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John 10
Sheep, Shepherds And Shepherding: Israel’s True Leader And The False
Leaders

We come into this world far from God, ignorant and confused about the most
important things. It’s natural for people to gravitate to those who have more
knowledge or experience in various areas. It’s crucial to choose the right people to
learn from, especially in the most important area of human endeavor - seeking
God.

Good spiritual leaders bring blessings to us in this world followed by eternal

blessings in the World To Come. Bad spiritual leaders can devastate our lives in
this world and keep us far from God so that we are condemned on the Day of
Judgment.

Chapter 10 follows the miracle of the healing of the man who was born blind. It
continues Yeshua’s interaction with some of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were
spiritual elites and religious leaders. Most of them had decided that Yeshua was a
false prophet and wanted to kill Him. In spite of this, Yeshua cared for them and
tried to help them by telling them that they were wrong and needed to reconsider
their thinking about Him and themselves. To do this, He used illustrations from
sheep, shepherds and shepherding.

Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the
gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters
by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him,
and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them
out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep
follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in
fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s
voice.

Imagine an enclosed area with sheep in it. It has a wall. It has a gate. It has a
gatekeeper. The shepherd enters by going to the gate. The gatekeeper knows him
and opens the gate and allows him to enter the enclosure. The shepherd knows his
sheep and the sheep know him. When he calls to them, they follow him. He takes
them out of the sheep pen and leads them to food. He leads them by going ahead
of them, not leading them from behind. This is the good shepherd.
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In contrast to the good shepherd are the illegitimate shepherds. They want access
to the sheep but don’t go to the gate. They climb over the wall. The sheep aren’t
familiar with them and run away from them. This is easy to understand.

The harder to understand spiritual truths that Yeshua wants us to understand are
these: Throughout the centuries, even though the Jewish people are the Chosen
People, and have been blessed with many spiritual blessings, and should have had
the best leaders, we’ve had many awful leaders - false prophets, wicked priests and
wicked kings. The Pharisees and the other leaders who opposed Yeshua were more
of the same.

And as happened so frequently, the people Yeshua was speaking to, didn’t
understand. Yeshua used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not
understand what he was telling them.

What kind of figure of speech is this?

Yeshua knew they didn’t understand the parable, and because it was so important
for their well-being to understand, He explained it to them.

Therefore Yeshua said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who have come 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. 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. 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. 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.
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In His explanation, Yeshua made more amazing claims about Himself:

He is the gate for the sheep. What does that mean? How do we go through the
gate?

Yeshua is the good shepherd. What does that mean? Why is He the good
shepherd?

The gatekeeper opens the gate for Yeshua. What does that mean? Who is the
gatekeeper?

The sheep follow the good shepherd because they know his voice. He knows them
and they know Him. What does this mean?

Who are the other sheep that are not of this sheep pen?

Yeshua promised that there would be one flock and one shepherd. What does that
mean?

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again.
There are many reasons why the Father loves His Son. One of them is because of
Yeshua’s willingness to sacrifice Himself in order to save human beings who can’t
save themselves.

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. Yeshua knew He needed to die to reconcile us to God, and He also knew
that He would not remain dead. Death could not keep Him because sin gives death
authority, and Yeshua knew that He was sinless.
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Yeshua also knew that He had authority over His own death. No human being had
the authority to kill Him. While it’s true that Jewish and Roman leaders arrested
Him, gave Him unfair trials, tortured and crucified Him, that’s only part of the
story. The other part of the story is that they were able to kill Yeshua because He
allowed it to happen. And, just as He had the authority to allow Himself to be
killed, He had the authority to come back to life.

In contrast to Yeshua, the good shepherd, were the bad shepherds. What
characterizes them?

Even though Yeshua’s explanation of His parable was profound; and even though
the man who had been born blind was miraculously healed, most of the leaders
there continued to reject Yeshua. However, some weren’t sure they should
continue to reject Him. The Jewish leaders 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?”

It’s been 2,000 years since Yeshua arrived, died and was resurrected. It can be
argued that He has had a greater impact on the world than anyone else. He has
hundreds of millions of followers. And yet, just like in the first century, people are
still divided about Him. Which side are you on? Do you believe that Yeshua is a
false prophet? Demon-possessed and raving mad? Just a man who you can ignore?
Or do you know that He is the true leader of Israel and the nations, the Son of God
who came into this world, lived a perfect life, died and came back to life to give us
abundant and eternal life?

John organized his book around Jewish holidays. This next part takes place at
Chanukkah (Chanukkah means Dedication).

What is the story of Chanukkah?

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John recorded another confrontation between Yeshua and some leaders, in which
Yeshua referred to sheep and shepherds, and revealed more about Himself. Then
came the Holiday of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was in
the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jewish leaders who were
there gathered around him, saying, “How long will he keep us in suspense? If you
are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Yeshua answered, “I did tell you, but you do not
believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

What were the works Yeshua did that made it clear that He is the Son of God and
the Messiah?

Yeshua knew why this was so. He explained, again referring to Himself as the
good shepherd and His followers as sheep. But you do not believe because you are
not my sheep. These leaders, even though they knew a lot about God and Judaism,
didn’t belong to the Son of God, who belongs to God. And it’s only those who
belong to Yeshua who understand the truth and respond in the right way, and are
saved.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

How do we listen to Yeshua’s voice?

Like a good shepherd protects and provides for His sheep, Yeshua protects and
provides for His followers. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no
one will snatch them out of my hand. Yeshua gives His followers the best
provision (eternal life) and the best protection.

Yeshua has eternal life within Himself. And, from that eternal life, He gives
eternal life to His followers. And He protects them so they never perish. No one is
more powerful than the Son of God, who created the universe and everything in it,
and so no one can separate His followers from Him.

And it’s not just the Son of God who is protecting Yeshua’s followers. So is His
Father. 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.
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What does “My Father has given them to me” mean?

Those whom the Father has given to the Son are protected by the Father and the
Son so that no one can snatch them out of their hands. That means they are
absolutely safe, protected, secure.

How can the Father be greater than the Son and also one with the Son?

These statements were powerful and courageous. It took courage for Yeshua to
declare these truths in the temple, which was the center of power of these men
who had decided to kill Him.

After hearing Yeshua make these statements, the desire of the leaders to kill
Yeshua was reignited. Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him.

Under Jewish law, if someone was thought to be guilty of a crime worthy of death,
charges needed to be brought to a judge and a trial needed to be held. Yeshua tried
to prevent these leaders from violating due process, and also killing an innocent
man. Yeshua reasoned with them. He asked them a question designed to get them
to reexamine their erroneous ideas about Him. But Yeshua said to them, “I have
shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone
me?”

Obviously, we don’t kill people for doing good works that God directs them to do.
Yeshua was trying to help them see that He had not done anything wrong. He had
only done good things, things that God authorized Him to do. Therefore they had
no reason to kill Him.

They disagreed. They believed Yeshua had blasphemed by claiming to be God,

and that gave them reason to kill Him. “We are not stoning you for any good
work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be
God.”

What is blasphemy?
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Were the leaders right? Was Yeshua claiming to be God?

Yeshua let them know that He was claiming to be the Son of God, and that wasn’t
wrong based on a quote from Psalm 82. Yeshua answered them, “Is it not written
in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’?

Read Psalm 82. Who were called “gods”?

Why were they called “gods” (elohim in Hebrew) ?

If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came - and Scripture cannot be
set aside - 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’?

Here’s Yeshua’s argument: If leaders can be called gods, it can’t be wrong for
Yeshua to claim to be the Son of God, especially since He is the Son of God who
uniquely belongs to the Father, and who was sent by the Father to save the world.

Yeshua based His argument on one word - elohim (gods), and that elohim was
applied to human beings, and therefore He had the right to call Himself the Son of
God.

What does “Scripture cannot be set aside’ mean?

Again, Yeshua appealed to them to reconsider their erroneous thinking about Him.
Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 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 in the Father.” The Father had allowed
Yeshua to do many miracles. They were evidence that He is the Son of God who is
united to the Father, and the Father is united to Him.
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Yeshua’s arguments fell on deaf ears. Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped
their grasp. It was God’s plan for Messiah to die, not on Chanukkah, but on
another Jewish holiday - Passover - and so God protected Him from those who
were trying to kill Him. And we will be protected from dying a moment before it’s
our time to die.

In contrast to the unbelief of the leaders was the belief of the ordinary people.
Yeshua left Jerusalem and headed east to the Jordan river. Then Yeshua went back
across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days.
There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never
performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place
many believed in Yeshua.

What had John said about Yeshua?

John had made a tremendous impact on the Jewish people. Many of the people
believed in John and remembered what John said about Yeshua. And now they
were believing for themselves about Yeshua, because of their own knowledge of
Yeshua.

Are leaders always worthy of your trust? Should you always believe your leaders?