Sermon series:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them." (John 10:1-6)

The symbolic figures in this story represent the following:
The Good Shepherd is Jesus Christ.
The sheep are the Jewish believers.
The other sheep are the Gentile believers.
The sheepfold is Judaism.
The gate is the office of the Messiah.
The gatekeeper is God.
The pasture is the abundant life found in Christ.
The wolf is the intruding destroyer of God's people.
The hired hand is a selfish religious leader.

As indicated, in this parable, Judaism was the sheepfold, tended by God's prophets, the last of which was John the Baptist. The Pharisees and official Judaism were bad shepherds. They had not entered by the door into the sheepfold, but like thieves and robbers, they had climbed in some other way.
Their power of the flock had been secured illegitimately. They were like thieves in their deceit and hypocrisy and like robbers in their violence.
Jesus, on the contrary, had come on a divine mission and in the office of the Messiah. John, the Baptist, a prophet, had given Him access to the flock. And as sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd, so like the blind man whom Christ had healed. Those who truly love God would gladly accept Christ as the Messiah.
Jesus came and called to the Jews, but only His flock responded--the disciples, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, and many others.

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They came out to follow the true shepherd, Jesus Christ. The called ones form the true Church today, God's flock, Christ's bride. The true Shepherd does not view His sheep as a group, He knows each one by name.
As we contemplate John 10, keep in mind that this is the last public address of Jesus that John records in his gospel. Jesus uses the figure of the Good Shepherd to differentiate His ministry from those of the false shepherds who were the religious leaders in Jerusalem. As we noted in our last study, Jesus has just witnessed the reaction of those religious leaders to the healing of the blind man. They should have been rejoicing, but instead, they reject Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and they excommunicate the healed man from the synagogue.
Jesus calls these religious leaders...thieves and robbers! They had stolen the joy from what should have been a scene of joy and rejoicing, and they had robbed a man of his place in the society of his family and friends.
Thieves and robbers! "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation" (Matt. 23:13-14).
Jesus was in direct conflict with the religious leaders of His day!
John 10 should be read in the light of Old Testament passages which castigate shepherds who have failed in their duty.
Jeremiah 23:1-4
"Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people; Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of our countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase."
Isaiah 56:9-11
"All ye beast of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough and they are shepherds that cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter."

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As we study this portion of the chapter, we must recognize the particular aspect of the shepherd imagery upon which Jesus is playing in these first verses--which, by the way, is not the same as that used later.
In this chapter there are two kinds of sheep folds. The first kind of sheepfold was that found in the countryside. It was nothing more than a circle of rocks into which the sheep could be driven. There was no door, just an opening across which the shepherd would place his body as he rested and slept during the night. Any entry would require that the shepherd's body must be crossed"!
This is the kind of sheepfold that Jesus is thinking about when He says, "I am the gate for the sheep."
The other kind of sheepfold was more substantial. This kind was found in the towns and villages and consisted of a room or enclosure with a regular gate or door. Into such an enclosure many shepherds together would drive their flocks when they returned to the village at night, and at such a place at night the sheep would be in the care of a porter. In the morning each shepherd would come to the fold, call his sheep by name--they, incidentally, literally knew his voice and would respond to his call--and then lead his own sheep out to pasture. This is the kind of sheepfold about which Christ is thinking in this parable.
What is the sheepfold then? As we have already suggested, it is Judaism. Not heaven, for thieves and robbers do not climb up into heaven. Not the Church, for the shepherd does not lead his flock out of that, as he does in this parable. The point of this parable is that Jesus presented Himself to Judaism in order to call out from that body those God had given Him. Later He says that He will soon call out sheep from other folds that there might be one great flock, the Church, and one Shepherd--Jesus Christ!
There are two chief reasons why many have experienced difficulty in apprehending the Lord's teaching in this passage: Failure to consider the circumstances under which it was delivered, and failure to distinguish between the THREE "doors" here spoken of--there is the "door into the sheepfold" (v.l); the door of the sheep" (v.7); and the "door" of salvation (v.9).
In the previous chapter we find our Lord had given sight to one born blind. This aroused the jealousy of the Pharisees, so that when the beggar faithfully confessed it was Jesus who had opened his eyes, they cast him out of the synagogue. When Christ heard of this, He at once sought him out, and revealed

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Himself as the Son of God. This drew forth the confession, "Lord, I believe." Thus did he evidence himself to be one of the 'the sheep,' responding to the Shepherd's voice.
Following this; our Lord announced; "For judgment I am come into this world; that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."(9:39). Some of the Pharisees heard Him, and asked, "Are we blind also?" to which the Saviour replied; "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." It was the self-confidence and self-complacency of these Pharisees which proved them to be blind, and therefore in their sins. Unto them; under these circumstances, did Christ deliver this memorable and searching proverb of the shepherd and the sheep.
Jesus was saying; "If you were sensible of your blindness and really desired light, if you would take this place before Me, salvation would be yours and no condemnation would rest upon you. But because of your pride and self-sufficiency, because you refuse to acknowledge your undone condition, your guilt remaineth."
These Pharisees were the thieves and robbers to which Christ directs His words. Our passage begins with; "Verily, verily, I say unto you." The antecedent of the YOU is found in "the Pharisees of chapter 9.
Our chapter began with these words: "Verily; verily; I say to you; he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door; but climbs up some other way; the same is a; thief and a robber." Most likely the door referred to here is the Messiah because Jesus went on to say; "the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep." Only the shepherd has the right to enter the sheepfold and call His own sheep out to follow Him. Jesus rebuked those who would claim to lead God's people without regarding the Messiah (who is in their midst; but unrecognized by them). Such leaders have false ambitions; selfish desires and evil intentions. The Pharisees claimed to be PASTORS; but not under God's appointment. They had their own religion which they believed would win them God's approval. The Apostle Paul discusses their concept of righteousness in Romans 9 and 10. "What shall we say them? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness; have attained to righteousness; even the righteousness of faith; but Israel; pursuing the law of righteousness; has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith; but as it were; by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.

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"Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 9:30-10:4)
The Pharisees missed the way to true righteousness which was Christ, they were trying to climb up some other way! They stumbled over Him!
Our passage continues: "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." Christ presented Himself to Israel in a lawful manner, that is, in strict accord with the Holy Scriptures. 'He submitted Himself to all the conditions established by Him who built the house. Christ answered to all that was written of the Messiah, and took the path of God's will in presenting Himself to the people. He had been born of a virgin, of the covenant people, of the Judaic stock, in the royal city--Bethlehem. He had conformed to everything which God required as an Israelite. He had been "born under the law" (Gal. 4:4). He was circumcised the eighth day (Luke 2:21), and subsequently, at the purification of His mother, He was presented to God in the Temple (Luke 2:22).
Because He was the true Messiah, God the Father opened the door to Him, and once He entered, He became that door. He alone had the legitimate access into the sheepfold of Judaism. He was the True Shepherd, not the Pharisees!
Verse 3 of our text reads: "To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he called his own sheep by name and leadeth them out." The "porter" was the one who vouched for the shepherd and presented him to the sheep. As to the identity of the 'porter' in this proverb there can be no doubt. The direct reference was to John the Baptist who "prepared the way of the Lord." He it was who formally introduced the Shepherd to Israel: that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing (1:31), was his own confession. But, in the wider application, the 'porter' here represented the Holy Spirit, who officially vouched for the credentials of the Messiah, and who now presents the Saviour to each of God's elect.

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The 'door' was the legitimate and appointed entrance into the fold, and this figure meant that the Messiah came by the road which Old Testament prophecy had marked out beforehand. The 'porter' presented the shepherd to the sheep. Not only had the prophets borne witness to Christ, but, in addition, when He appeared, a forerunner heralded Him, introducing Him to the nation of Israel.
In John 9 Christ had shown how that He had entered the door into the sheepfold, for He had come working the works of God (9:4),
and had thus shown Himself to be in the confidence of the Owner of the fold, and therefore the approved Shepherd of the flock.
The Pharisees, on the contrary, were resisting Him and attacking the sheep; therefore they must needs be 'thieves and robbers."
The blind beggar was a sample of the flock, for refusing to listen to the voice of strangers, he, nevertheless, knew the voice of the Shepherd, and drawn to Him, he found salvation, security and sustenance.
All of this, strikingly illustrated in John chapter 9, receives interpretation and amplification in chapter 10, where we have a blessed commentary on the condition of the excommunicated beggar. The Pharisees imagined they had cut him off from the place of safety and blessing (the synagogue), but the Lord had shown him that it was only then he had really entered the true place of blessing. Had he remained inside Judaism he would have been the constant object of the assaults of the 'thieves and robbers"; but now he was in the care of the true Shepherd, the good Shepherd, who instead of killing him, would die for him!
It is beautiful to compare 10:3 with 9:34. The Pharisees' "casting out" of the poor beggar was, in reality, the Shepherd leading him out from the barren wilderness of Judaism to the green pastures of Christianity. Thus are we given to see the Lord Himself behind the human instruments--a marvelous example is that of how God oft times employs even His enemies to accomplish a good turn for His people!
Our text tells us..."and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." It was customary, and is still, we are told by travelers, for shepherds to give particular names to their sheep. Remember, in Palestine in Bible days, the flock usually was small in number, thus each animal was known by the shepherd. "His own sheep" referred to in our text were those who had been given to Him by the Father from all eternity; and when He calls, all of these "sheep" must come to Him, for it is written, "All that

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Father giveth Me shall come to Me" (John 6:37). These "sheep," then, were the elect of God among Israel. Not to the Nation at large was Christ's real ministry, rather did He come unto the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."
When Jesus was teaching the parables in Matthew 13, He said something extremely interesting! "And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them" (Matt. 13:10-11;14-15)
Listen to Jesus pray: "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them" (John 17:6-10).
One wonderful truth taught in the parable of John 10 is that the Lord Jesus Christ knows His sheep and that it is a wonderful thing to be known by Him! It is stated very explicitly in verse 14 ("I am the good Shepherd; I know My sheep and they know Me").
Moreover, according to the further teaching of this chapter, the sheep are known to Christ because they have been given to Him by the Father (v.29), and it is for these and not for all sheep that the shepherd dies (vv. 14-15).
"And the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice." Note: "He calleth His own sheep by name...and the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.
A number of illustration of this are found scattered throughout the Gospels. "And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and He saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed Him" (Matt. 9:9)

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He was a lone sheep of Christ. The Shepherd called him, he recognized His voice, and promptly followed Him.
"And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house" (Luke 19:5). Here was one of the sheep, called by name. The response was prompt, for we are told, "And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully" (v.6).
"The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me" (John 1:43). This shows the Shepherd seeking His sheep before He called him.
John 11 supplies us with a still more striking example of the drawing power of the Shepherd's voice as He calleth His own sheep.
There we read of Lazarus, in the grave, but when Christ calls His sheep by name--"Lazarus, come forth"--the sheep at once respond!
As a touching example of the sheep knowing His voice found in chapter 20 of John. Mary Magdalene visited the Saviour's sepulcher in the early morning hour. She finds the stone rolled away, and the body of the Lord gone! Disconsolate, she stands there weeping. Suddenly she sees the Lord Jesus standing by her, and "knew not that it was Jesus." He speaks to her, but she supposed Him to be the gardener. A moment later she identified Him, and says, "Robboni." What had happened in the interval? What enabled her to identify Him? Just one word from Him--"Mary"! The moment He called His sheep by name she "knew His voice."
It has been thus with God's elect all down the ages! There is a general "call" which goes forth to all who hear the Gospel, for "many are called," though few are chosen (Matt. 20:16). But to each of Christ's "sheep" there comes a particular, a special call. This call is inward and invincible and therefore effectual. "Whom He called, them He also justified" (Romans 8:30).
All of us who have come to know the love of Christ and the power of His cross, remember that moment when it seemed like Jesus was talking to us. We understood His love that sent Him to that cross, and we knew that it was for us He died. We were the lost sheep and we knew that He had come calling for us!
That was the moment He became our Shepherd and we became a part of His eternal fold!
And because the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall never want! His love and mercy are from everlasting to everlasting!