Reading for Sept 19: John 10:11-21

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?"
21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Comments:

Jesus, continuing with the Shepherd/sheep analogy, is now in this passage identifying himself as the "Good Shepherd". He then explains why He is good. First He is good because He is willing to die for His sheep. This is different than the hired hands (hirelings) or false shepherds; they are only involved with the sheep for selfish reasons and "does not care about the sheep." The hirelings represent the Jewish leaders then and false teachers today.

Next, He is good because He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him (v14). This is more than just an intellectual knowledge. Most commentators describe this term know as describing the intimate love relationship, as between husband and wife. This loving relationship between shepherd and sheep is a reflection of the loving relationship between the Father and Jesus.

Another reason He is good is because He unites all of His chosen sheep into one flock. In verse 16 He refers to "other sheep"; these are the gentiles. So He is taking these other sheep and joining them with the sheep He has called out of the fold previously mentioned to make one flock, that The Church. Notice, just like when He was calling out the chosen from the fold, He is doing the action. He says "He must bring them", they cannot come on their own.

Lastly, He implies that He is good because He is obedient to His Father. Verses 17 and 18 say that the Father commanded Jesus lay down His life and so He did on His own initiated. He voluntarily laid down His life to be obedient; His life was not taken by someone else's power. The phrase, "take it again" does not mean He will die again; it is referring to His resurrection. As when He lays down His life He is giving His life, when He is resurrected He takes it again.

The passage ends describing a division among the Jews, with some saying Jesus must be demon possessed or insane and others were disagreeing. They were starting to realize that there was something special about this man. It seems that the chosen among the fold were starting to hear their shepherd's voice, as promised. The others did not recognize His voice because they were not His sheep.