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John Segment 12

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John 10:1 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."

Some say that Jesus is continuing His theme of blindness and light and that He is still talking to the Pharisees and those associated with them. This parable is mostly concerned with false prophets and false teachers. It is directed at the Pharisees. They were the ones who excommunicated the blind man that was healed. He would not listen to them because they were strangers that the sheep would not follow. Jesus used this parable to explain that the man had been rejected by the thieves and robbers but accepted but he True Shepherd. Jesus tells us what real shepherds are like. As you read through these comments, examine the Pharisees in the light of these scriptures. Were they shepherds or thieves and robbers?

Verily, verily-amen amen, a very solemn statement that what is being said is the absolute truth. Amen is a Hebrew (and Greek) word for truth. Pay attention to this for it is true. It is important.

The one that enters not by the door is not the shepherd. If he gets in by any other means than the door, then he has no business there because he is a robber and thief. A robber steals by force and violence, and a thief steals by cunning. Both are there to take what is not rightfully theirs. The shepherd enters by the door. Why does anyone commit burglary? It is usually to rob a place, not just to get in and have a look around. It is certainly no way to enter legitimately into a business. Anyone entering a business in any other way than the door is certainly up to no good.

John 10:2 "But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."

The True Shepherd is, of course, Jesus Christ and the shepherd of the sheep can be seen as the under-shepherd, that is, the pastor. The fold refers to the local church and the flock is the believers in the church. Jesus tells us that He is the door. If one is authorized to be in the fold, then he enters by the gate. He has nothing to hide. He is not trying to gain unauthorized access, so why should he enter any other way than by the door? A pastor who is called by God is legitimate. He enters through the Door, which is Jesus Christ. If God has not called a pastor, then he is illegitimate, and has no business in the sheepfold.

Why would anyone who is not called by God want to be a pastor? There are several reasons. He might have been groomed by his parents to go into the ministry and followed their lead, gone to seminary, and then become a pastor. One might get into the pastorate for strictly mercenary reasons. There is good money to be made in religious ministry, especially for a false teacher. If you do not believe that there is money to be made in ministry, just look at the television evangelists who have become wealthy plying their trade. This is not to indict those legitimate televisions ministries. Many TV ministries are legitimate. Some are not. Some people may enter the ministry for the prestige it gives them. Some may enter it as a vocation with which to provide a living. Some even enter the ministry to deliberately lead others astray. There are probably several other reasons, but these examples are sufficient.

Each of those types of ministers mentioned above are in the ministry for some personal reason and not by the calling of God. They are seeking some kind of gain. Therefore, being illegitimate, they are wrongfully taking something from the ministry. Taking something wrongfully is stealing it. Therefore Jesus refers to these as thieves and robbers. The thief is sly and steals things without showing himself up. The robber takes by force. You may be familiar with some minister that is constantly berating his followers to send him money. That is a robber. But a man who enters the ministry without a call from God, is illegally taking his salary and benefits. This is a thief.

John 10:3 "To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out."

In the market, a fold could be rented to temporarily keep the sheep constrained on market day. These rental agents hired porters to man the sheepfold gates. The porters were authorized to open the door to the proper tenants. The porter did not necessarily know the sheep or shepherd. It seems also that some sheep owners hired porters to watch the fold at night when the sheep did not graze and the shepherds were off duty. Jesus offers no explanation of the porter in His clarification of the parable. Perhaps he just used the porter as a means to get to His point about the shepherd. But I usually find that every detail the Bible gives has some importance.

The Tabernacle/Temple porters had very important job. They controlled access to the various Tabernacle entrances. They had charge over the tithes, the vessels used in worships, the music, and various other concerns. To gain access to the Tabernacle one had to go through a gate manned by a porter. They opened the gates in the morning and took care of their particular area for the entire day. They were responsible for everything in the Tabernacle. They were very important men. Without them, no one could enter into the Tabernacle or Temple.

Cities all had walls and each city had porters that were given charge over the gates of the city. They were responsible for securing the city at night and opening it in the day and for keeping watch over the gates. They were very important people. Porters open and closed gates and doors. They controlled who entered and who did not.

Who controls the doors to spiritual things? Let us look.

Revelation 3:8 "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."

God opens the door in these verses. It seems as though Jesus means the porter to represent God. The porter only opens the door to the church to His own. No false shepherds may enter through the door. Their only alternative is to enter over the walls, and that makes them thieves and robbers. The sheep know God's Shepherd and he is able to lead them. Just as the sheep know their Shepherd, so the Shepherd knows his sheep. He knows them by name. A called pastor will know his own congregation.

So the marks of a called pastor are:

• Having a legitimate call from God, He is concerned about the spiritual welfare of his flock. He is not there to receive glory upon himself, rather, to bring Glory to God. His motives are to do God's will. As Paul charged Timothy, God charges his pastors to preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of his ministry. (2 Timothy 4:2,5)
• He preaches the Word, and Christ crucified and arisen. He Preaches, teaches, and instructs in the Truth. His congregation hear him because he speaks the Truth of God's Word.
• He knows his congregation.
• He leads his congregation in Godly endeavors.

John 10:4 "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice."

The phrase "putteth forth" can be understood to mean "brings forth." When the shepherd called by God brings forth his sheep, they follow him. The pastor is the leader of the congregation and if called by God, the congregation will follow him in his role as their pastor. Knowing his voice refers to sheep who know who their shepherd is just by hearing his voice. The congregation know their pastor in a like manner. They know he speaks the truth with God's help. He gives a good example and lives a Godly life.

John 10:5 "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."

True believers will perceive when a pastor is not called of God. They will either desert him or in the case of independent churches, they may ask him to resign.

John 10:6-8 "This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. {7} Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. {8} All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them."

This includes false prophets, men who put their own religious activities before God, that is the Pharisees, scribes, chief priests, etc., of Jesus' day. It does not include true prophets like Moses, Samuel, Elijah, etc. because they were called of God. The Greek here, pro emou, "before me", could be understood in this context as "instead of me." So He is saying that anyone who comes in His name but is not called by Him, is a thief and robber. Pastors professing to be called of God, but are not, are included here. Any Christian leader who claims to be doing the Lord's work, but is not called to do so, falls under this figure. True sheep will discern them and will not here them.

John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

The ONLY way to salvation is through the Door, which is Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." (John 14:6). There is no other way. Those saved by Christ will become members of His church and will find pasture there. His people are cared for and fed by Him.

John 10: 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."

As opposed to the True Shepherd Who gives life, edifies, and keeps. Abundant life is life filled with purpose and meaning. That is the life that Christ gives. The Pharisees gave tedium, mediocrity, and religion. They took away any abundance of life. To live as the Pharisees dictated was have no life at all. They gave only the following of the multiplicity of legalism, and ultimately, because the law condemns us, they gave death.

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."

A good shepherd defended his flock with his very life. David, as a young shepherd, risked his life often for the sheep. He slew a lion and a bear single-handedly. He could have been killed. See 1 Samuel 17:33-37 . Jesus, the True Shepherd, gave his life for His church. When He spoke these words, their fulfillment was yet future.

John 10:12-13 "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. {13} The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep."

A hireling has no vested interest in the sheep. He will allow harm to come to them when he is threatened. The Pharisees were not interested in the miracles of Jesus, nor were they interested in the miraculous healing of the blind man, who was actually one of the flock of God, over which the Pharisees had assumed leadership. But as hirelings, that is, as those who had an agenda of putting themselves first, they had no real interest in the healed man further that what he could do for them. Since he could harm them, they excommunicated him, thus effectively fleeing like the hireling in the parable. His witness would have eventually pointed out that the Pharisees were false teachers. He could have cost them their power. That would not do, so they cast him out of their presence. There was no pasture for him, at least not through the Pharisees. He did find pasture through Jesus.

John 10:14-15 "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. {15} As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Christians know Jesus personally. He is their personal Savior. They have a personal relationship with Him. They know Him, trust Him, lean on Him, and talk to Him. He knows us because we are His. Jesus compares this with earthly His relationship with God the Father. They knew each other personally, just as we know Jesus personally. Again, He reiterates the promise that He would die for our sins.

John 10:16 "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."

These other sheep are the Gentiles. When he walked the earth, His ministry was to the Jews. But the Gentles would also receive salvation because of His death. The Gentiles were to be saved equally as the Jews. Christians, both Jews and Gentiles alike, will be members of one fold, that of the One Body of Christ. So much for the Dispensational false teaching that the Jews and the church are to be forever separate. Not so. According to this verse Christians, whether they were formerly Jews or Gentiles, are all members of the same fold.

John 10:17-18 "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. {18} No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

Jesus gave His life for us. Though the Jews and Romans thought they took it from Him, He actually gave it up. He could have called twelve legions of angels to rescue Him if He had wanted. But He did not. He died for us.

The whole gist of this parable is simple. The Pharisees, who were not true shepherds, but thieves, robbers, murders, and hirelings had no love for this member of their flock that was healed by Jesus. They reviled him, and excommunicated him so they would not be revealed as who they really were. But Jesus, the True Shepherd received the man into the fold and gave him pasture. He healed his blinded eyes and gave him eternal life.

The division between those who believed and those who did not continued. The ones opposed to Him said he was possessed. But the others could not help but ask if demon had such authority.

Verse 22 begins a new date. The previous verses were spoken the day after the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, ended. Jesus had been up to the feast. He had slipped away from those trying to stone Him. He had med. the blind man as soon as he left the Temple and healed Him. The blind man had been interrogated, and cast out, and then Jesus had found Him and presenter the Gospel to him and then the discourse in this chapter took place. But verse 22 tells us it was near Chanukah. Sukkot was in our month of September, while Chanukah was in our month of December, three months later. So three months passed between Verses 21 and 22.

The Feast of Dedication is more commonly known as Chanukah. It is pronounced Hanukah, which is a variant spelling. Jerusalem lies near the thirty-first parallel, which makes it about even with Milton, Florida, the city in which I reside. The thirty-first parallel is located about 25 miles north of my house. The climate of Jerusalem is Mediterranean and the temperature is somewhat similar to ours here in Milton with the exception that the average temperature is a bit lower here. Our average annual temperature is 71º F (21.6 C), and the average annual temperature of Jerusalem is 73º F (22.7C). But both still get very hot in the summer and during the winter it is occasionally quite cold. We know that it is cold in Jerusalem in the spring because Peter warmed himself before the fire the night of Jesus' trial. (Mark 14:54, Mark 14:67, John 18:18, John 18:25).

Here in Milton, at the time of Chanukah, it is usually mild. The highs are usually in the 60s F and the lows in the 40s F. Occasionally it is quite warm at that time. In fact, I am writing this on the fourth day of Chanukah, 2002 (December 3rd). It is 10 P.M. and the temperature is in the mid-sixties. It was in the lower seventies this afternoon. I have seen it in the upper 70s F on Christmas day. It is sometimes (but not often) quite cool, hovering around 40º F in the afternoon. Since Jerusalem and Milton are so similar in regards to temperature, it is likely that Jerusalem the temps are similar to those here in Milton. I have never been to Jerusalem so this is surmising on my part. If you are a resident of Jerusalem and read this and I am wrong, please let me know via email.

There is no direct mention of the ambient temperature, but the word rendered winter, cheimon en (ceimwn hn), means it was stormy. We know that Chanukah takes place on Chisleu 25, which corresponds to our December, which is also in winter. This year, 2002 AD, Chanukah takes place from November 30, 2002 until December 7, 2002. Since it was stormy weather and the Feast of Dedication was nigh, then it is likely a front was passing through, and the weather was probably mild that day, but would probably have turned sharply colder a few days later. (It is due to turn sharply colder here in Milton the day after tomorrow). We will continue upon Solomon's porch in the next segment.

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