The end of chapter 9 of John’s gospel is not the end of that story. (The story of the man born blind.) It continues through John 10 verse 21. The chapter break is unfortunate because John 10:1 follows immediately that conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees about blindness. Almost scoffing, they said to Jesus, “So, we are blind too?” And Jesus’ reply was: “If you were, you wouldn’t be guilty. But since you say that you can see, your guilt remains.”
What blindness was Jesus talking about and what guilt had they incurred? The answer to that lies on what Jesus says next. Remember: The Pharisees were religious leaders among the people, self-proclaimed guardians of the righteousness of Israel. Many of them were Scribes, Teachers of the Law. In other words, they were, what the Lord called in the Old Testament, shepherds of Israel.
Moses and David were the prototypical righteous shepherds, leading the people in the ways of the Lord. But over the years, the prophets warned about another kind of shepherd that instead of leading the people to the Lord would lead them to ruin:
Isaiah 56:10-12 His watchmen are all of them blind, they are without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs that cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber: and the dogs are greedy, they know not to be satisfied, and these are shepherds that know not how to discern: they all turn to their own way, every one for his gain, even to the last of them: Come, [say they,] I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant.
Jeremiah 10:20-21 My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth from me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered.
Ezekiel 34:2-4 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock. The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have ye healed the sick, and ye have not bound up [what was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought for that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigour have ye ruled over them.
Not many of you should become teachers
That is the way the third chapter of James’ epistle starts:
James 3:1 (NIV) Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Yet, most of the Pharisees held themselves up as the model for the ideal Israelite. They had no hesitation in being considered shepherds of the people, and thus deserving of the “best seats at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues.”
As soon they scoffed and rejected Jesus’ open insinuation that they were blind, Jesus replied:
John 10:1-3 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not in by the door to the fold of the sheep, but mounts up elsewhere, *he* is a thief and a robber; but he that enters in by the door is [the] shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
Just because someone is dealing with the sheep – even trying to lead them – doesn’t mean he is the shepherd. You see, there are rules in this House, rules the Master has set. And when the Master had to go on travel, he gave all his bondservants their jobs to do and the authority to do them, and he commanded the porter, the doorkeeper, to watch (Mark 13:34) lest thieves catch them unaware.
In this House, the Master has sheep, sheep he raised, sheep he cares about. And the porter will only give access to them to the true shepherd. To that shepherd, the porter opens the door. Anyone else that gets in there any other way is, by definition, a thief.
This is the first way to tell the true shepherd from a false shepherd: Has the porter opened the door for them?
As we will see, the Pharisees are not going to get the allegory… But we can. And the point is that we can discern true shepherds from false shepherds because the true ones obey the rules of the house, and that is why the door is opened to them. The door to minister to the sheep was opened to Jesus, by the Father, time and time again. That is why He could do all those miracles.
Remember: Jesus said that He only did what He saw the Father doing.
But the Pharisees, as the young man born blind could see plainly, were powerless. Jesus said it this way in The Sermon:
Matthew 7:16-20 By their fruits ye shall know them. Do [men] gather a bunch of grapes from thorns, or from thistles figs? So every good tree produces good fruits, but the worthless tree produces bad fruits. A good tree cannot produce bad fruits, nor a worthless tree produce good fruits. Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. By their fruits then surely ye shall know them.
And there’s another way to tell which is the true shepherd: Is he speaking the words of God? When he calls, do you hear the Voice of the Father? (Go back to chapter 7…) John 7:16-17 Jesus therefore answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but [that] of him that has sent me. If any one desire to practise his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is of God, or [that] I speak from myself.
If I love God, if I have chosen to seek after His will… I will recognize His Voice. So, Jesus goes on:
John 10:4-6 When he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. But they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.
This allegory spoke Jesus to them, but they did not know what it was [of] which he spoke to them.
This was Jesus’ first reply to the Pharisees. It was meant to get them to think about it. Strangely enough, the man born blind brought up the same points.
The man born blind told them plainly that they were powerless… the opposite of Jesus. Think about it. Is it possible the door won’t be opened to you?
And after being repeatedly interrogated, the young man shot back at them: “What’s up with all these questions I already answered? Are you thinking of following Him too?” Think about it: The people (the people you are supposed to care about), they are following Jesus by the droves… What about you? Who follows you? Whose voice are they listening to?
The Pharisees wanted the position and authority of shepherds but there was no evidence in their lives that they understood what that calling meant, what that calling required.
To be a true shepherd I must be following the True Shepherd
The first allegory was meant to get them to break out of their paradigm, to get them to question their assumptions… to lead them to see that if indeed they wanted this mission of being shepherds, they were failing at it.
The first step is always to admit that we have missed the mark. But Jesus never leaves us there. He always gives us the next step, the way to restoration. If you want to be a shepherd and be able to enter through the door…
John 10:7 Jesus therefore said again to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
That’s the reality we have to face. There is only One way to become true shepherds, and that is to enter through the door ourselves.
There is a double Aha! in this realization: First of all, before ever thinking we can be shepherds, we have to accept that we are sheep too. We are not authorities unto ourselves… We too need to be led in and out by The Shepherd. We need that Voice, that guidance, that protection to live our lives in safety and full provision.
And the second realization is this: There is only One way in and out of that life. There is only one door in that House for us sheep… and His Name is Jesus.
Have there been others who have claimed authority to lead us, to tell us how to live? Sure. Throughout History, everywhere across the world, people have stood up and called themselves shepherds. But Jesus says…
John 10:8-9 All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture.
And we may wonder and ask, “But why? Haven’t there been many others who have been wise, many others who have been kind? Even many who also taught us how to live selflessly?”
That is a valid question. The House of this allegory, with its Rules, and the sheepfold, with its Door, certainly could be viewed as one of many possibilities. Surely in this world there have been many Houses and many Rules, and many sheepfolds… even today some would call us to join their House and be their sheep.
But we need to stop and read what Jesus just said, again.
What is His definition of the Shepherd’s calling? Why has the Shepherd come? Why does the House have that sheepfold and that door? What is Jesus offering us?
…if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved…
And that is the bottom line. Jesus is not just offering us a way of life or a philosophy that will make us happy or successful in this world. He is not offering us a way to transcend the pain and suffering of this world so that we can live a life of blessed insensateness or individual non-existence. And He is not offering us a way to escape this world to live in another one indistinguishable from this one except for the fact that we get all our pleasures and desires satisfied.
No. Jesus from the beginning has been absolutely clear about why He came here: He came here to save us. He came here to show us the way back into the family, and the eternal plan, of God the Father. And He claimed He was the Only One who could do that… because He claimed to be the Son of God.
Yes, many have been wise in this world, and many have spoken worthy words… but have any of them claimed to be The Only Door into the family and Kingdom of the One and Only Creator of the Universe?
And if that destiny is open to us… if we human beings truly have an immortal individual spirit that can live for eternity in the presence and in the service of the Almighty God, then anyone who would tell us otherwise and lead us to a destiny different from that one is selling us short… such a one is – unfortunately – a thief and a robber, no matter how good their words may have sounded, or how kind their intentions had been.
This is all about Eternal Life
The stakes are infinite. That is why the enemy is so dangerous:
John 10:10 The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly.
What is at stake is life and death, eternal life and eternal death. And because of that, Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price:
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep:
And this means we have one more way to tell the True Shepherd (and His true followers) from the false:
John 10:12-13 but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep. Now he who serves for wages flees because he serves for wages, and is not himself concerned about the sheep.
Yes, there are and will be false shepherds. And they are dangerous. But because this is about Eternal Life, the Father will take no chances. This is why Jesus has told us over and over, that we can hear His Voice.
We need to know this. We need to know that no matter how many lies the world and the thieves and the robbers may throw our way, we will always still be able to hear the Father’s Voice. We just need to listen…
John 10:14-15 I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Do you think Jesus ever had a moment when He could not recognize His Father’s Voice?
No… In the same way, that well, that intimately, that surely we are able to know Him.
Don’t ever doubt that. Don’t ever let the world make you doubt that.
Jesus finishes this explanation with one more surprise for the Pharisees. Although it should have been no surprise because it had been part of the promise to Abraham from the beginning (Genesis 12:3) and part of the mission of the Messiah from the beginning (Isaiah 49:6).
John 10:16-18 And I have other sheep which are not of this fold: those also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd. On this account the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment of my Father.
And you noticed there the final surprise. Not only will He fulfill the mission declared in Isaiah 49:6 to be a light of salvation to the Gentiles, He would do it as Isaiah prophesied: by becoming the suffering servant. But He would go to that suffering willingly and in full authority.
Isaiah 50:5-9 The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not away back. I gave my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. But the Lord Jehovah will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me: who will contend with me? let us stand together; who is mine adverse party? let him draw near unto me. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me?
Jesus would pay the ultimate price because that was the price required to destroy our enemy: sin…
Isaiah 53:6-9 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken from oppression and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And [men] appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath subjected [him] to suffering.
That was the price of our salvation but not the end of the story.
Isaiah 53:10-12 When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin… he shall see a seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of [the fruit of] the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant instruct many in righteousness; and *he* shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and was reckoned with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Did the Pharisees understand? I think some were starting to…
John 10:19-21 There was a division again among the Jews on account of these words; but many of them said, He has a demon and raves; why do ye hear him? Others said, These sayings are not [those] of one that is possessed by a demon. Can a demon open blind people’s eyes?
What about us?
We are still in the middle of the escalation. Jesus is not holding back any Truth, no matter how hard it might be for a worldly mind to grasp… because there isn’t much time left… for them or for us.
It is time to face the question: What is really at stake? If it really is Eternal Life then we have to answer once and for all, for ourselves, the key question: Was Jesus Who He said He was?