The Shepherd of the Sheep
Two things come up for consideration in this verse (1) The good Shepherd in His relation as such; (2) His work.
I. The Shepherd stands in a twofold relation; on the one hand, to Him whose shepherd He is by authoritative appointment, and, on the other hand, to those who are His sheep, by free gift in the gospel, and by personal appropriation in the exercise of faith, wrought in them by the Spirit. (1) The sheep are given to Jesus Christ by the Father; and, as the Father's gift, He knows them. He holds them as a sacred trust, a precious possession. He has them near to Him; He has them in His heart, in His hand. None shall pluck them out of His hand. (2) Jesus knows the sheep as hearing His voice following Him. He cannot but care for them; He cannot but remember them. He knows them by intimate acquaintance with all their infirmities, by sympathy with them in all their sorrows.
II. The work of the good Shepherd. It is His laying down His life for the sheep. (1) Viewing this work in the light of His relation to the Father, we may see in it one chief part, or rather the crowning and culminating instance, the concentrated essence, as it were, of that perfect obedience by which He fulfilled all righteousness. It is all-important thus to regard the one event of the Lord's death and resurrection as the sure sign, the pledge and seal, of the thoroughly good understanding that there is between Him as your shepherd and the Father, whom in that capacity He serves. He is faithful to Him who has appointed Him faithful for ever to the death. (2) Viewing His death in the light of His relation to the sheep, for whom, in obedience to the Father, He lays down his life, it is to be regarded as forming the principal part, the consummation and essence, of His passive obedience and righteousness His propitiatory or atoning sacrifice. He lays down His life for the sheep, as not only the obedient servant of the Father, but the representative and surety of the sheep. His life is given freely; it is laid down voluntarily; it cannot be demanded by any right: not by right of judgment, for there is no sin; not by right of conquest, for even when crucified through wickedness He lived by the power of God, and had legions of angels at His command.
R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness,p. 53.
References: John 10:14. E. Cooper, Practical Sermons,vol. i., p. 276; T. J. Rowsell, Church Sermons by Eminent Clergymen,vol. i., p. 379. John 10:14; John 10:15. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxii., No. 1877. John 10:15. Contemporary Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 29 3 John 1:10 :15, John 10:16. H. Platten, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xvi., p. 248. John 10:16. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxix., No. 1713; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity,p. 314; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons,7th series, p. 83.