Fourth Sunday of Easter — Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, John 10:1-10

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is April 30, 2023.

Readings for Year A can be found here.

The Gospel is as follows (emphases mine):

John 10:1-10

10:1 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.

10:2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

10:3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

10:5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

10:6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

10:7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

10:8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.

10:9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

John 10 continues the events of John 9, wherein Jesus healed the blind man and the Pharisees took issue with Him:

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday — Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, John 9:1-41 — part 1

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday — Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, John 9:1-41 — part 2

John 9 ends with these verses:

³⁹ Jesus said,^[a] ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’

⁴¹ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

That might sound harsh, especially in our non-judgemental era, but Jesus came to save the Jews from the Pharisaical system.

In order to illustrate His point to the Pharisees, he used a figure of speech.

John MacArthur says that Jesus was speaking of salvation:

Just summing it up, the Messiah comes, the Savior comes, He comes to the fold of Judaism and the fold of the Gentile world.  His sheep are already known to Him because the Father has identified them and given them a name and written it down before the foundation of the world.  He knows who they are.  He enters the door because He has full authority and right to do so.  And out of the world and out of Judaism, He selects His own, calls them by name.  This is irresistible grace.  This is the effectual call.  This is a call unto life.  This is regeneration.  They follow.

They follow because this is a supernatural work of God that draws them out of sin and death and darkness and blindness.  They follow.  They know His voice.  They follow Him.  They go through Him, He alone being the door.  They come out and then they roam the world and enjoy all the rich provision and protection that their shepherd provides for them.  This is salvation … Unfortunately, false shepherds and false teachers destroy people.

Jesus began by emphasising His figure of speech with ‘Very truly’, meaning that the Pharisees should give His words their full attention. He said that anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in through another way is a thief and a bandit (verse 1).

That part of the world had many shepherds and even those who lived in Jerusalem understood how tending sheep worked. A village would have any number of shepherds, each of whom tended his own flock.

At the end of a day of grazing, the shepherds brought the sheep back to a walled pen — the sheepfold — for the night.

MacArthur explains how this worked:

Each village would have in the village or right adjacent to the village a sheepfold, simply a pen.  In each village, that pen would be a place where the sheep were brought at night to be safe.  They would be out on the fields, out grazing during the day, and then at night the shepherd would lead them – sheep follow – the shepherd would lead them, and he would lead them into the fold.  And there’s a lot of history about this.  The shepherd would bring them, each shepherd in the village would bring his sheep and all the village shepherds would put their sheep in one fold.  That was the place of protection.  So there were sheep in the fold that belonged to different shepherds.

But they would enter one at a time and the shepherd would stop each sheep with his rod and check each one out for wounds, perhaps, or some other thing that might be of disturbance or concern to him.  He would check them over from front to back, and particularly the back because they have so much lanolin in their wool that they’re easily plugged up and they can die.  It was a messy and sometimes very dirty job, but that was the shepherd’s role.  And he would let them through one by one.  He would drop his rod over the next one, and then when he had examined, let him in.  That’s why Ezekiel 20 tells us someday God will cause His people to pass under His rod, Ezekiel 20:37-38.  He’ll let them in one by one.

So the simple enclosure was surrounded by a wall, and when night came, all the sheep would come into that enclosure, and they would be let in one at a time so each shepherd could examine his sheep.  Villages had many shepherds, and shepherds had some sheep.  They weren’t wealthy, generally speaking.  They didn’t have massive amounts of sheep.  They knew their sheep.  They knew their sheep.  They would then hire a porter.  The shepherds would go to rest and sleep after a day in the fields, and a hired hand – you’ll notice down in verse 12, it refers to “a hired hand, and not a shepherd” – that’s the same as the doorkeeper in verse 3, and his job was to close the door at night when all the sheep were in and the shepherds went to their place of rest.  And he was the guard for the night.  He had the night shift to guard the sheep.  That was his job.

Jesus said that the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep (verse 2).

MacArthur says:

In the morning, as the sun came up, the shepherds would reappear and they would call their sheep.  They would call their sheep out of the fold and lead them back out to pasture.  Only the shepherds were allowed to get by the porter, by the gatekeeper.  Thieves and robbers, if they came in the night, had to climb over the wall, and that’s what you have here.  You have the robbers who “climb up some other way” in verse 1.

Jesus said that the gatekeeper opens the gate to the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice; he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (verse 3).

MacArthur explains our Lord’s deeper meaning here:

You say, “What is the sheepfold?”  In this case, it is Israel.  It is Israel.  It is Judaism.  The sheepfold is Judaism.  The sheep are the Jewish people.  The great Shepherd, the good Shepherd, the true Shepherd comes to the fold of Israel as the true Messiah and calls his own sheep out of Judaism.

And not only that, go down to verse 16.  And this is consistent with what we read in Ezekiel.  “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.”  Who is that?  Another fold?  “I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”  There’s the one Shepherd.  What’s the other fold?  Gentiles, nations, countries of the world, Jew and Gentile, just as Ezekiel promised that God would gather his flock from all of the nations and all the countries.  The fold, then, is whatever holds temporarily the sheep that belong to God: Judaism or the world.

What is the door?  The shepherd enters, verse 2 says, “by the door.”  The shepherd of the sheep is allowed to come in the door.  What is that?  That’s privilege, right, authority, ownership.  The guard is not going to let anybody but the shepherd in.  And this is to indicate to us that Christ is the rightful Shepherd of His sheep.  He has the privilege to come in and call His sheep and take them out.  He has fulfilled all Messianic prophecy.  He has demonstrated by words and works that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

When the shepherd has brought out his own sheep from the pen, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow, because they know his voice (verse 4).

Matthew Henry’s commentary says:

The care he takes and the provision he makes for his sheep. The sheep hear his voice, when he speaks familiarly to them, when they come into the fold, as men now do to their dogs and horses; and, which is more, he calls his own sheep by name, so exact is the notice he takes of them, the account he keeps of them; and he leads them our from the fold to the green pastures; and (v. 4, 5) when he turns them out to graze he does not drive them, but (such was the custom in those times) he goes before them, to prevent any mischief or danger that might meet them, and they, being used to it, follow him, and are safe.

The sheep will not follow a stranger but will run from him because they do not recognise his voice (verse 5).

Henry cites Ezekiel in explaining this verse:

(5.) The strange attendance of the sheep upon the shepherd: They know his voice, so as to discern his mind by it, and to distinguish it from that of a stranger (for the ox knows his owner, Isa 1 3), and a stranger will they not follow, but, as suspecting some ill design, will flee from him, not knowing his voice, but that it is not the voice of their own shepherd. This is the parable; we have the key to it, Ezek 34 31: You my flock are men, and I am your God.

John tells us that the Pharisees did not understand our Lord’s figure of speech (verse 6).

It is no wonder they could not understand it. They were spiritually blind and hardened in that blindness.

Henry tells us:

The Pharisees had a great conceit of their own knowledge, and could not bear that it should be questioned, and yet they had not sense enough to understand the things that Jesus spoke of; they were above their capacity. Frequently the greatest pretenders to knowledge are most ignorant in the things of God.

Because they did not understand, Jesus repeated His message, emphasising it (verse 7): ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep’.

MacArthur explains:

… like that shepherd in Israel, the great shepherd knows His sheep, too.  He knows their name because their names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.  He knows who they are.  The picture here is really stunning.  The true Shepherd has come to call Jewish people out of Judaism, to call Gentile people out of the folds of false religion and judgment across the world.  He knows who they are.  He calls them by name.  They know His voice, and He leads them out …

This is one of the “I Am’s” of the gospel of John.

Jesus told the Pharisees that all who came before Him were thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them (verse 8).

MacArthur tells us:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”  I want you to see the picture here.  Here’s a second metaphor.  He’s not only the Shepherd that comes in to take His sheep.  He’s the door.  He’s the only way out.  It’s not about going in, it’s about going out.  And the idea of going in and out means moving with freedom when He leads you out of that fold.  And it’s only through Him.  He alone is the door. 

Jesus said the He is the gate; whoever enters by Him will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture (verse 9).

MacArthur says:

He repeated again down in verse 9.  He leads you out and there is a freedom from bondage.

If anyone goes literally through me, passes through me, he will be saved.  Mark that word, underline it, draw a circle around it.  That’s the first time you move from the word picture, from the metaphor to reality, to the theological statement of fact.  This is about what?  This is about being saved.  This is about salvation.  This is the saving shepherd.  “He’ll be saved, and – ” then he’s free to “ – go in and out and find pasture.”

Jesus said that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; by contrast, He came so that His flock may have life and have it abundantly (verse 10).

MacArthur explains:

The contrast ends in verse 10 and it’s stark.  False shepherds come to “steal and kill and destroy.”  I think all of us, and certainly me, have been vilified by people for exposing false doctrine.  But I could not be a faithful shepherd before my own Shepherd if I didn’t do my part to protect the sheep.  If I say something against anything, it usually shows up in some headline in such an outrageous form that it incites anger and hostility.  But it’s really not about me being angry.  It’s about me trying to discharge a compassionate responsibility to those who are being victimized by false shepherds who want nothing but to strip them of everything they have and then eat them.

The thief comes to kill the sheep.  There’s some interesting stories.  If a thief came at night and climbed the wall, he would have a difficulty getting the sheep out willingly because the sheep don’t know his voice.  And so very often, they would slit the throat of the sheep in the fold and throw it over the wall.  They knew that.  They knew the kind of work that robbers did.  They would take the wool and then eat the sheep.  The thief comes to kill, comes to destroy after he has stolen.  On the other hand, “I come that they may have life, and have it perissos, over the top.”

Henry has more:

“The scribes, and Pharisees, and chief priests, all, even as many as have come before me, that have endeavoured to forestal my interest, and to prevent my gaining any room in the minds of people, by prepossessing them with prejudices against me, they are thieves and robbers, and steal those hearts which they have no title to, defrauding the right owner of his property.” They condemned our Saviour as a thief and a robber, because he did not come in by them as the door, nor take out a license from them; but he shows that they ought to have received their commission from him, to have been admitted by him, and to have come after him, and because they did not, but stepped before him, they were thieves and robbers. They would not come in as his disciples, and therefore were condemned as usurpers, and their pretended commissions vacated and superseded. Note, Rivals with Christ are robbers of his church, however they pretend to be shepherds, nay, shepherds of shepherds. Secondly, The care taken to preserve the sheep from them: But the sheep did not hear them. Those that had a true savour of piety, that were spiritual and heavenly, and sincerely devoted to God and godliness, could by no means approve of the traditions of the elders, nor relish their formalities. Christ’s disciples, without any particular instructions from their Master, made no conscience of eating with unwashen hands, or plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day; for nothing is more opposite to true Christianity than Pharisaism is, nor any thing more disrelishing to a soul truly devout than their hypocritical devotions.

Henry closes with this message for us:

Here are, First, 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, we come into covenant and communion with God. There is no entering into God’s church but by coming into Christ’s church; nor are any looked upon as members of the kingdom of God among men but those that are willing to submit to the grace and government of the Redeemer. We must now enter by the door of faith (Acts 14 27), since the door of innocency is shut against us, and that pass become unpassable, Gen 3 24. Secondly, Precious promises to those who observe this direction. 1. They shall be saved hereafter; this is the privilege of their home. These sheep shall be saved from being distrained and impounded by divine justice for trespass done, satisfaction being made for the damage by their great Shepherd, saved from being a prey to the roaring lion; they shall be for ever happy. 2. In the mean time they shall go in and out and find pasture; this is the privilege of their way. They shall have their conversation in the world by the grace of Christ, shall be in his fold as a man at his own house, where he has free ingress, egress, and regress. True believers are at home in Christ; when they go out, they are not shut out as strangers, but have liberty to come in again; when they come in, they are not shut in as trespassers, but have liberty to go out. They go out to the field in the morning, they come into the fold at night; and in both the Shepherd leads and keeps them, and they find pasture in both: grass in the field, fodder in the fold. In public, in private, they have the word of God to converse with, by which their spiritual life is supported and nourished, and out of which their gracious desires are satisfied; they are replenished with the goodness of God’s house.

The readings for Years B and C continue with John 10:

Fourth Sunday of Easter — Year B — exegesis on the Gospel: John 10:11-18 (2021, the Good Shepherd)

Fourth Sunday of Easter — Year C — exegesis on the Gospel, John 10:22-30

May all reading this have a blessed Sunday.