John Chapter 10
Sermon on the Good Shepherd
10:1 “Whoever doesn’t go through the gate into the sheep pen but climbs up somewhere else, is a thief. 2 A shepherd comes through the gate. 3 The gatekeeper lets him in, and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls them by name and leads them out. 4 When he gets them out, he goes in front of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger. They’ll run away because they don’t recognize his voice.”
6 They didn’t understand what Jesus meant by the illustration.
7 Again, Jesus said,
“I’m the gate for the sheep. 8 The ones that came before me were thieves and insurrectionists, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 If anybody comes in through me, he’ll be safe and can go in and out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I’ve come so they can live and live more abundantly. 11 I’m a good shepherd; a good shepherd risks his life for his sheep. 12 A hired hand sees a wolf coming and runs away because the sheep don’t belong to him. A wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 A hired hand doesn’t care about them. 14 I’m a good shepherd; I know my sheep, and they know me. 15 I know the Father like the Father knows me, and I risk my life for my sheep.
16 “And, I have other sheep that aren’t part of this fold. I need to lead them too. They’ll hear my voice and become one flock under one shepherd. 17 The Father loves me because I lay down my life to take it back again. 18 Nobody’s taking it away from me. I’m laying it down voluntarily. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to pick it up again. That’s what my Father told me to do.”
19 Again a division arose among the Jews over what he said. 20 A number of them said, “He’s got a demon; he’s crazy. Why are you listening to him?”
21 Others said, “A demon-possessed man doesn’t talk like that. A demon can’t make blind people see, can it?”
Jn 10:1-21
Jesus at the Feast of Dedication
22 The Festival of Dedication [Hanukkah] took place in Jerusalem during the winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews surrounded him and said, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? Are you the Messiah? Tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I’ve told you, and you don’t believe me. The things I do in my Father’s name speak for me. 26 But you don’t believe me because you’re not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them. They follow me, 28 and I give them eternal life. Nobody is going to snatch them from me. 29 My Father, who gave them to me, is stronger than anyone. Nobody is going to snatch them from him. 30 The Father and I are at one.”
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. 32 Jesus replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good deeds from the Father. Which of them are you ready to stone me for?”
33 “We’re not ready to stone you for doing something good, but for blasphemy. You’re a mere mortal, and you’re trying to make yourself deity.”
34 Jesus responded, “Doesn’t your Law say, ‘I said, you are gods’? [Ps 82:6] 35 If he called them ‘gods’ that the word of God came to—and scripture can’t be broken— 36 how can you say that the One the Father sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said I’m God’s Son? 37 If I’m not doing what my Father does, don’t believe me. 38 If that’s what I am doing, even if you don’t believe me, believe what I do, so you can know that the Father’s in me and I’m in him.” 39 They tried to grab him again , but he got away.
Jn 10:22-39
Retirement from Jerusalem to Perea
40 He went away again to the other side of the Jordan River—where John was baptizing at first—and stayed there. 41 Many people came to him. They said, “John didn’t do any sign, but everything he said about this man is true.” 42 Lots of people believed in him there.
Jn 10:40-42