“Whoever, therefore, enters not by Jesus Christ into the pastoral office, is no other than a thief and a robber in the sheepfold. Some will always climb over the barriers, but God has the barriers and the door there for a reason. God always intended that His people be led, fed, and protected by those who come in the legitimate, intended way. He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep: A true shepherd comes in the legitimate and designed way: through love, calling, care, and sacrificial service. The religious leaders gained their place among God’s people – the sheep spoken of here – through personal and political connections, through formal education, through ambition, manipulation, and corruption.Ĭ. Not everyone who stands among the sheep comes that way. The idea is that there is a door, a proper way to gain entry. One mark of their being a thief and a robber is how they gain entry among the sheep. Jesus explained that not everyone among the sheep is a true shepherd some are like thieves and robbers. He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other say, the same is a thief and a robber: Political and spiritual leaders were often called shepherds in the ancient world (Isaiah 56:11, Jeremiah 3:15). Most assuredly: “This is a phrase peculiar to the fourth Gospel, and it generally introduces a solemn asseveration about Jesus or his mission.” (Tenney)ī. The religious leaders had shown themselves to be so unhelpful and cruel to the man, his parents, and the common people in general that Jesus felt it necessary to talk about the contrast between His heart and work as a leader to God’s people and the heart and work of many of the religious leaders of His day. Most assuredly, I say to you: This follows – at least thematically – in John’s gospel after the great conflict with the religious leaders regarding the man born blind.
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”Ī. “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. (1-2) Jesus is the true, legitimate shepherd, who enters in the way that is proper and prepared.
Contrast between the Good Shepherd and the false shepherds of Israel.
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