Session 16: October 1, 2022

Scripture Reading: John 10:1-42

1 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the solemn truth, I am the door for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.

14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own 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 do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”

19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, can it?”

22 Then came the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. 23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Portico. 24 The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus replied, “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

31 The Jewish leaders picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 32 Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jewish leaders replied, “We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy because you, a man, are claiming to be God.”

34 Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may come to know and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 39 Then they attempted again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.

40 Jesus went back across the Jordan River again to the place where John had been baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there. 41 Many came to him and began to say, “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus there.

Main Themes

Shepherds in Antiquity

Sheep

In the ancient world, both Jew and Gentile, sheep were prized. They provided wool; meat; milk that could be turned into cheese; and, leather that could be turned into “canteens” to carry liquids. Shepherds cared for sheep and oftentimes goats as well.

Sheep (and goats) would learn to follow the voice and pipe of the shepherd. (Forgive me, I tried learning more about what a shepherd’s pipe may have looked like or sounded like, but I did not gain a good level of confidence on the material I found. Suffice it to say, it was some kind of flute, perhaps made of reeds.) Obedient animals could be led by voice and pipe without requiring the use of a staff. We have modern examples of shepherds guiding over 200 sheep by walking slowly and giving them a call about every forty seconds. In our daily lives, the closest analogue to this would be our relationships with our dogs.

Shepherds’ Reputations

Shepherds were important in Old Testament times. Moses was a shepherd (Exodus 3:1). David was a shepherd (1 Samuel 16:11). Yet, despite the greatest patriarchs of the Jewish people being shepherds, the profession became despised by the elite during Jesus’ time. As Craig Keener points out in his John commentary, contemporary texts portrayed shepherds as rogues, thieves, and murderers. Shepherds were considered the only class of people lower than peasants. And these texts include not only gentile sources. Surprisingly, Jewish rabbis shared these opinions considering shepherds as dishonorable—like tax collectors.

In Chapter 10, Jesus is obviously speaking with a positive outlook on shepherds, very much in keeping with the Old Testament precedent. What we might not consider as we read the text is that Jesus is speaking to the religious elite, who probably do not share Jesus’ positive description of pastoral life. This does not change the theological meaning of the text, but it informs us about the tone of the conversation. By this point in Chapter 10, the argument between Jesus and the religious elite has reached a boiling point. Jesus’ use of shepherds in his parable probably did not bring the temperature down.

The Sheepfold

Many households would have owned sheep in Jesus’ time. If the sheep were being kept “at home,” then they would be kept in the modern equivalent of the yard. (Perhaps our closest equivalent word would be the curtilage.) The yard was surrounded by a tall wall made of a permanent material, such as stone. There would be a door to enter the yard. Teenagers who were part of the household may be hired to care for the sheep. This may be the image we encounter in the first few verses of Chapter 10.

Large herds, though, were not kept in anyone’s backyard. They would be out in pastures and moved around from pasture to pasture as the seasons changed. The herds would have been taken higher into the mountains during summer and low into the valleys in winter. Neither the shepherd nor the sheep were safe during all this travel. Lions, wolves, and criminals posed dangers. We will discuss these dangers in a minute. For now, I want to focus on the kind of enclosure in which sheep could be kept when out in the pastures. A shepherd could use a cave, build a temporary shelter with thornbushes for sides, or perhaps use a temporary summer shelter built of stone walls topped with briars. This last kind of shelter would have no door but simply an opening, so the shepherd would sleep across the opening, himself acting as the door.

Different shepherds might share the same sheepfold at night. We may think that separating the animals would be difficult in the morning, but that was not the case. The sheep would distinguish the voice of their shepherd and follow him.

Thieves and Robbers

Thieves and robbers were common at the time. Technically there was a difference between the two. Generally, thieves broke into homes and robbers assaulted travelers.

Robbers may not only steal sheep but kill the shepherd. Bands of robbers could grow powerful enough to require military intervention. Shepherds had to be ready for combat, which was part of the reason they carried a staff. They also had vicious dogs with them, but it is unclear how often dogs were used by Jewish shepherds. (Dog’s were ceremonially unclean.)

Of course, the words thieves and robbers were also used as insults. For example, a politician who exploited his people might be referred to as a robber. Pagan nations oppressing Israel could be referred to likewise.

Shepherds in the Old Testament

The last bit of background we need to better understand Chapter 10 is Ezekiel 34. Certainly Ezekiel 34 is not the only chapter in the Old Testament that calls Israel sheep, but it is the primary allusion in John 10. I quote verses 1-24 below,

1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the Lord’s message: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep. 9 Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the Lord’s message. 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they will no longer be food for them.

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. 13 I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. 14 In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them—with judgment!

17 “‘As for you, my sheep, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet? 19 As for my sheep, they must eat what you trampled with your feet and drink what you have muddied with your feet!

20 “‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad, 22 I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “‘I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them—namely, my servant David. He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken!

The Parable of the Shepherd and the Sheep

Forgive me, that was a lot of background information before we got to today’s text. But, hopefully, all that information will help us understand the text with more depth.

Parables in John’s Gospel

One final side note. You may have heard that the Gospel of John contains no parables. Yet, in John 10:6 you see the word “parable.” Why would people say that, then? The Greek word in John 10 is paroimian. When the Gospel of Matthew, for example, introduces a parable, it uses the word parabolēn. Some people argue that these two terms are not synonymous. The former might mean something more like a riddle while the latter truly means parable. However, both terms are used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew term “mashal,” and the paroimian in John 10 behaves just like a parable in Matthew’s gospel: Jesus uses earthly shepherds as analogies. I do not believe that there is any meaningful distinction between John’s paroimian and Matthew’s parabolēn, so I will call the text in John 10 a parable.

Sheep Kept at Home

In verses 1 through 6, Jesus seems to describe the very familiar situation in which sheep were kept “at home.” As I explained above, sheep would be kept in the modern equivalent of the front and backyards. The yard was surrounded by a tall, stone wall. Someone was tasked with watching the sheep and the door. In the parable, the one who enters through the door is one who belongs to the household. He is known to the doorkeeper. The thieves and robbers do not belong to the household, so they must sneak in. Moreover, when the member of the household returns, his sheep recognize him. Notice that there is a bidirectional familiarity described here. Of course the “household member” is familiar with his household; but also, the household (i.e., the doorkeeper and the sheep) is familiar with him.

To better understand the parable, let’s recall the passage from Ezekiel I quoted above,

The Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them.  

As the last piece of the puzzle, let’s also recall Matthew 23. In the first 7 verses of that chapter, Jesus speaks of the Pharisees as follows,

[T]hey do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and to have people call them “Rabbi.”

I think the connection of John 10, Ezekiel 34, and Matthew 23 is hard to deny. Jesus’ parable demotes the religious leaders from selfish shepherds (like in Ezekiel) to outright thieves and robbers—people outside the household and unrecognizable to the sheep. This is a harsh condemnation of the Pharisees. They are outside of the God’s family. Of all people, those who considered themselves most holy stand damned.

Sheep Out in the Field

In verses 7 through 13, Jesus continues to use the shepherd analogy but seemingly changes the setting. Now Jesus seems to be describing a situation in which sheep are being kept in a temporary, summer sheepfold. As I described above, this would have been a temporary structure made of stone and briars. It would not have a door, so the shepherd slept across the opening and became the door himself. If this is the situation that Jesus had in mind, describing himself as the door makes perfect sense. Notice he is still the shepherd, so there is no lack of continuity in the parable.

For anyone to enter the fold properly, they must go through Jesus. If they enter the fold any other way, they are nothing but a thief or a robber. Remember, the Jews believed that they were already part of God’s family. They shared in God’s inheritance because they were descendants of Abraham. Jesus is denying this. Jesus is denying there is any other way to enter God’s family but through faith in him. The parable goes a step further. It accuses these impostors of causing harm to the sheep. The Pharisees are not innocently mistaken people; they have evil desires.

In verse 11, the parable becomes prophetic. The good shepherd will sacrifice his own life for the sheep. Jesus will do exactly that on the cross. Contrast the good shepherd with the “hired hands.” We understand the difference between an owner and a hired hand very well. People do not take good care of things that are not theirs. The sheep owner is willing to risk (and lose) his life protecting the sheep. The hired hand says, “they don’t pay me enough for this” and runs away. If Jesus is the good shepherd, who are the hired hands? Probably the Pharisees. Parables tend to have one message and not multiple, complex messages. Jesus is probably repeating that same, simple message multiple times. In this last iteration of the parable, the Pharisees are described as cowards who did not take real “ownership” of their jobs and left the sheep to die.

Knowing God

The idea of knowing God is found throughout the Old Testament. For example, in Exodus 6:7 God says, “I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians.” In John 10, however, this “knowledge” grows exponentially. Jesus explains that his “own” know him and he knows them—just as the Father knows Jesus and Jesus knows the Father! We must stop and consider the weight of this statement. Consider the intimacy that exists between the Father and the Son. They are one. Believers somehow are elevated to a similar level of closeness with God.

Of course, I am not suggesting that believers become one in substance with God. That would be heretical, to say the least. We are creation, he is creator. There is an unbreachable ontological chasm between us. But that is the very reason that we should be shocked when Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” We are brought into a “knowledge” of God that far exceeds that of even the biblical prophets. Remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 24:7), “I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I am the Lord. I will be their God, and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly return to me.” Our division with God is finally fully remedied. How is this accomplished? Consider John 14:15-17, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he resides with you and will be in you.”

Another Sheepfold

Jesus will call another sheep “that do not come from this sheepfold.” Who are these other sheep? Let’s consider the alternatives. This could be referring to uniting Ephraim and Judah—that is, the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. In Jesus’ time, the northern kingdom was called Samaria. Jesus could also be referring to the Diaspora Jews. For example, when the high priest in Chapter 11 refers to gathering “God’s scattered children,” he is referring to Diaspora Jews. This also seems to be the most obvious meaning in passages like Ezekiel 34:13, “I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries.” The last alternative is that Jesus is referring to Gentiles. I think this is the correct interpretation for multiple reasons. The passage speaks of sheep that are not of “this sheepfold.” Both Ephraim and the Diaspora Jews would be of “this sheepfold.” They are scattered, sure, but they are from the same source. The words of the high priest in Chapter 11 are not dispositive of what Jesus meant in Chapter 10. Also, although Ezekiel’s listeners would have interpreted his prophecy to mean Diaspora Jews, we understand Old Testament prophesies were often “bigger” than the original audience would have understood. The Jews expected a political king; they received a king of the universe instead. The Jews expected deliverance for their nation; they received deliverance for the whole world instead. The Jews expected a gathering of the Diaspora; they received a gathering of the whole world instead. Contemporary Jews already believed that Gentiles who converted to Judaism became part of the Jewish people. So, the idea of sheep from another sheepfold becoming part of the Jewish sheepfold would not have been strange. And, finally, this is the interpretation favored by the New Testament. Consider, for example, Romans 11:17. Paul explicitly refers to Gentiles (“wild olive shoots”) as being grafted onto the main olive tree. This is an equivalent analogy to the sheep of another sheepfold.

Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)

The Setting

Hanukkah is an extrabiblical feast—it was not ordained in the Old Testament. A website explains the origin of the feast as follows:

When Israel was under the Syrian-Greek Empire, the Temple in Jerusalem had been desecrated and set up as a house of worship to Zeus. A faithful Hebrew priest, Mattathias and his family, known as the Maccabees, led a rebellion for several years to restore Israel’s independence and their ability to worship Yahweh properly. According to the second book of Maccabees, the time for the festival of Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles, which is a remembrance of Yahweh’s provision for the Israelites in the wilderness) passed shortly before their victory. But the Jewish people did not celebrate because the Temple was not in order.

However, when they did achieve victory, they began to restore the Temple and they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in conjunction with a rededication of the Temple to Yahweh.

Hanukkah is celebrated approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles, in the wintertime. The season alone would have made it a less popular feast. Like the Feast of Tabernacles, Hanukkah was celebrated for seven days. Notice that Hanukkah celebrated national liberation, not a religious theme. Naturally, we may expect fewer connections between the feast and the biblical passage in John 10.

Using a “portico” or porch during the wintertime would have been natural. It provided some shelter from the elements while a speaker gathered with his audience.

The Messianic Secret

The Jewish leaders surround Jesus and demand an answer. “Tell us who you are!” (I am paraphrasing, of course.) This naturally raises the question of the Messianic Secret, which I will explain in a minute. However, before we even get to that, let’s get to the main irony. In verse 30, Jesus humors them and clearly replies, “I am God.” (Again, I am paraphrasing.). And the Jewish leaders try to kill him. The answer to their question has been clear, it is made clear again, and it is simply not an answer they are willing to accept.

What is the Messianic Secret? As a Christian website explains,

The Messianic Secret is a theme of biblical criticism developed in 1901 by a German Lutheran theologian named Wilhelm Wrede. The Messianic Secret involves Wrede’s explanation for Jesus wanting to hide His identity from His enemies by commanding the disciples to keep silent about His mission on earth and the miracles He performed. Wrede claimed that Jesus did not ever think He was the Messiah and that Mark (and the rest of the New Testament authors) sensationalized Jesus and made Him into the Messiah. Wrede claims Mark added the Messianic Secret in an attempt to give a reason for why Jesus was not accepted by many as Messiah until after His death. Wrede’s theory enjoyed some popularity during the 1920s but faded soon thereafter.

Is there any biblical basis for Wrede’s theory? It is undeniable that Jesus told His disciples on several occasions to keep what He had done secret. Each of those incidents, however, has a much more plausible explanation than the one put forth by Wilhelm Wrede. Further, each is consistent with the other Gospel accounts, and not an invention by Mark.

In Mark 1:43–45 Christ commanded the leper He had healed, “‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.” Jesus knew the publicity about the healing would hinder His ability to minister in the area, which is exactly what happened when the leper disobeyed, and worse, the sensationalism caused by miraculous healings would hamper the spreading of His message. Because of the leper’s disobedience, Jesus could no longer enter a city without being mobbed by those seeking healing, causing Him to abandon His ministry in the city and keep to relatively uninhabited areas. The healing of the leper is also found in Matthew 8:1–4 and Luke 5:12–16, with Luke reiterating the reason for the command for secrecy in verses 15–16.

Further “evidence” for Wrede’s theory of secrecy involves the explanation for Jesus speaking in parables in Mark 4:11 where He tells His disciples that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God had been given to them, but to others He spoke in parables so that, “though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.” This is not, however, a plea for secrecy. Rather, it is an explanation of divine revelation in the hearts of true believers, revelation that is unavailable for those who, like the Pharisees, continued to reject the truth. The “mysteries of the kingdom” are revealed to those who have “ears to hear” but not to those whose hearts are darkened. As the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus would have been able to distinguish between those two groups. Again, this is not an invention of Mark, as it is reiterated in Matthew 13:11–17.

Let’s assume the Messianic Secret for a minute. Let's assume that, particularly in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus conceals his identity until the “end of the story.” Is this consistent with what we see in the Gospel of John. I think so. Remember that Jesus’ brothers ask him to go do public miracles during the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus declines and makes his public appearance during the middle of the festival. He performs a miracle (healing the blind man) but he does not perform a highly public miracle, like the feeding of the 5,000. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks using imagery that confuses his audience (e.g., “born again,” “living water,” “bread from Heaven”). In fact, the Gospel of John seems to explain the Messianic Secret. Jesus’ “own” will listen and believe. Those who are not his sheep will not. Notice that this “listening” is not primarily an intellectual hurdle. In verse 31, the Jewish leaders clearly understand that Jesus is calling himself God. The intellectual component is there. They do not believe, however.

You are Gods

In verse 34, Jesus begins to make a how-much-more kind of argument. This line of argumentation is called qal vaomer, and it was commonplace in religious debates among Jesus’ contemporaries. Although verses 34 through 36 may seem a little confusing, the argument is as follows:

Your* scripture uses the term “god” for people who merely received the word of God.

(*When Jesus refers to “your law,” he is not dissociating himself from the Old Testament. He is highlighting the fact that his adversaries are already committed to this first premise.)

I did not merely receive the word of God, God set me apart and sent me (i.e., God considers me unique and special). (Notice that the reader is filling in the blanks as well, thinking, “I did not merely receive the word of God, I am the word of God.”

How much more should the term “god” be appropriate for me.

Bonus Argument: And I do not even call myself “god” but “son of god.” (Notice that Jesus consistently makes himself one with the Father ontologically but subject to the Father in rank.)