seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 10:1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I got this quote from one of the commentaries.
The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep: The bad shepherd (a hireling) will not defend the sheep and thinks the flock exists for his benefit, but the good shepherd lives and dies for the good of the sheep.
There will be one flock: A fold of sheep is a part of the flock in its own structure or enclosure. A shepherd might separate the sheep into different groups to care for them better. There is one flock and one shepherd; but Jesus calls His sheep from more than one fold (group or structure of people).
This command I have received from My Father: The death of Jesus was completely voluntary, but it was not an indirect suicide in any sense. It was part of a plan to submit to death and then to emerge from it victoriously alive, according to the command... received from God the Father.
He has a demon and is mad: Jesus made such radical claims about Himself that people divided over Him. Some believe He was who He said He was. Others believed that anyone who claimed to be God as Jesus claimed must either have a demon or be mad.
These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Miraculous works like opening the eyes of the blind can be a valid testimony, but only in concert with faithfulness to the word of God. These people were right in looking at both the works and the words of Jesus.
And this addition is from a second commentary.
Unlike Western shepherds who drive the sheep from the side or behind, often using sheep dogs, Near Eastern shepherds lead their flocks, their voice calling them to move on. This draws a remarkable picture of the master/disciple relationship. New Testament spiritual leadership is always by example, i.e., a call to imitate conduct.
I think what makes this so difficult to understand..... is time and place. In the time Jesus was talking about being the good Shepherd.... the people he was talking to did things according to the time and place they were living. In the "East" in the times of Jesus..... being a shepherd was intimate. I guess it would be the difference between a cowboy driving hundreds of head of cattle as compared to farmer brown who milks his cow "Nellie". The cowboy has no problem leading the cattle to the slaughter... it's his job. While the farmer sees the benefit of the individual cow.... and takes comfort in laying his hand on her side before massaging the tit to get milk.
Back in the days of Jesus.... they didn't use dogs... they used their voice... and they knew each sheep by name. It's a lot different than the sheep herders who brought those cattle wars and sheep wars to the wild west.... like on an old "Rawhide" episode. The sheep in the days of Jesus were "pets" almost.
Jesus described a shepherd who had "folds" of sheep. When all the "folds" were called together, the shepherd would have a huge "flock" that would follow him to the meadow.
In the movie "Heidi", starring my favorite actress, Shirley Temple, her best buddy was a goat herd. He would go along picking up goats from one farm to the next, calling them by name. He would take them to the meadow and then home again. That's the kind of herding Jesus was talking about.
People don't have sheep hanging around these days... and our concept of herding has changed to meet the growing needs of the huge population. Times have changed. I guess if Jesus were speaking at the church down the street... Jesus would say something like.....
"I am the community dog walker..... the dogs know my name.... they know to come when I call... I'm not a stranger trying to kidnap the family pet.... I'm the dog walker... and the dogs come to me when I call them. I walk all the dogs in the neighborhood... not just one.... and I walk all kinds of dogs.... chihuahua to wolf hound.... I walk all breeds.... I'm the good dogwalker."
We don't have sheep living in our stables. We don't have stables anymore.... mostly. We have grocery stores and pets. In this society.... Jesus would use a different story to show us what He means.... so in the church down the street in 2021.... Jesus would probably use something we are familiar with.... a dog walker rather than a shepherd.
Jesus was a good guy who went around healing the paraplegic and the blind. Jesus was kind. Jesus was like the community "dog walker".
