March 22 -- John 10:1-21
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” –John 10:11 (NIV)

This passage is a continuation of the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees reported in John 9. Jesus told the Pharisees that anyone who enters the sheep pen by any way other than the gate is “a thief and a robber” (v. 1). The Greek word translated “thief” is kleptes, which means “someone who takes by stealth or removes secretly,” while the word translated “robber” is lestes, which means “someone who plunders or takes by force.” God’s people are the sheep, and they had lived in fear of both the Pharisees and the Romans for different reasons.
The Pharisees held the power to kick people out of their religious and social circles and place heavy moral demands on them. So, the Pharisees stole away the people’s sense of security in God’s love by behaving as though religious observances were more important than the heart behind them. The Romans oppressed the people economically and politically, plundering and taking what they could by force. Neither of these groups nor any would-be messiahs who had come before Jesus could be the true shepherd because they cared about themselves more than the people they led. Jesus is just the opposite.
Jesus is the shepherd. Anyone who belongs to God recognizes His voice and will follow Him. Jesus is also the gate, and “whoever enters through [Him] will be saved” (v. 9). The Pharisees refused to enter by Him, and the Romans wouldn’t even entertain the idea. Still, Jesus came as the true Messiah, and He came openly into the sheep pen.
The reason Jesus is both shepherd and gate has to do with a practice of first-century shepherds. Sheep were taken into the sheep pen at night to protect them from predators. The sheep pen only had one entrance (the gate), and the shepherd would lie down to sleep in that opening so that nothing could get to the sheep without going through him first. Likewise, Jesus places His own body between us and sin. He gave His life that we might live—that we might “come in and go out and find pasture” and that we might “have life and have it to the full” (vv. 9-10). So, Jesus is not just any shepherd, but the Good Shepherd who “lays down His life for the sheep” (v. 11).
The Pharisees were merely “hired hands.” They did not own the sheep, and they “ran” (became self-protective) whenever trouble came. They “care[d] nothing for the sheep” (v. 13); instead, they were more concerned with their own prestige and comfort.
Jesus knows His sheep because they are His, and they know Him and follow Him. In this passage, Jesus also mentions sheep that are “not of this sheep pen” (v. 16). He was alluding to the fact that Gentiles would also come to Him, and all believers, regardless of their nation or ethnicity, would become “one flock” with Jesus as Shepherd.
The crowd that witnessed this conversation was divided upon hearing Jesus’ words. Some thought He sounded “mad” or possessed, while others disagreed and pointed to the healing of the blind man as proof. Some did not hear Jesus’ voice, while others did—just as Jesus said.
You belong to Jesus. You are precious to Him, and He delights in you. He willingly gave His life for you. Spend some time with Him today, thanking Him for being your Gate and your Shepherd, protecting you, dying for you, and making a way for you to be free to live an abundant life with Him. Even though you might be in the midst of something difficult, look for the ways He is offering you comfort and “pasture” as His beloved child.
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