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August 11th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

John 10:1-5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The context of John 10 flows from John 9 where Jesus had just given sight to a man born blind. The miracle, however, angered the Pharisees because Jesus performed it on the Sabbath. Jesus responded with a “figure of speech” (v. 6), or parable, that distinguished Him from them. As false teachers in Israel, the Pharisees led God’s sheep astray. But as the “good shepherd” (v. 11), Jesus asserts that He is Yahweh (cf. Psa. 23)—the true Shepherd of Israel.

The parable in John 10 concerns sheep and shepherds—God’s people and their leaders. Since shepherding was common throughout Israel, and since the Jews already thought of themselves as “the flock of the Lord” (Psa. 100:3), this parable was appropriate. After all, God’s greatest leaders in Israel had been shepherds: Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David all trained as leaders of God’s people by first shepherding sheep. The Pharisees on the other hand, as leaders in Israel, had proven themselves to be self-serving. Jesus uses the shepherding figure in John 10 in order to expose them as false shepherds and Himself as the Good Shepherd.

The sheepfold spoken of in v. 1 was typically a perimeter, often made of rocks which formed a fence for nighttime protection. It had an opening that functioned as a door. At night the shepherd would lead his sheep inside and either lay across the door to keep them from escaping, or he would hire an under-shepherd to watch them while he slept somewhere else. It was common for multiple shepherds to herd their sheep inside one large sheepfold for protection, then in the morning they would call their respective sheep and lead them out to pasture. Each sheep recognized his own master’s voice, an observable occurrence for shepherds even today.

The true shepherd of the sheep would simply go through the door of the fold to retrieve his sheep or just call them out. Thieves, however, would enter the fold through breaches, forcing the sheep against their will with their strange voices unknown to the sheep. Translation: the only way for God’s elect to hear Christ’s voice is by calling them with Christ’s words. Jesus said that only the one who enters through the door is the true shepherd of the sheep, and the sheep hear their shepherd’s voice and follow him out. He knows them by name, and they know his voice.

The reason Jesus told this parable was because the Pharisees had thrown the blind man, to whom Jesus had given sight in 9:34, out of the synagogue. As false shepherds, they cared nothing for the man, yet Jesus came in and lovingly ministered to him (9:35-38). As always with parables, they are taught so as to condemn and/or illustrate. This one illustrates Jesus as the Good Shepherd over God’s people while condemning false teachers who lead His people astray.

Food For Thought
In the OT God’s elect people in Israel heard the voice of God’s shepherds, repented of their sins, and lived a life of obedience to the shepherd. Likewise, in the NT Jews who recognized Jesus as the Messiah were God’s sheep, His elect people. He called them by name, and they followed. So it is today. Only those who hear and heed the calling of Jesus are truly God’s children. We listen to Him and follow Him, rejecting all others. Like the blind man who was given sight, God’s true children don’t seek Him (Rom. 3:11); we are sought by Him. We are given spiritual sight and respond to Christ’s call to repent, for we are His sheep (Ps. 100:3).