John 10 is a wonderfully comforting chapter for people who claim Jesus as their Savior. Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd, and his people are his sheep. So we might assume this message was for people already committed to following him – and it was – but the sheep are not the only ones he addressed here. Jesus also spoke to other “shepherds” who claimed to lead the flock when he said,

“Very truly I tell you, Pharisees, . . . “ John 10:1

In this message Jesus addressed the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders who claimed to be shepherds of God’s flock.

Who were the Pharisees?

When the Israelites went into exile in Babylon they were no longer able to worship at the temple and learn from the priests. They formed small religious centers called synagogues for worship and learning and scribes and sages who lived in their communities taught them.

The Pharisees rose from among those scribes and sages in the second century BC. They eventually created 613 commandments to supplement the Ten Commandments written in the Law of Moses, then added more than two thousand oral traditions explaining how to keep the commandments. They believed Jewish people should always behave as if they were at the temple and practice purity and ritual cleansing wherever they were.

The influence of the Pharisees grew until they dominated Jewish society.

One of the other religious sects was the Sadducees. They were descended from King Solomon’s high priest Zadok and they adhered solely to the written Law of Moses, rejecting the oral traditions of the Pharisees. They believed in complete obedience to the Law during one’s lifetime and they didn’t believe in heaven or an afterlife.

Jesus saw the Pharisees and Sadducees as self-appointed religious leaders who were not qualified to lead the flock of God. The Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat to their power over the Jewish nation. The huge crowds that followed Jesus tended not to fear the authority of the Pharisees and fear was the primary way the Pharisees controlled people.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

Jesus had compassion on the crowds because he thought of them as sheep without a shepherd. The Pharisees had little compassion on the crowds because they saw them as unruly and unclean. They didn’t have direct contact with them for fear of becoming unclean themselves. The word Pharisee actually means “separated one” and they physically and emotionally separated themselves from the general population.

When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in John 10, he used the metaphor of a flock of sheep to represent Israel and show the Pharisees where they had failed as shepherds. He accused them of being intruders who had climbed over the wall to trouble the flock. He was the true shepherd whom the Gatekeeper allowed into the fold.

Sheep Know their Shepherd

The gatekeeper was God and the sheep were his people. Jesus was the shepherd God chose, the true shepherd who loved the sheep and called them by name. The sheep recognized Jesus and followed him when he called them.

The sheep didn’t like following the Pharisees because they condemned the sheep that couldn’t keep the rules, weren’t clean enough, and weren’t respectful toward their authority. Jesus also explained that the sheep simply didn’t recognize the Pharisees as their shepherds.

“‘They will never follow a stranger because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.’ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.” John 10:6

Jesus was also the gate that defended the sheep against leaders who didn’t have their best interests at heart.

“All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:8-10

Jesus had this to say to the Pharisees in Luke 11, which we read a few days ago:

“One of the experts in the law answered [Jesus], ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.’

Jesus replied, ‘And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift a finger to help them.’” Luke 11:45-46

The Shepherd Who Laid Down His Life 

Jesus knew the Pharisees had the political power to condemn him to death, but he loved his sheep so much he had to rescue them. He was concerned about what the Jewish leaders would do when danger came.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” John 10:11-13

Jesus defended the flock against enemies, even to the point of laying down his life. His heavenly Father loved him for that.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father –and I lay down my life for the sheep . . . The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:14-18

Mixed Response

Not all of the Pharisees hated Jesus. Some of them thought he might be who he said he was.

“The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, ‘He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?’ But others said, ‘These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’” John 10:21

Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God

Winter came and Jesus returned to Jerusalem for the Festival of Dedication, or Hanukkah. The Jews found him walking in the temple courts and demanded that he tell them plainly if he was the Messiah. Jesus knew that if they didn’t recognize him as the Messiah based on what he had already said and done, the wouldn’t believe him if he said plainly, “I am the Messiah.” In fact, they would probably kill him for saying it.

So instead he pointed them to his mission.

“The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me . . . My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:25-30

The Jews Try to Stone Jesus

The Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus and he asked them which of his goods works they wanted to stone him for. Everything he had ever done was a good work, directed by God in heaven.

“‘We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’” John 10:31

In Psalm 82:6 God spoke to judges in the courtrooms of Israel and called them “gods” because they represented him when pronouncing judgments. The Jews didn’t argue with that Scripture so Jesus wondered why the Jews would object to his claim to be God.

“‘What about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, believe the works, that you my know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.’” John 10:36-38

“Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped from their grasp.” John 10:39

They were against Jesus no matter what he said or did. So Jesus left Jerusalem and went across the Jordan River where he found many people ready to believe in him.

Jesus Grieves for the Lost

“Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, ‘Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?’” Luke 12:22-23

Sadly, most of the people who heard Jesus missed the way of salvation. His way had a narrow door and God controlled the passageway. People who tried to come to the Father by any route except his Son found themselves shut out.

“‘Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’” Luke 13:25

Jesus grieved over those who were lost. He wept over Jerusalem saying,

“‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Luke 13:34

The words of Jesus echoed the heart of his Father who had wept over Jerusalem so many times before – through the very prophets the leaders of Jerusalem killed and stoned long before Jesus came.

God’s Banquet

When a host threw a wedding banquet in Bible times, he sent out two invitations. The first was a kind of “save the date” invitation to let people know they were invited. The guests sent back word if they planned to come.

The host then prepared the banquet, which took several days and involved many workers. The second invitation went out when the feast was ready. It was critical for the guests to come right away so the food wouldn’t be wasted. And it was a terrible insult not to come to the banquet after accepting the first invitation.

In this story, God was the host and the people of Israel were his guests. The first invitation went out in the Old Testament when God made a covenant with Israel and promised them a Messiah. They said they would accept the Messiah, so God prepared the occasion for them to meet him.

Then Jesus the Messiah came and God sent the second invitation. But the people of Israel found excuses not to accept Jesus so, like the host in the story, God rejected those who rejected his Son and went out to find other people to fill his table.

Jesus went and found people in Galilee, Samaria, Tyre and the east side of the Jordan who accepted God’s invitation. He found them among the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, Since that time the Gospel has taken root among all kinds of people, all over the world.

And all of this fulfills what Jesus told the Pharisees in John 10:16,

“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”