John chapter 10 immediately follows Jesus’ healing of a blind man on the Sabbath.
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in a series of metaphors about sheep and shepherds. Jesus
calls himself both “the door of the sheep” and “the good shepherd”.
When calling himself the door, he is telling the Pharisees (and us) that we can only enter
God’s kingdom through him, not by any other means. When calling himself the good shepherd,
he also tells us that he “lays down his life for the sheep”, foreshadowing his death on the cross,
paying the price for our sins. Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hired hand, who flees
when he sees the wolf coming. He allows the wolf to snatch and scatter them, because he
doesn’t care for the sheep.
Take a moment and reflect on how you view your own salvation. Are you relying on anything other than your faith and belief in Jesus to enter into his Kingdom? Jesus willingly gave his life for you and I. He suffered a harsh and painful death, so that you and I could be free from sin and death. Trust and have faith in him alone, because no person or thing on earth can save you in eternity.
Jesus also points out the “sheep that are not of this fold” and how he must “bring them also[…] so there will be one flock”, a united church community of Jew and Gentile.
Just like the Pharisees treated other Jews, Christians today can be judgemental and strict in their beliefs, especially towards other Christians. Take a moment to reflect on how you treat others, especially people that are different from you, that inconvenience you, that disagree with you, and that have lost their way. Would Jesus cast them aside? Would Jesus show them anything but love?
Then at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, Jesus is walking in the temple when the
Jews there demand he tell them if he is the Christ. Jesus responds by telling them he already
has and they didn’t believe despite the works he has done in his Father’s name. He explains
that those who belong to Jesus’ flock are those that believe, and the reason people do not
believe is because they are not among his people.
Take a moment to reflect on your impact in your church community. How are you staying
involved? The Christian faith is not something meant to be lived out alone. We are made to
experience and enjoy fellowship together. We all gather together as we are, not just when we
are at our best, but in every circumstance. We lean on each other in times of need and
celebrate each other as we walk through life.
After this, Jesus references the trinity saying, “I and the Father are one”, which upsets
the Jews, who picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy. Jesus is quick to reference Psalm
82, which has a metaphor of unjust rulers being referred to as “Gods”, which he contrasts with
his own good works, despite his claim to be the Son of God. He tells them, “If I am not doing the
worlds of my Father, then do not believe me, but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
Take a moment to reflect on how you live your life as a Christian. Would others know you are a Christian just by the way you live and because of your actions? Jesus focuses a lot on how his works are an outward display of the person he is. He doesn’t just tell them he is the son of god and then doesn’t have anything to show for it. We shouldn’t walk around and tell people we are Christians and then live our lives however we want. The good works of the father should be a result of our faith in Christ and the resurrection.
Additional Reading Resources:
Reading Along with the Gospel of John 10 RightNow Media.
Good work Jonah, thank you!
Thank you for these thoughts, Jonah. This chapter is so beautiful in showing Jesus' nature and love. Even when he is correcting them, you can hear the love in his voice and his desire for them to follow him. Thank you for sharing!