:42, 43; 19:38). The hirelings ever since have been those in the church, whether paid preachers or no, who have feared to withstand falsehood and danger, and have suffered popular sins to pass unrebuked lest they should bring obloquy upon themselves, or loss of friends, or personal peril, or any martyrdom, large or small. The hireling, too, does not merely _flee_; the true shepherd has sometimes to do this (Matt. 10:23); Christ himself did this repeatedly (Matt. 14:13; Luke 4:30; John 8:59; 10:39). It is characteristic of the hireling that he _leaveth the sheep_ and fleeth. Caution may lead the true pastor to avoid a conflict which will bring greater disaster on the flock than battle; but his caution is always to be exercised for the sheep, not for himself. It is caring for one’s self more than for the church that marks the hireling.--=The wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep.= Any and every willful and determined opponent to truth and righteousness is a wolf; whether he is a persecuting power like that of pagan and papal Rome, or a false teacher, a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29). The wolf at this particular juncture was the Pharisaic party, which was ravaging the church of God, and binding heavy burdens on the people, whom Christ denounced, and in battle with whom he suffered death.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and[398] know my _sheep_, and am known[399] of mine.

[398] 2 Tim. 2:19.

[399] 1 John 5:20.

15 As[400] the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and[401] I lay down my life for the sheep.

[400] Matt. 11:27.

[401] ch. 15:13; Isa. 53:4,5.

=13-15. The hireling * * * careth not for the sheep * * *=--=I know my sheep.= Christ reiterates the contrast between the hireling and the good shepherd; and indicates anew points of distinction between the two. The hireling careth not for the sheep; he cares only for his wages; the good shepherd knows his sheep and is known by them. In a limited way this is true of the good pastor or shepherd; he knows his flock personally and sympathizingly; he is not merely a preacher to them; he is their best friend and adviser (ver. 3, note). But this knowledge is never perfect, and never can be, in the under shepherd. His insight is imperfect; his sympathy is partial. It is only Christ who can say I _know_ my sheep. “If you would think rightly of the Son of Man, think of the Person who knows thoroughly everything that each one of you is feeling, and cannot utter to others or to himself--every temptation from riches, from poverty, from solicitude, from society, from gifts of intellect, from the want of them, from the gladness of the spirit, from the barrenness and dreariness of it, from the warmth of affection and from the drying up of affection, from the anguish of doubt and the dulness of indifference, from the whirlwind of passion and the calm which succeeds it, from the vile thoughts which spring out of fleshly appetites and indulgences, from the darker, more terrible suggestions which are presented to the inner will. Believe that he knows all these, that he knows _you_. And then believe this also, that all he knows is through intense, inmost sympathy, not with the evil that is assaulting you, but with you who are assaulted by it. Believe that knowledge, in this the Scriptural sense of it--the human as well as the divine sense of it--is absolutely inseparable from sympathy.”--(_Maurice._)--=And am known of mine.= Christ’s knowledge of the Christian is the basis of the Christian’s knowledge of Christ. Both are sympathetic and personal, the knowledge of love. It is because the Good Shepherd knows his sheep that he is known of them. It is because by his knowledge he is able to enter into our innermost experience, and to give us comfort and strength when all human helpers fail, that we come to know him as our Helper and our Strength. We know him as the Good Shepherd only as we follow his guidance, accept the food and water he gives us, are restored by him when wandering, and delivered by him from danger and death.--=As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.= The connection is not very clear between this sentence and the preceding one, or between the different clauses of this sentence. It seems to me, however, that Christ refers to this knowledge between himself and the Father, not merely to illustrate the knowledge between himself and his disciples, but to turn their thoughts from himself to the Father. Christ has been accused of blasphemy by the Jews; that is, of endeavoring to deflect the reverence and allegiance of the people from God to himself. It must be confessed that there has often been a tendency in his disciples to substitute the Saviour for the Father, to believe in the sympathy of Christ, but not in the sympathy of God, to believe in the love of the Redeemer, but to attribute justice and wrath to Jehovah. Christ guards against this tendency, and refutes this accusation, by the declaration that he knows perfectly every wish and will of the Father, and in the whole course of his self-sacrifice, in all the laying down of his life for humanity, he is carrying out that will. Thus the declaration of this verse leads one to that of verse 17: “Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life.”

16 And[402] other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and[403] there shall be one fold, _and_ one shepherd.

[402] Isa. 49:6; 56:8.

[403] Ezek. 37:22; Ephes. 2:14.

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because[404] I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

[404] Isa. 53:7-12; Heb. 2:9.

18 No man taketh it from me, but[405] I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I[406] have power to take it again. This[407] commandment have I received of my Father.

[405] Phil. 2:6-8.

[406] ch. 2:19.

[407] ch. 6:38.

=16-18. Other sheep I have which are not from= (ἐκ) =this fold=. Not, Which are in other worlds; for the Bible does not anywhere recognize this world as the fold of God: nor, Others from among the dispersed Jews scattered among the Gentiles; for these were already in “this fold,” none the less belonging to Israel because they were geographically separated from their brethren. The reference is to those whom Christ has among the Gentiles, and, as I believe, still has among the heathen (Acts 10:35; 18:10). They are not, however, in a flock or fold, but scattered (ch. 11:52). Observe, Christ does not say _I am to have_--the present is not used in lieu of the future. He already has them; they are his sheep; he recognizes as his own those whose spirit is akin to his, though they do not recognize him as theirs (Matt. 25:37-40).--=Them also I must lead.= Not _bring_, _i. e._, to the Jewish nation, but _lead_ as a shepherd. He must be leader to all who will follow him, whether Jew or Gentile.--=And there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.= Not one _fold_, as unfortunately translated in our English version (μία ποίμνη, not μία αὐλή). “Not _one fold_, but _one flock_; no one exclusive enclosure of an outward church--but one flock, all knowing the one Shepherd, and known of Him.”--(_Alford._) And one flock because one Shepherd; one not in creed, or organization, or method of worship, but one in Christ Jesus (see ver. 30).--=Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life.= Not because I _have_ laid it down, as though the love of the Father were caused by the earthly love and sacrifice of Christ, but because I _lay_ it down. That is, because Christ’s Spirit is one of self-sacrificing love, manifested by, but not alone embodied in the incarnation, he is loved by the Father. See Phil. 2:9; Heb. 1:9.--=In order that I may take it again.= Beware of understanding this, as many of the commentators seem to do, as equivalent to, _I die in order that I may rise from the dead_. The meaning is interpreted by Christ’s declaration to his disciples: “He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” Christ lays down his life by his humiliation, his incarnation, his passion and his crucifixion, that he may take it again in the life of the myriads whom he has redeemed from death by his own death. He takes it again when he sees of the travail of his soul and is satisfied (Isa. 53:11), which he does when those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb stand before him (Rev. 7:14, 15). So every mother, laying down her life in continued self-sacrifice for her children, takes it again in their developed manhood and womanhood.--=No one taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.= _No one_ is not equivalent to _no man_, a translation which weakens if it does not destroy the sense. The sacrifice of Christ, the whole experience of humiliation and suffering, commencing with the laying aside of the glory which he had with the Father and culminating in the crucifixion, was not imposed upon him by any one, neither by man, nor by Satan, nor even by the Father; it was self-assumed. This fact is the answer to all those objections to the N. T. doctrine of the atonement, which misrepresent it as portraying a God who inflicts on an innocent victim the punishment which was deserved by others.--=I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.= The word rendered _power_ (ἐξουσία), includes both _power_ and _right_ (see ch. 1:12, note); the word rendered _commandment_ (ἐντολὴ), is not equivalent to authority; the original word always means _law_ or _command_. Christ’s disciples have no authority to frame self-sacrifices for themselves; doing this is always characteristic of a corrupt and _quasi_ pagan religion. They are to bear with cheerful heroism whatever self-sacrifice the providence of God may lay upon them. So also they have never a right to seek death, but are always to seek to _live_ to the glory of God and for their fellow-men. But Christ voluntarily chose his life of humiliation and cross-bearing; voluntarily sought its privations; and finally went, not to an inevitable death, but to one which he might easily have avoided by flight, if he had acted according to the directions which he gave his followers, and on which the apostle subsequently acted. He might have fled from Jerusalem on the fatal night of his arrest, as he had done before, and this without leaving his sheep to be seized or scattered by the wolf; or he might have been protected by supernatural power (Matt. 26:53). He did not because he had a peculiar authority given to him, which his followers do not possess, to lay down his own life, both in the self-assumed humiliation of the incarnation, and in the final tragedy of his death. And this peculiar authority he possessed because in all his incarnation and passion and death he was carrying out the will and obeying the command of his Father. To us the divine command is interpreted by providence; Christ needed no such interpreter, for he knew the Father’s will, knowing the Father even as he was known by the Father.

19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

20 And many of them said, He[408] hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

[408] ch. 7:20.

21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open[409] the eyes of the blind?

[409] ch. 9:6, etc.

=19-21. There was a division therefore again among theJews.=--Christ’s fan was in his hand. His teachings were tests of the character of his auditors.--=He hath a devil.= Rather _an evil spirit_ (see ch. 8:52, note).--=Why hear ye him?= Why listen to him at all? The words were addressed by the opponents of Jesus to those who were inclined to believe on him, and indicate the uneasiness with which the Pharisees observed the impression which Christ was making on the less prejudiced and better disposed among the people (comp. ch. 7:46-49).--=These are not the words of one possessed by an evil spirit.= A pregnant saying. Infidelity must afford some explanation of the teachings and life of Christ; and they are not the teachings and life of either a fanatic or a deceiver.--=Can an evil spirit open the eyes of the blind?= These words show that the whole discourse of this chapter was not distant in time from the healing of the blind man narrated in Chapter IX, and was probably closely connected with it.

* * * * *

Ch. 10:22-42. DISCOURSE AT THE FEAST OF DEDICATION.--THE GIFT OF CHRIST: ETERNAL LIFE.--THE POWER OF CHRIST: THE POWER OF THE FATHER.--THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE O. T. PROPHETS AND CHRIST.--THE EVIDENCE OF CHRIST’S DIVINITY; HIS WORKS.

There is no reason to suppose that Christ left Judea during the time which elapsed between the feast of Tabernacles (ch. 7:2) and the feast of Dedication; on the contrary, the intimate connection between the discourse here reported and the preceding parable of the Good Shepherd (see vers. 26, 27), indicates that this discourse followed almost immediately after that one; certainly while the latter was still fresh in the minds of the people. I believe that the ministry in Judea, reported in John, chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10, was a continuous one, unbroken by any departure into Galilee or Perea.

22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.[410]

[410] Acts 3:11; 5:12.

24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

=22-24. The feast of the Dedication.= A Jewish feast instituted by Judas Maccabeus, in commemoration of the cleansing of the second temple and altar, after they had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes. The profanation took place B. C. 167, the purification B. C. 164. The festival commenced on the 25th day of the ninth month, Kislev, answering to our December, and lasted eight days. It was also called the feast of Lights, from the fact that the Jews illuminated their houses as long as the feast lasted. Instituted by the Maccabean dynasty, and observed chiefly by the more rigid Judeans, it afforded to Christ an audience only of the more narrow-minded and bigoted of the Jews, a fact which must be borne in mind in studying his teaching on this occasion.--=It was winter.=--The fact is stated to explain our Lord’s walking in Solomon’s portico. For description and illustration of this portico, see Acts 5:12, note. This minute detail, the exact locality where he gave this instruction, is one of the many indications which this Gospel affords of being written by an eye-witness.--=The Judeans therefore surrounded him.= The verb (κυκλόω) is generally used in a hostile sense, _e. g._, of armies encompassing a city (Luke 21:20; Heb. 11:30; Rev. 20:9). This is the meaning here; an excited and threatening crowd hedged about Jesus as he was quietly walking in the porch. “Their fixed design was, not to leave him at liberty till he should have uttered the decisive word.”--(_Godet._) This was the earliest manifestation of that design which was finally accomplished when the oath was administered to Jesus by the High Priest, and he was adjured to say whether he was the Son of God (Matt. 26:63, note).--=How long dost thou keep our souls in suspense?= This English idiom almost literally answers to the Greek idiom (τὴν ψυκὴν αἴρεις), which is still more exactly, _How long dost thou keep our souls lifted up?_ _i. e._, with expectation and uncertainty. Commingled and contradictory feelings in the crowd were probably represented by this question; some hoped that Jesus was the Messiah and desired to compel him to declare himself; others were enraged with him, and desired to extort some utterance which would give them the opportunity to condemn him for blasphemy, or to excite the mob against him.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not; the[411] works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

[411] ch. 5:36.

26 But[412] ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

[412] ch. 8:47.

27 My[413] sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

[413] verse 4.

=25-27. I told you * * * the works * * * bear witness of me.= He had told them (ch. 5:19; 8:36, 56, 58, etc.), not it is true as plainly as he had told the Samaritan woman (ch. 4:26), but more plainly than he had told his own disciples previous to Peter’s confession of faith, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16); and he now answers them as he answered John the Baptist, who, in a very different spirit, preferred the same request for a definite answer to the question, “Art thou He that should come?” (Matt. 11:2-6.) He refers them to his works. The evidence of Christ’s divinity is not in his declaration about himself, nor in the declarations made concerning him by others, but in his life, his character, and the work which he has done and is still doing in the world. Works (ἔργα) includes his miracles but is not equivalent to miracles. See ch. 14:12, note. The reason why he did not answer more directly is well given by Godet: “He could not answer ‘I am,’ for the meaning which they attached to the word Christ had, so to speak, nothing in common with that in which he used it. Still less could he reply, ‘I am not;’ for he was indeed the Christ provided by God, and in that sense he whom they expected.”--=Because ye are not of my sheep, as I said to you.= The reference is either to the implied teaching of the parable of the Good Shepherd, or to some specific statement not reported by the Evangelist. The genuineness of the words _as I said to you_ is doubted by some, but they are regarded as authentic by most critics. What does he mean by _ye are not of my sheep_. If we look back we shall see that the sheep of Christ are those that hear (_i. e._, accept and obey) his voice, and follow him (_i. e._, imitate his life and example). See verses 3, 4, 14, 16, 27. The declaration, then, _Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep_, is that those who do not spiritually recognize the beauty of Christ’s teaching, and do not attempt to follow his incomparable example, are not to be expected to be convinced of his divinity by purely intellectual arguments.--The answer to the skeptic is generally, You cannot believe in Christ as your personal Saviour till you begin to recognize and to follow his teaching and example as a prophet and a man. The declaration is the converse of John 7:17. Comp. 2 Peter 1:5-8, where the possession of the Christian virtues is declared to be the efficient cause of a sound Christian knowledge. The creed does not precede but follows spiritual life.

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they[414] shall never perish, neither shall any _man_ pluck them out of my hand.

[414] ch. 17:12; 18:9.

29 My[415] Father, which gave[416] _them_ me, is greater than all; and no _man_ is able to pluck _them_ out of my Father’s hand.

[415] ch. 14:28.

[416] ch. 17:2.

30 I[417] and _my_ Father are one.

[417] ch. 17:11, 22.

=28-30. And I give unto them eternal life.= Life is the _gift_ of God through Jesus Christ (ch. 1:12; 4:10, 14; 6:27, 32, 51; Rom. 5:17; 6:23; Eph. 1:17), but the necessary condition of receiving it is faith in his Son, _i. e._, the ability to appreciate spiritual life in its highest and most perfect manifestation, and a readiness to follow after it, by leaving all things else to attain it, as did Paul (Phil. 3:13, 14).--=And they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.= The word rendered _perish_ is literally _destroy themselves_ (ἀπόλωνται, _middle voice_); and this seems to me to be the meaning here; otherwise there would be a repetition, the second clause of the promise only reiterating the first clause. The word _man_ is not in the original; _any_ includes all powers, human and superhuman. I, then, understand Christ’s declaration to be that the souls which trust in him _shall never destroy themselves, and no one shall pluck them out of his hand_; _i. e._, he promises to protect his disciples both against their own weaknesses and also against the strength of assailants; from fears without and foes within; from treachery in the soul, and from assaults on the soul. See 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:10; Phil. 4:19; Col. 1:11, etc.--=My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all.= There is some uncertainty as to the reading, but the best critics agree in sustaining the received text.--=No one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.= Without entering into any doubtful disputations respecting the relation of the Father and the Son, a problem which I believe transcends human knowledge, it is evident that the connection here requires us to understand Christ as declaring himself one with the Father, not merely in will or desire, as the disciple is to be one with his Lord, but also in spiritual power. The argument is, “My sheep shall never perish, since my Father who gave them into my hand is greater than all, and I who hold them, am one with him.” This argument would be without force if the meaning was not that Christ’s _power_ is equal to that of the Father. His will might be perfectly in harmony with the divine will, he still could not be trusted as a divine Saviour unless his power was commensurate with his will. So all the best expositors, _Alford_, _Godet_, _Meyer_, _Luthardt_, _Tholuck_.

31 Then[418] the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

[418] ch. 8:59.

32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because[419] that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

[419] verse 30; ch. 5:18; Ps. 82:6; Rom. 13:1.

=31-33.= The moral power of Christ is singularly illustrated by the manner in which he restrains the mob by his voice and compels them to answer his question. That question implies that punishment is due only to wrong actors, and he asks them before they execute sentence, to designate any wrong that he has done. The question is thus analogous to that of ch. 8:46, “Which of you convinceth me of sin.”--Blasphemy was a regularly recognized crime under Jewish law; it consisted in any endeavor to draw away the allegiance of the people from the one true God, and answered to treason with us, Jehovah being under the theocracy, the Supreme head of the nation (see Matt. 12:32, note). The reply of the Jews to Christ’s question plainly shows how they regarded his declaration, “I and my Father are one,” not as indicating mere unity in spirit and purpose, but also in power and essential being. This is not indeed conclusive, for the Jews constantly misunderstood Christ; but it is an indication of his meaning. One practical lesson of the unity of the Godhead, of Christ and the Spirit with the Father, is eloquently presented by Maurice: “The unity of the Father and the Son is the only ground of the unity between the Shepherd and the sheep; undermine one and you undermine both * * * *. Do you think sects would last even for an hour, if there was not in the heart of each of them a witness for a fellowship which combinations and shibboleths did not create, and which, thanks be to God, they cannot destroy. The Shepherd makes his voice to be heard through all the noise and clatter of earthly shepherds; the sheep hear his voice and know that it is calling them to follow him into a common fold where all may rest and dwell together; and when once they understand the still deeper message which he is uttering here, and which the old creeds are repeating to us, ‘I and my Father are one;’ when they understand that the unity of the church and the unity of mankind depends on this eternal distinction and unity in God himself, and not upon authority or decrees of any mortal pastor, the sects will crumble to pieces, and there will be in very deed, one flock and one Shepherd.”

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified,[420] and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am[421] the Son of God?

[420] ch. 6:27; Isa. 11:2, 3; 49:1, 3.

[421] Phil. 2:6.

=34-36. Is it not written in your law.= He does not say in _our_ law, nor in _the_ law, but in _your_ law. Christ does not identify himself with the Jews, nor regard himself as subject to the law, though made under it, and yielding himself to it for a season. Comp. ch. 7:19; 8:17. The reference is to Psalm 82:6. There is no passage in the law, _i. e._, in the Pentateuch, which corresponds exactly to Christ’s words here, or to those of the Psalmist; but in Exodus 22:28, the title of “gods” is given to the judges. The Psalm in question is believed to have been written on the occasion of Jehosaphat’s reform of the courts and re-establishment of the law (2 Chron., ch. 19), and it contrasts the unjust judges of Israel, who had been called gods in the law, with God the Judge of all the earth.--=Unto whom the word of God came.= _The word of God_ is not the mere saying, “I have said ye are gods” (_Meyer_); it is never used in the N. T. in so limited a sense, to signify merely a particular phrase or utterance. It is either, The Spirit of God, _i. e._, God revealing himself to and through the prophet, as in ch. 1:1 (see note there) and Heb. 4:12; or it is the word given to the prophets by the Holy Spirit and by them repeated to the nation, _i. e._, nearly equivalent to the O. T. Scripture, as in Mark 7:13; Luke 5:1, etc.--=And the Scripture cannot be broken.= Literally _loosened_ (Matt. 5:19, note). This parenthetical declaration is a very significant testimony to the inspiration of the O. T.--=Whom the Father hath sanctified.= The original (ἁγιάζω) may be rendered either made holy, in the sense of made clean and pure in character, or made holy in the sense of set apart to a holy use. It is evidently in the latter sense that it is employed here.--=And sent into the world.= The sanctifying of Christ preceded the sending into the world. Evidently, therefore, the reference is not to any act recorded in the life of Christ, as the descent of the Holy Spirit at the baptism, but to a consecration in the will of God to the work of redemption, and which preceded the Advent.--=Thou blasphemest.= That is, art guilty of diverting the allegiance of the people from God to thyself.--=Because I said I am a Son of God.= The article is wanting in the Greek, and ought not to be added in the translation.

These verses (34-36) have been sometimes regarded as a partial retraction, or at least a material modification of the declaration, “I and my Father are one;” as indicating that Jesus Christ is a Son of God only as every obedient soul is a child of God (1 John 3:1). If this passage stood alone, such an interpretation might possibly be given to it; but if the audience, the circumstances, the effect, and the other utterances of the speaker be taken into account, it cannot be fairly so understood. This sentence is spoken to a mob for the purpose of checking their rage. They have understood Christ to claim divinity. He does not in terms explicitly disavow it. On the contrary, when his explanation is ended, they resume their design (ver. 39), and he is obliged to flee for his life. We should not look in such an utterance for a disclosure of the profoundest truths respecting Christ’s character, not because Christ would conceal or modify the truth to save his life, but because an angry mob is not the sort of an audience to whom he would choose to reveal it, or indeed could reveal it, a certain receptiveness of soul being necessary to the comprehension of spiritual truth. The argument of these verses seems to me to be this: He to whom the Spirit of God comes, and who receives it and becomes in so far an exponent and manifestation of God, is in a sense divine; he becomes partaker of the divine nature; a sharer of the divine life (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 12:10; 2 Pet. 1:4). This is the testimony of the Scriptures which cannot be set aside. He, then, who is not of this world but from above (ch. 8:23), and whom the Father consecrated above and sent down into this world, is not guilty of blasphemy in calling himself a Son of God. In other words, Christ compares himself with inspired men only to contrast himself with them; he shows that, even according to the principles of the O. T. Scriptures, by which the Jews pretended to condemn him, he was not guilty of blasphemy, even if, being but a man, he had made himself a son and so a representative of God, while he, at the same time, clearly claims to be other and higher than the O. T. prophets and judges. But for the full disclosure of Christ’s character, we must look to his quiet conferences with his own disciples, who were at least willing, if not able, to understand him.

37 If[422] I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

[422] ch. 14:10, 11; 15:24.

38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father _is_ in me, and I in him.

=37, 38. If I do not the works of my Father, put no faith in me.= Works which show forth his power and glory and are in accordance with his will and character (ch. 17:4).--=But if I do, though ye put no faith in me, put faith in the works.= Beware of understanding faith, rendered in our English version by _believe_, as a mere intellectual act. The idea is, If prejudice against the person of Christ prevents an affectionate regard for him, the soul may still have respect and reverence for the work he has done, and is doing in the world. =That ye may perceive and know= (γνῶτε καὶ γινώσκητε) is the best reading.--_Alford_, _Meyer_. To _perceive_, or recognize, denotes the outward act; to _know_ denotes the permanent state.--=That the Father is in me and I in the Father.= A spiritual unity, such as cannot be predicated of any other son of God. The Father is in the Son because he lives and moves in him; is the spirit which animates and controls and makes divine the man Jesus. The Son is in the Father because his thoughts, wishes, purposes, desires, all centre in Him. The argument of these verses is substantially the same as that addressed by Christ to the Jews in verse 25 (see note there), and that addressed to his own disciples in ch. 14:11. The best evidence of the divinity of Christ is his own character; next is a consideration of the divine work which he has done and is doing in the world.

39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand;

40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place[423] where John at first baptized: and there he abode.

[423] ch. 1:28.

41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake[424] of this man were true.

[424] ch. 3:30-36; Matt. 3:11, 12.

42 And many believed on him there.

=39-42. They sought again to take him.= To arrest him. Their passion had time to cool, and they abandoned the idea of mob violence, which would have brought, as in Paul’s case (Acts 21:31, 32), the interference of the Romans. Instead, they endeavored to seize Christ and bring him before the authorities for trial.--=But he escaped out of their hand.= There is no reason to suppose a miracle. In the throng were some at least who believed in him, and under cover afforded by them he could have escaped.--=Where John at first baptized.= See ch. 1:28, note.--=All things that John spake of this man were true.= Being dead he yet spake. Gave his testimony to Christ. See ch. 1:15-34. This was the end of Christ’s Judean ministry proper, which had lasted three months. It had been one of continuous storm. Twice during this period he had been mobbed (ch. 8:59; 10:31); once an attempt was made to arrest him (ch. 7:32, 45); secret plans for his assassination were laid (ch. 7:19, 25; 8:37). All that we know of this ministry is contained in John, chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10; though it is not improbable that the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Pharisee and the Publican, and the incidents at the house of Mary and Martha belong to the same era (Luke 10:25-42; 18:9-14).--=And many believed on him there.= A period of a little over three months, from some time in December to the first of April, intervened between the retreat of Christ from Judea and his final entry into Jerusalem at the Passover week. I believe that this time was devoted to his ministry in Perea, the district beyond Jordan; a ministry of which John here gives a hint, to which Matthew and Mark also refer (Matt. 19:1, 2, etc.; Mark 10:1, etc.), but of which Luke alone gives any full account. See Luke, ch. 10, Prel. Note. Many thronged his ministry there (Luke 11:29; 12:1; 14:15, 25; 15:1). This ministry was broken in upon by the message from the sisters of Lazarus, as recorded in the next chapter. See Prel. Note there.