Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 10:7
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
7. Then said Jesus unto them again ] Better, Therefore said Jesus again. They did not understand; therefore He went through the allegory again more explicitly, interpreting the main features. ‘Unto them’ is of doubtful authority.
Verily, verily ] This is the important point, to recognise that the one door of the fold, through which the sheep and the shepherds enter, is Christ. I (with great emphasis) am the Door. Comp. ‘I am the Way’ (Joh 14:6).
the door of the sheep ] Better, ‘the Door to the sheep’ ( Joh 10:1-2), and also ‘the Door for the sheep’ ( Joh 10:9). Sheep and shepherds alike have one and the same door. The elect enter the Church through Christ; the ministers who would visit the flocks must receive their commission from Christ. Note that Christ does not say, ‘the Door of the fold,’ but ‘the Door of the sheep.’ The fold has no meaning apart from the sheep.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I am the door – I am the way by which ministers and people enter the true church. It is by his merits, his intercession, his aid, and his appointment that they enter.
Of the sheep – Of the church.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. I am the door of the sheep.] It is through me only that a man can have a lawful entrance into the ministry; and it is through me alone that mankind can be saved. Instead of, I am the door, the Sahidic version reads, I am the shepherd; but this reading is found in no other version, nor in any MS. It is evidently a mistake of the scribe.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour had before been speaking of the door in another notion; there he spake of the door of the shepherd; here, of the door of the sheep: there, of the door, that is, the true and regular way of entrance into the care, conduct, and government of the church; here, of the true way of entrance, not into the church militant only, but into the church triumphant. It may be also understood of the door, or way of entrance and admission, into the church visible here upon the earth. Circumcision, baptism, external profession, are the doors into the visible Church; but none, unless by Christ, that is, by a true and lively faith wrought by the Spirit of Christ in the soul, can be a true member of Christs invisible church here upon the earth, much less a member of his glorious church in heaven.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-14. I am the door of thesheepthat is, the way in to the fold, with all blessedprivileges, both for shepherds and sheep (compare Joh 14:6;Eph 2:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said Jesus unto them again,…. By way of explanation of the above parable, since they did not understand it:
verily, verily, I say unto you; this is certainly truth, and what may be depended on as such, whether it will be believed or not:
I am the door of the sheep; and of none but them; not of goats, dogs, or swine; none but sheep enter at this door; and all the sheep do sooner or later: Christ is the door to them, by which they enter into a visible church state, and are let into a participation of the ordinances of it, as baptism and the Lord’s supper: no man comes into a church, at the right door, or in a right way, or has a right to partake of Gospel ordinances, but he that truly believes in Christ, and makes a profession of faith in him: Christ is the door of the under shepherds of the sheep; none are fit to be pastors of churches, but who first enter into a Gospel church at this door, and are qualified, and called, and sent forth by Christ: he is the door of the sheep, by which they are let into the presence of his Father, and have communion with him, and partake of all the blessings of grace; it is through him that sanctifying, justifying, pardoning, and adopting grace, are conveyed unto them, and they brought into the enjoyment of them; it is through him they have all their peace, joy, and comfort, and deliverance from, and victory over all their enemies; through him they have heirship, and a right unto eternal life, and that itself; for he is the door into heaven itself, through which they shall have an abundant entrance into it: and he is the only door into each of these; there is no coming to God the Father but by, and through him; nor to a participation of the blessings of the covenant, nor rightly into a Gospel church state, and to the ordinances of it, nor into heaven at last, but in at this door: and this is a door of faith and hope, and an open one, for all sensible sinners, for all the sheep of Christ, to enter in at; though it is a strait gate, the number being few that enter in at it; and those that do, though they are certainly, yet but scarcely saved; for it is through many tribulations and afflictions that they enter.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Therefore again ( ). Jesus repeats the allegory with more detail and with more directness of application. Repeating a story is not usually an exhilarating experience.
I am the door of the sheep ( ). The door for the sheep by which they enter. “He is the legitimate door of access to the spiritual , the Fold of the House of Israel, the door by which a true shepherd must enter” (Bernard). He repeats it in verse 9. This is a new idea, not in the previous story (1-5). Moffatt follows the Sahidic in accepting here instead of , clearly whimsical. Jesus simply changes the metaphor to make it plainer. They were doubtless puzzled by the meaning of the door in verse 1. Once more, this metaphor should help those who insist on the literal meaning of bread as the actual body of Christ in Mr 14:22. Jesus is not a physical “door,” but he is the only way of entrance into the Kingdom of God (14:6).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The door of the sheep. Meaning the door for the sheep; not the door of the fold. “The thought is connected with the life, and not simply with the organization.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then said Jesus unto them again,” (eipen oun palin ho lesous) “Then Jesus said again,” further explaining to them, His own Jewish people to whom He first came and appealed, Joh 10:19; Joh 1:11; Rom 1:16.
2) “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” (amen amen lego humin) “Truly, truly, I tell you all,” as a matter of serious or grave import, that you all do not seem to comprehend, have not accepted, though I have appealed to you, from the Father repeatedly, Joh 6:38-40; Joh 6:57; Joh 8:29; Joh 8:38; Joh 8:54.
3) “l am the door of the sheep.” (hoti ego eimi he thura ton probaton) “That I am (exist as) the door (or entranceway) of the sheep,” as Savior, Protector, Provider, and Guide, by which or whom one is saved, Joh 10:2; Joh 10:9; Joh 14:6, Act 4:12, Eph 2:18. Through Jesus alone may men find access to God, to salvation, then baptism, and identity and service in and with His church, Mat 28:18-20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. I am the door. If this explanation had not been added, the whole discourse would have been allegorical. He now explains more clearly what was the chief part of the parable when he declares that he is the door The amount of what is stated is, that the principal point of all spiritual doctrine, on which souls are fed, consists in Christ. Hence also Paul, one of the shepherds, says:
I reckon nothing to be worth knowing but Jesus Christ, (1Co 2:2.)
And this mode of expression conveys the same meaning as if Christ had testified that to him alone we must all be gathered together. Therefore, he invokes and exhorts all who desire salvation to come to him. By these words, he means that in vain do they wander about who leave him to go to God, because there is but one open door, and all approach in any other way is prohibited.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Then said Jesus unto them again.Better, Therefore said Jesus again, the words unto them being of uncertain authority. He says what follows because they did not understand what He had said before. It is not that a new allegory begins at this place. He spake in the beginning of the door and of the shepherd (Joh. 10:1-2). He now proceeds to unfold the meaning of both.
Verily, verily, I say unto you.Comp. Note on Joh. 10:1.
I am the door of the sheep.Taking these words in connection with Joh. 10:1-2, they seem to mean not the door for the sheep, but the door to the sheep, the door into the sheep-fold. Our Lord returns to the words, and explains them more fully, in Joh. 10:9.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Jesus therefore said to them again, “In very truth I tell you, I am the doorway of the sheep.”
He has made it plain that there is only one way in and out on the pathway of true life, the God-provided way. Now He expands on that way in and out, having His death in mind (Joh 10:15-18). Here we have the third of His great ‘I am’ sayings. ‘I am the doorway.’ See also Joh 10:9. He is the way in and out because He is the bread of life (Joh 6:35), because He is the light of life (Joh 8:12), and because He will lay down His life for the sheep. So the Shepherd is also the doorway.
And in the end He is the only way to the Father, the only true doorway. No man can come to the Father except by Him (Joh 14:6). There is no other name under Heaven given among men by which they can be saved (Act 4:12).
This statement is lent added poignancy by the fact that often the shepherd did act as the actual door of the fold. At night he would lay across the entrance in order to prevent any encroachment by unwelcome visitors, whether animal or human, and often that door was torn by beasts or men as Jesus would be.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus the Door to the sheepfold:
v. 7. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the Door of the sheep.
v. 8. All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them.
v. 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.
v. 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. Jesus makes an application of His parable for the sake of His hearers. In the sheepfold of His Church He is the Door. Only through Him, by reference to Him and His work of salvation, shall any man have access to the sheep, only through Him can the sheep find access to the fold. By faith in Him admittance to the fold is gained; it is the only way in which this wonderful result may be obtained. All real pastors will preach only of this one Door, of this one Way to heaven, through faith in Jesus and the redemption through His blood. There were such among the ruling party of the Jews at that time, and had been even before this, as had arrogated to themselves the function of bringing people into communion with God and into heaven in a different manner, unlike the prophets of old that had always pointed forward to Jesus only. But all those that claimed to be what Christ was in truth, that promised to give to men the certainty of salvation, were thieves and robbers; they came without His authority. Luckily, the real sheep, the true people of God among the children of Israel, had given no heed to their words. For Christ is the Door; through Him if a person enter, and through none else, he will be rendered safe. The only way of salvation leads through Christ; He Himself is that Way, and every man that knows Jesus as such may enter into the fold of the Church and go out on the pasture of the Gospel, and always have fullness and plenty, the mercy and goodness of the Lord, Psa 72:16. Three great blessings fall to the lot of those that accept Jesus as their Savior. They have deliverance from dangers, from all enemies; they are safe in the Master’s fold. They have liberty, the glorious liberty of the children of God, the right to go out and in; they are slaves neither of sin nor of the Law. And they have sustenance; the riches of God’s bounty are poured out upon them anew every day in: the Gospel. That is the great contrast between Christ and all those that come as thieves. The thief, and especially the thief in spiritual matters, comes for the purpose of taking away, of destroying life. That is the only object he can have according to his nature. But Jesus has come for the purpose of giving life, true, lasting, eternal life, and not in small measure, but in a fullness far exceeding all needs. Every Christian receives the full measure of everlasting life with all the glories and satisfying beauties that are included therein. Here is an offering of sustaining comfort which is without equal in all religions without Christ, of which no unbeliever can have the faintest conception.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Joh 10:7. I am the door of the sheep. As our Lord’s parable was not understood, he graciously proceeds to explain it to his audience; and in the first place he informs them, that by the door he meant himself. I am the door of the sheep. Perhaps this is a metonymy for I am the door of the sheep-fold; or our Lord’s meaning may have been, “I am not only the door, by which the shepherds must enter,he whose right alone it is to admit men to the office and dignity of shepherds; but I am also the door of the sheep. It is by me that men enter into the spiritual inclosure of the church.” It would be very impertinent to run a longparallel here between Christ and a door: the resemblance plainly centres in this one circumstance, that as a man must observe and pass through the door, in order to his making an unsuspected entrance into a sheep-fold: so he must maintain a proper regard to Christ, in order to his being a true teacher in the church; and must pass as it were through him, or by his authority, into that office. It is by a simile very nearly resembling this, that Christ elsewhere calls himself the way, Ch. Joh 14:6.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Ver. 7. I am the door ] Heaven door, so Christ is pleased to call himself, because “through him we have an access by one Spirit unto the Father,” Eph 2:18 ; and, “in him we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him,” Eph 3:12 . Why our Saviour compares himself to these ordinary and obvious objects of our senses. See Trapp on “ Joh 15:1 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] What follows is not so much an exposition, as an expansion of the allegory.
The key to this verse is the right understanding of what went before. Bear in mind, that Joh 10:1-5 were of shepherds in general . But these shepherds themselves go into and out of the fold by the same door as the sheep: and Christ is that door; THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP: the one door both for sheep and shepherds, into the fold (see , absol. Joh 10:9 ), into God’s Church, to the Father.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 10:7-10
7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Joh 10:7 “I am the door of the sheep” This is one of John’s seven famous “I am” statements. This metaphor highlights the truth that Jesus is the only true way (cf. John 8, 10; Joh 14:6). This is often called the scandal of the exclusivism of the gospel. If the Bible is the self-revelation of God, then there is only one way to be right with God-faith in Christ (cf. Act 4:12; 1Ti 2:5). See note at Joh 8:12.
Joh 10:8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers” Because of the context of chapters 9 and 10, the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah (cf. Joh 10:22), it is possible that this refers to the messianic pretensions of the Macabees and their descendants during the inter-testamental period. However, it probably relates to the OT passages about false shepherds (cf. Isa 56:9-12; Jeremiah 23; Ezekiel 34; and Zechariah 11).
This highly figurative language and ambiguous antecedents caused early scribes to modify or expand the text in an attempt to explain the meaning. One manuscript (MS D) simply omitted the inclusive term “all” and several early manuscripts (P45, P75, *) omitted the phrase “before me.”
Joh 10:9 “if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved” This is a third class conditional sentence with a future passive verb. Jesus is the only way to God (cf. Joh 14:6). The verb “saved” in this context probably relates to the OT connotation of physical deliverance (i.e., the sheep are safe). However John often chooses terms that have two overlapping meanings. The concept of spiritual salvation is not lacking from this context also (cf. Joh 10:42).
Joh 10:10 “The thief” This shows the ulterior motives of false shepherds. It also reflects the purpose of the evil one! This attitude of the carelessness of hired workers can be seen in Joh 10:12-13.
“destroy” See Special Topic following.
SPECIAL TOPIC: DESTRUCTION (APOLLUMI)
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” This phrase is quoted so often as a promise of material things, but in context it relates to knowing Jesus personally and the spiritual blessings, not material prosperity, that He brings (it is parallel to Joh 4:14 and Joh 7:38). It is not having so much more in this life, but knowing and possessing true life!
As the Synoptics record Jesus’ emphasis on the Kingdom of God, John records Jesus’ emphasis on eternal life. One can have it now! The Kingdom has been inaugurated!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Then = Therefore.
I say . . . I am = I say . . . that I am, &c.; hoti, putting the words that follow as a quotation. See App-173.
of = for. Of the sheep, not of the fold.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] What follows is not so much an exposition, as an expansion of the allegory.
The key to this verse is the right understanding of what went before. Bear in mind, that Joh 10:1-5 were of shepherds in general. But these shepherds themselves go into and out of the fold by the same door as the sheep: and Christ is that door; THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP: the one door both for sheep and shepherds, into the fold (see , absol. Joh 10:9), into Gods Church, to the Father.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 10:7. , the door) Christ is both the Door, and the Shepherd, and our All: there is none else.- , of the sheep) to the sheep.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 10:7
Joh 10:7
Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep-He then introduces another parable to show how the sheep may enter into the fold of God and find the care and protection they need to protect them from the thieves and robbers that would destroy them for their selfish ends. Jesus himself is the door into the fold. We enter into the fold of God by entering in or through Christ. [The prophecies were the door through which Christ came and Christ is the door through which we go into the church of Christ. There is but one door or entrance. All who enter the church must go through this door. Baptism is the completing act that puts us through the door into Christ or the church. (Mat 28:19; Gal 3:27; Joh 3:5). The door here represents Jesus beyond doubt, but how? In the fold is shelter by night, in the pasture is sustenance by day. Through the door they pass to one at night, to the other in the morning. The door then represents the gateway to all our spiritual blessings.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Jesus the Good Shepherd
Joh 10:7-18
He who came in by the door which John the Baptist opened has become the door. It stands open to all comers-if any man. The salvation here mentioned refers to the entire process of soul-health: go in for fellowship; go out for service.
Wherever destruction is uppermost in speech or act, you may detect the presence of the great enemy of souls. Christ is ever constructive, saving, life-giving. Let us not be content until our life has become abundant life. Our life cost the Shepherds life. He did not hesitate to interpose Himself between the sheep and the wolf of hell. There is possible between our Lord and ourselves an intimacy of knowledge which can be compared to nothing less than that which subsists between the Father and Himself.
Note how our Lord looked beyond the hurdles of the Jewish fold and thought tenderly of the Gentile sheep that were far away. In the revelation committed to the Apostle Paul He gave vent to His love, and through the succeeding centuries He has ever sought them. There may be many folds, but there can be only one flock. Men die because they cannot help it; Christ was born that He might die; He died because He would.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
I am the door of the sheep
The shepherd work of our Lord has three aspects:
(1) As the “Good” Shepherd He gives His life for the sheep Joh 10:11 and is, therefore, “the door” by which “if any man enter in he shall be saved.” Joh 10:9. This answers to Psalms 22.
(2) He is the “Great” Shepherd, “brought again from the dead” Heb 13:20 to care for and make perfect the sheep. This answers to Psalms 23.
(3) He is the “Chief” Shepherd, who is coming in glory to give crowns of reward to the faithful shepherds 1Pe 5:4. This answers to Psalms 24.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
I am: Joh 10:1, Joh 10:9, Joh 14:6, Eph 2:18, Heb 10:19-22
the sheep: Psa 79:13, Psa 95:7, Psa 100:3, Isa 53:6, Eze 34:31, Luk 15:4-6
Reciprocal: Lev 1:3 – at the Lev 17:4 – bringeth Eze 41:2 – the door Mat 5:18 – verily Joh 1:51 – Verily Joh 10:2 – he that Rom 5:2 – By whom Heb 9:8 – the way Heb 10:20 – a new Rev 22:14 – and may
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
Up to this point the speech of Jesus pertained exclusively to his relation with the disciples of John who constituted the “sheepfold,” and to John who acted as the “porter” for that group of his disciples. From here through verse 18 Jesus enlarges the subject, and will make remarks that pertain to the church as another fold. For this reason we shall see many changes in the implied comparisons, which can be understood only by considering what the New Testament teaches about the church, and what Jesus means to those who desire salvation through the great institution. However, he will continue to use many of the same terms since they are as true in many respects in the second case as in the first. There will be one distinct reference to the first fold which will be pointed out and commented upon when we reach that. verse. The word again is what introduces the second line of thought just mentioned a few lines above. In the second fold Jesus is the door as well as the shepherd. That is because no one can enter a saved condition now except through Christ (chapter 14:6), and after entering thereat he must still be subject to him as his great Shepherd.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
[I am the door.] Pure Israelitism among the Jews was the fold; and the door; and all things. For if any one was of the seed of Israel, and the stock of Abraham, it was enough (themselves being the judges) for such a one to be made a sheep, admitted into the flock, and be fed and nourished to eternal life. But in Christ’s flock the sheep had another original, introduction, and mark.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 10:7. Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. The formula which introduced the parable (Joh 10:1) now brings in the interpretation. This interpretation is given in two parts,or, as perhaps we ought rather to say, two distinct applications of the parable are given: the two most important points in the figure are taken in succession, and in each aspect the parable finds its fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. But as the formula which introduces this verse is not repeated in Joh 10:11, it is more correct to divide Joh 10:1-18 into two parts (Joh 10:1-6, Joh 10:7-18the latter being subdivided at Joh 10:11) than into three.
First, Jesus declares Himself to be the door of the sheep,that is, not the door by which the sheep enter into the fold, but the door through which they will leave the fold at the call of the Shepherd, and (though this is not particularly specified until Joh 10:9) through which a shepherd enters to his sheep. The whole description of Joh 10:1-5 must be interpreted in harmony with this word of Jesus. If He is the Door, what is the fold?who are the sheep? To answer these questions we must look forward to a later verse (Joh 10:16): And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must lead, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. That Jesus here speaks of the heathen world few will doubt; and if so, it is very clear that in Joh 10:1 the Jewish Church is intended by the fold of the sheep. Not that all who are found within the pale of Judaism belong to the sheep of which Jesus speaks. The sheep are those who hear a true shepherds voice; and we may so far forestall Joh 10:11 as to say that none are included under this designation who refuse to hear the voice of Jesus Himself. The sheep are therefore those who in other passages are described as of God (see chap. Joh 8:47), and of the truth (chap. Joh 18:37), and the fold is the Jewish Church in so far as that Church has sheltered these until the fulness of time has come. Then, and not till then, shall the sheep be led out of the fold into the free open pastures: then, too, the other sheep will be brought, and there shall be, not two flocks but one, under one Shepherd. It will be seen that in no part of this parable are the sheep said to return to the fold; the shepherds only are spoken of as entering in, and that for the purpose of leading out their flocks. In saying, I am the door of the sheep, therefore, Jesus says in effect(1) that through Him alone has any true guardian and guide of the sheep entered into the fold; (2) that through Him alone will the sheep within the fold be led out into the open pastures. The latter thought is easily understood; it presents the same promise of the gladness and freedom and life of Messianic times as was set forth by the symbols of the feast of Tabernacles in the seventh and eighth chapters. Then the figures were the pouring out of water and the lighting of the golden lamps: the figure now is very different, but (as we have seen) equally familiar in Old Testament prophecy. Not until Messiah shall come will the night of patient waiting cease, and the fold be seen to have been only a temporary shelter, not a lasting home. The application of the words before us to the shepherds is more difficult; for when we consider how this chapter is connected with the last, it is plain that Jesus adverts to the presence within the fold of some who are not true shepherds. They have climbed up from some other quarter, and are in the fold to gratify their own selfishness and greed, not to benefit the flock. How then can it be said of them that they did not enter through the Door,i.e., through our Lord Himself? In answering this question it seems plain that we have here a saying akin to that of chap. Joh 8:56, or Joh 12:41, or to that of Heb 11:26, in which Moses is said to have esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. The leading characteristic of preceding ages had been that they were a time of preparation for the Christ, that during them the promise and hope of the Christ had stood in the place of His personal presence. The object of every ruler in the Jewish Church, and of every teacher of the Jewish people, should have been to point forward to the coming of the Messiah; and each should have used all his power and influence, not for himself, but to prepare for the event in which the Jewish Church was to culminate and (in an important sense) come to an end, giving place to the Church Universal. The rulers brought before us in the last chapter had done the reverse; in no true sense had they prepared for the Christ: and, when the Christ appeared, so far from receiving Him, they had combined together to put away from the Church in which they bore rule every one who acknowledged that Jesus was He. Hence, accordingly, the strong language of Joh 10:1. These teachers had climbed up from another quarter, instead of entering by the Door. They had been marked by a spirit of self-exaltation, of earthly Satanic pride; they had appeared as the enemies of God, had refused to submit themselves to His plans, had sought not His glory but their own; their aims had been thoroughly selfish, devilish; they were of their father the devil (Joh 8:44). Thus, also, we see that the term a thief and a robber, applied to such teachers in Joh 10:1, is not too strong, for they had perverted the whole object of the theocracy; they had made that an end which was only designed to be a means, and had done this as men who had blinded themselves to the true light, and were using the flock of God as instruments for their own aggrandisement. They were in the fold, but they had not entered through the door.
Such then being the meaning of the Door, the fold, the sheep, the true and false shepherds, the rest of the description is easily understood. The true sheep know the voice of every rightful shepherd (Joh 10:3-4); in all past ages there has been this mutual recognition between teachers sent by God and those who have desired to be taught of God. But the Ml accomplishment of the work described in these verses awaits the coming of Him who is the true Shepherd, through whom the sheep are to be led forth from the fold. To Him alone apply the words in their completeness, but in measure they most truly belong to every shepherd whose mission comes through Him.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The character which Christ gives of himself, I am the door of the sheep; that is, the only way and means by which sinners have access to God, and can obtain salvation: the only door by which sinners are entered into the kingdom of grace, and admitted into the kingdom of glory.
Learn hence, That there is no possible way of access to God for fallen man, but by Jesus Christ. As there is no way of entering the house but by the door, and those that so enter are safe: in like manner, such as come unto God through Jesus Christ, in the way of faith and holy obedience, shall be put into a secure condition, and at last obtain eternal salvation.
Observe, 2. The end and design of Christ in coming into the world, asserted and declared by himself; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
But had not his people spiritual life before he came into the world?
Yes, he gave life to his people before his coming, in a measure sufficient to supply their necessity; but since his coming, he gives it in such a super-abounding measure, as may testify his divine bounty: they shall not barely live, but live abundantly, that is, their spiritual life shall abound through the upholding, strengthening, quickening, and comforting presence of his holy spirit; for having conveyed spiritual life unto his people, in their regeneration and conversion, he will cause it to increase more and more in their sanctification, until it arrives to a complete perfection in their glorification.
Observe lastly, The character which our Saviour gives of the scribes and pharisees in general, and those false Christs and false prophets, which went before him, in particular; he stiles them thieves and robbers; All that ever come before me, were thieves and robbers.
Observe, He doth not say, All that were sent before me, but all that came before me, were thieves and robbers. So that Christ doth not speak this of the true prophets, who were sent by God before him, but of the false Christ, and false prophets, that came of themselves without an commission from God.
The meaning is, all persons that came before me, pretending to be what I am, the true Messias, as did Theudas and Judas of Galilee, &c. they were thieves and robbers: that is, they only sought their own advantage, while they deceived and ruined you.
Learn hence, That whoever took upon them the office and person of the Messias before Christ, or whosoever have since usurped a lawful calling in his church, without his commission, they are in Christ’s account no better than murderers, thieves and robbers, and they ought to be so in the people’s esteem. The sheep did not hear them.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 7-10. Jesus therefore spoke to them again, saying, Verily, verily I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8. All those who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9. I am the door: if any one enters in by me, he shall be saved; and he shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. 10. The thief comes not but to steal and to kill and to destroy; I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly.
Jesus has described the simple and easy way in which the Messiah forms His flock, in contrast with the arbitrary and tyrannical measures by which the Pharisees had succeeded in getting possession of the theocracy; He now depicts, in a new allegory, which has only a remote relation in form to the preceding (comp. the two parables which follow each other in Mark; that of the sower and that of the ear of corn, Joh 4:3 ff.,Joh 5:26 ff.) what He will be to His flock when once formed and gathered, the abundance of the salvation which He will cause them to enjoy, as opposed to the advantage taken of the old flock by those intruders and the destruction to which they are leading them. The word , again (Joh 10:7), was wrongly rejected by the Sinaitic MS.; the copyist thought that this picture was only a continuation of the preceding (because of the analogy of the figures). This is likewise held by some modern interpreters, but, as we shall see, is untenable. indicates therefore, as in Luk 13:20 (where it is placed between the parables of the grain of mustard seed and of the leaven; comp. Mat 13:44-45; Mat 13:47), that Jesus adds still another parable to the preceding.
The picture Joh 10:1-5, which described the formation of the Messianic flock and its going forth from the theocratic inclosure, was borrowed from a morning scene; the second similitude, Joh 10:7-10, which describes the life full of sweetness of the flock when once formed and everything which it enjoys through the intermediation of the Messiah, places us at mid-day. In the pasturage is an inclosure where the sheep enter and whence they go out at will. If they seek for shelter, they retire to it freely. If hunger impels them, they go forthfor the gate is constantly open for themand they find themselves in full pasturage. They have thus at their pleasure security and food, the two blessings essential to the prosperity of the flock. In this new figure, the person of the shepherd entirely disappears. It is the door which plays the principal part. The inclosure here no longer represents the old covenant; it is the emblem of the perfectly safe shelter of salvation. Lucke, Meyer, Luthardt, Weiss, Keil explain the words: I am the door of the sheep, in this way: I am the door for coming to the sheep, the door by which the true shepherds enter into the midst of the flock. But in this sense the words refer either to the shepherds of the old covenant or to those of the new. In the former case, we must suppose that the , I, designates the I of the Logos as a spirit governing the theocracy. Who can admit a sense like this? In the second, it has no fitness of any kind. Moreover, this sense is very forced. The term: door of the sheep, naturally means; the door which the sheep use for their own going in and going out (Joh 10:9).
The privilege, represented by the use which the sheep make of the door, is that which Jesus gives the believing Israelites to enjoy, by furnishing them, like the one born blind, everything which can assure their rest and salvation. Reuss himself, abandoning the relation established by him (Joh 10:1-2) between the two parables, says: Yet once more Jesus calls Himself the door, but this time He is so for the flock itself (thus: no longer for the shepherd, as in the first parable).
The persons designated in Joh 10:8 as thieves and robbers can only be the Pharisees (Joh 10:1). They are characterized here from the point of view, no longer of the manner in which they have established their power in the theocracy, but of the end in view of which they exercised it and of the result which they will obtain thereby. Not only had this audacious caste unlawfully taken possession, in the midst of the people of God, of the most despotic authority, but they were still using it only in a way to satisfy their egoism, their ambition and their cupidity. Hence follows the explanation of the expression, so variously interpreted: All those who are come before me. Whatever certain Gnostic writers may have said in former times or Hilgenfeld may even now say in his desire to make our Gospel a semi-Gnostic writing, Jesus certainly could not thus speak of Moses and the prophets, and of any legitimate theocratic authority. The constant language of the evangelist protests against such an explanation (Joh 5:39; Joh 5:45-47; Joh 6:45; Joh 10:34-35, etc.). The verb (are), in the present tense, shows clearly that He has in view persons who were now living. If He says , came, and , before me, it is because He found them already at work when He began His own working in Israel. The term come indicates with relation to them, as with relation to Jesus, the appearance with the purpose of exercising the government of souls among the people of God. The parable of the vine-dressers in the Synoptics is the explanation of this saying of Jesus.
This interpretation of the first words of Joh 10:8 follows from the context and enables us to set aside, without any long discussion, the numerous, more or less divergent, interpretations which have been proposed; that ofCamerarius, who took in a local sense: passing before and outside the door, that of Wolf andOlshausen, who gave to the sense of : separating themselves from me, the true door; those of Langewho understands in the sense of : in my place, and Calov, who makes the expression before me signify: before I had sent them; that of Gerlach: before the door was opened in my person; as well as that of Jerome, Augustine, Melanchthon, Luthardt: came of themselves, without having received a mission; finally, that ofChrysostom and many others even to Weizsacker : came as false Messiahs. History does not mention any case of a false Messiah before the coming of Jesus. There is no need of renouncing, with Tholuck and de Wette, the possibility of any satisfactory solution, and declaring, with the latter, that this saying does not answer to the habitual gentleness and moderation of Jesus. As to the variant which rejects the words , before me ( and others), it is only an attempt to do away with the difficulty.
The present , are, indicates with sufficient clearness that we need not go far to find these persons. The last words: The sheep did not hear, remind us of the profound dissatisfaction which was left in the hearts of a multitude of Israelites by the Pharisaic teaching. Joh 6:68 : To whom shall we go? Mat 11:28-30 : Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The man who was born blind was a striking example of these souls whom the Pharisaic despotism roused to indignation in Israel.
In opposition to these pretended saviours who will be found to be in reality only murderers, Jesus renews in Joh 10:9 His affirmation: I am the door; then He develops it. Meyer and Luthardt maintain here their explanation of Joh 10:7, according to which Jesus is the door by which the true shepherd enters into the presence of the flock. They do not allow themselves to be held back either by the , shall be saved, which they understand in the sense of 1Ti 4:16 : Thou shalt both save thyself and them with thyself, nor by the , shall find pasture, which they apply to the discovery by the shepherd of good pasturage for the flock! Weiss and Keil acknowledge the impossibility of such interpretations and, resting upon the omission in Joh 10:9 of the complement , of the sheep (comp. Joh 10:7), they adopt a modification in the meaning of the word , door, and think that it is now the door by which the sheep themselves can go in and go out. But the repetition of this declaration: I am the door, is simply introduced by the antithesis presented in Joh 10:8, absolutely as the second declaration: I am the good shepherd, Joh 10:14 (comp. Joh 10:11) will be by the antithesis presented in Joh 10:13. This is shown by the two at the beginning of Joh 10:9; Joh 10:14.
There is here then no new idea. There is a more energetic reaffirmation of the same thought; and the omission of the complement of the sheep results quite naturally from the uselessness of such a repetition. By saying: If any one enters in by me, Jesus means to speak of the entrance into the state of reconciliation, of participation in the Messianic salvation by faith. Reuss: Jesus is come to open to His own the door of refuge, by receiving them into His arms. The expression go in and go out does not mean that the sheep will go out of salvation to enter into it again. This is what Reuss would be obliged to hold, however, if he were consistent with the objection which he makes to the interpretation which we have given of Joh 10:3. These two verbs only develop the contents of the word , shall be saved. To go in and go out is an expression frequently employed in the Scriptures to designate the free use of a house, into which one goes or from which one departs unceremoniously, because one belongs to the family of the house, because one is at home in it (Deu 28:6; Jer 37:4; Act 1:21). To go in expresses the free satisfaction of the need of rest, the possession of a safe retreat; to go out, the free satisfaction of the need of nourishment, the easy enjoyment of a rich pasturage (Psalms 23). This is the reason why the word shall go out is immediately followed by the words which explain it: and shall find pasture.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Jesus’ expansion of the figure 10:7-18
The difference between this teaching and Jesus’ parables in the Synoptics now becomes clearer. Jesus proceeded to compare Himself to the pen gate as well as to the Shepherd. He also described Himself leading His sheep into the fold as well as out of it. Jesus was using the illustration to teach more than one lesson.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jesus introduced another of His "I am" claims. He professed to be the door or gate of the sheepfold (cf. Joh 1:51; Joh 14:6). Some commentators have pointed out that some ancient Near Eastern shepherds slept in the gateways of their sheepfolds and so served as human gates. [Note: E.g., Beasley-Murray, p. 169.] This may seem to alleviate the incongruity of Jesus being both the Shepherd and the gate. However the other differences in the two pictures of the fold presented in Joh 10:1-5; Joh 10:7-18 argue for separate though similar illustrations rather than one harmonious illustration. This pericope does not simply explain the previous illustration, but it develops certain metaphors in that illustration.
Jesus contrasted Himself as the gate with the thieves and robbers who preceded Him. He provided protection and security for His sheep whereas the others sought to exploit them. The thieves and robbers in this context refer to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day (cf. Joh 10:1). They are obviously not a reference to Israel’s faithful former leaders such as Abraham, Moses, and other true prophets.