The sheep know His voice and follow to the pastures of doctrine

Chapter 10:1-21 is the shepherd discourse which occurs the day after Christ heals the blind man.

 

There are two doors on this chapter. One is the door of ingress [the way in] and one is the door of egress [way out]. At the time that this was written there were a lot of customs concerning sheepfolds and these have to be understood to understand the passage.

 

The message is given in Jerusalem at the sheepfold by the Sheep Gate.

 

/The occasion for the first message: It was given at the sheep gate and every morning sheep went out of it, and every night sheep came back into it.\

 

The sheep gate is always a sort of back door to a city and it has to be near the pens.

 

Every night before sundown a shepherd would lead a flock in the sheep gate. Each sheepfold to which they were led had walls 12 feet high and one gate/door.

 

Early the next morning the shepherd came down to the sheepfold where there are, say, five different flocks.

 

How is he going to get his sheep separated from all the others? He has a call which he has used for years, and all the sheep in his flock hear that call and get right in behind him.

 

He goes through the gate still making the call and his sheep follow him to some pasture located outside of the walls of the city.

 

All the shepherds in Palestine led their sheep by being out in front and having a call. The sheep followed that call.

 

On the way out in the morning there are always thieves hanging out in the dark alleys trying to get some of the sheep.

 

This is the background to this passage.  

           

In verse 1-6 the Lord sets up this parable/allegory on the door of egress, the door of ingress, and the two shepherds. So we call this passage the shepherd discourses.

 

In this case the sheep are the children of Israel and Christ has come as their Messiah.

 

John 10:1 "Truly, truly [point of doctrine], 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.

 

The only one that was allowed to enter into the fold was a true shepherd and he entered by the door. The doorkeeper would let him in, he would make his guttural sound, and the sheep that were his would recognize his voice and follow him. He would lead them to good water and pasture so they could continue to fatten up and while they were feeding and drinking he would always be on the lookout for robbers or wild animals.

 

/Ps 23:1-2

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.\

 

Those who sought to steal sheep tried to climb up by some other way. These are false shepherds that represent the religious people who seek to steal, shear, and butcher the sheep.

 

/False shepherds only want to steal sheep in order to slaughter them for profit. You can tell who they are because they do not have the right call nor do they enter by the door.\

 

The sheep have to be led out by the real shepherd so they can eat and survive. If they don’t leave the fold and remain in the pen they will starve.

 

Again, the sheep are the children of Israel and Christ has come as their Messiah.

 

Jesus is the shepherd who walks through the door, i.e. He has those whom He can call. There will be people all over Israel who will respond and when He walks out the door they will walk with Him.

 

Messiah is the true shepherd throughout this passage.

 

/Christ came into the world through the first door, which is the virgin birth.\

 

Because Jesus Christ is the bona fide son of David, in His humanity, He has the right to go in the door and present Himself to Israel.

 

He has the right to call the sheep; He has the right to walk out and to lead His sheep into green pastures.

 

Those who are the false shepherds do not have that right. The false shepherds are the scribes, the Pharisees, the religious crowd.

 

They are not the son of David who would be the promised Messiah, nor are any of them qualified to go to the cross as the impeccable Messiah.

 

So, anyone who calls the sheep who is not Christ is a false shepherd and is to be rejected like the once blind man did in the temple.

 

Jesus Christ is the true shepherd.

 

How did the false shepherds treat the once-blind man? They abused him - the sheep. How does Jesus treat him? He leads him to Himself; He saves him.

 

John 10:1 "Truly, truly [point of doctrine], 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.

 

/‘thief’ is kleptes and it refers to a thief who robs by strategy. He doesn’t use violence; he uses his brains to rob. They discredited Christ and the blind man.\

 

This describes one facet of the religious hierarchy at the time that Jesus was on the earth. It is the way of life of the Pharisees seeking to discredit the miracle of the previous chapter.

 

/“robber” is lestes which means a person who robs by violence. When strategy didn’t work they resorted to violence by throwing the man out.\

 

Thieves and robbers are outside the law. Religion is outside of doctrine, outside of the plan of God. Religion is never sent by God.

 

The father of religion is the devil, and religion is his ace trump. Religion is how he organises the world. Cosmos diabolicus is any type of human good, and there are many, but religion is on the top bracket.

 

There is no place in the plan of God for religion. The thief climbs up some other way; this is false doctrine—the doctrine of demons, the doctrine of religion. The “robber” is religion using violence.

 

John 10:2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

 

/Christ is the true Shepherd of Israel who has entered by the door through the virgin birth as foretold in ISA 7:14.\

 

/ISA 7:14

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.\

 

He enters the door, and he enters the door as the shepherd. Before Jesus went to the cross He had to become a man.

 

This was accomplished by the virgin birth.

 

/So Jesus Christ coming in the door by Himself = virgin birth; going out with the sheep = the cross.\

 

When He comes in He comes in by Himself; when he leaves He leaves with sheep.

 

The sheep who go with Him are those who believe in Jesus Christ. His death and subsequent resurrection are applied to them in retroactive positional truth and current positional truth.

 

So the door of verse 7 is the virgin birth; the door of verse 9 is the cross.

 

John 10:7 Jesus therefore said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

 

John 10:8 "All who came before Me [false prophets] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

 

John 10:9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

 

Now in verse 3:

John 10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

 

/The doorkeeper is God the Holy Spirit. God the HS will not open the door to religion and so they must climb in another way.\

 

This is the way you can tell false teaching. You have the indwelling of the HS forever and when filled with the HS He will reveal what is true and what is false.

 

I’m sure you’ve all experienced a situation when someone presented you with something that they said was doctrinal and it just didn’t sound right. That’s the red alert system of God the HS using the doctrine that you have already metabolized to reveal the doctrine of demons which is religion.

 

/2 Tim 4:3-4

but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.\

 

/ “voice” is akouo which means to hear and obey. The voice is the gospel message and those with positive volition will hear and believe and walk out of the pen - salvation.\

 

John 10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

 

/The usual word for call is kaleo, but He uses phoneo which means to call by identification. He is calling those who know His voice because they are ready for the gospel.\

 

/ “by name” - kata onoma = according to the standard of a name, which is His name, ACT 4:12.\

 

He doesn’t call us by our name, but by His name, the only name under heaven by which men can be saved.

 

/Acts 4:12

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."\

 

The moment of your salvation had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Him, so your name isn’t in view, His name is.

 

/His name: The Lord [God] Jesus [Savior as humanity] Christ [Messiah].\

 

/“leads them out” - the verb is exago which means to lead them out from, to lead them out of the pen into the pasture: doctrine and the CWL.\

 

This is a present active indicative which means the process will continue until the angelic conflict is completed at the end of the Millennium.

 

/The pasture is Bible doctrine, and this refers to the principle that when the sheep are saved God does not leave them standing around. God provides for every believer. God has a plan for the believer but the believer must feed in His pasture - the Word of God.\

 

John 10:4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

 

/ “puts forth” - exbalo, the same word used for tossing out the once blind man. They threw him out in excommunication. Christ throws him out into the pasture to grow in grace and truth.\

 

“his own” - They are His own private sheep, personal sheep. Believers are His forever.

           

“and the sheep follow him” -

 

/ “follow” is akoloutheo which means to follow someone because you want to, because it is your own personal soul desire.\

 

Christ provides the pasture and the sound for you to follow. You have to make the decision to follow. He does not force you.

 

If you respond to the Lord Jesus Christ you feed in His pasture. The feedback to you is the delicious grass and the refreshing water which makes you healthy and strong.

 

These are all analogies to the spiritual life. When you first taste doctrine and receive it with humility you recognize certain positive effects in your life. This motivates you to keep following by your own self determination.

 

Some Christians love to take credit for their apparent spirituality. You can take no more credit for feeding in Christ’s pasture than you would eating something that someone gave you when you were hungry.

 

Some people take in doctrine with false motives. We cannot assume that these people are feeding properly in the green pastures of Christ.

 

/Proper motivation is reflected in this passage. He goes before them and that is why they follow.\

 

People who “listen” to doctrine for some other means other than following Christ reveal a false motivation. I have seen people come and go in this local assembly for 20 years. Some were here to find a husband or wife, some because they were lonely, some to make friends, some to gain approbation, some just simply to get compassion and attention, and I’m sure there are other motivations and all of them are selfish.

 

The true motivation for doctrine is the most unselfish - it is for following Christ your Lord.