John 10. The Close of the Ministry in Jerusalem. [85]
John 10:1-21. The Good Shepherd. The first part of this chapter records Jesus-' teaching on true and false leadership. In John 10:1-5 we have a close resemblance to the Synoptic parable, with one dominant idea. The true leader, wielding the authority of one sent by God, calls out the willing obedience of the led. It arises directly out of the circumstances of the case. As usual the words, Verily, verily introduce a new thought on what has gone before. The blind man, resisting the pressure of the usurped authority of the false leaders, who sought only their own interests, welcomes the true leader who comes by God's appointed way. The Pharisees cannot or will not see the import of His words. In John 10:7 ff. we have either further teaching of the Lord given under similar metaphors on different occasions (on the same occasion He could hardly describe Himself as both Door and Shepherd), or the author's meditation on the original parable, suggested perhaps by actual words of Jesus. In John 10:8 the thought of true and false leadership is again prominent, though the actual language seems to reflect the false Messiahs of a later period. As spoken by Jesus it could only refer to false leadership of Pharisee and Priest, or of the Maccabean or Herodian dynasties. [ Cf. John 5:43. The difficult before me is omitted by some early and good authorities, including ℵ?, Syr. Sin., and Sahidic. A. J. G.] John 10:9 takes up the thought of John 10:7. The true disciples, who follow God's way, shall attain salvation and life. In John 10:10 the aims of the two kinds of leaders, and the consequent results when the crisis has to be faced, are contrasted. Perhaps instead of layeth down we should translate risketh. It is the staking or risking His life when danger approaches, rather than its actual loss, that the metaphor seems to require and which best suits the actual circumstances. In John 10:14 the mutual understanding between Jesus and His followers is compared with the relations between Father and Son. It is based on His readiness to sacrifice Himself. And there are other sheep, beside those of the Judæ an fold, who must be brought into the one flock. The author is no doubt thinking of those beyond the pale of Judaism. The Father's love is based on the Son's willingness to gain through death the wider sphere of work. The value of such a sacrifice consists in the fact that it is voluntary. Voluntary sacrifice even unto death, as the condition of full Messianic work, is the Father's command. The religious party is still divided in opinion. Some suggest demoniac possession, others point to His works as excluding such a theory.
[85] [Those who uphold the theory of dislocation rearrange this chapter thus: John 10:19-29; John 10:1-18; John 10:30-42. A. J. G.]