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John 10

Jesus identifies himself as the shepherd who gives his life for his sheep and keeps them secure with the Father.

Jesus describes a shepherd who knows his sheep and leads them by his voice. When his listeners fail to understand, he identifies himself as the door and the good shepherd who lays down his life. His words divide the crowd. Later, during the Feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem, people demand that he say whether he is the Christ. His claims about his Father provoke an attempt to stone him. He leaves for the region beyond the Jordan, where many believe.

fear for the futurefeeling distant from God
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1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.
10The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
13The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
20Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
21Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
22It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
23It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.
26But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
30I and the Father are one.”
31Therefore the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
33The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
34Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
35If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),
36do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
37If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.
38But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
39They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.
40He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there.
41Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”
42Many believed in him there.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
John 10:28Jesus grounds his sheep’s security in the eternal life he gives and his power to keep them.
John 10:27Hearing, being known, and following describe the bond between Jesus and his sheep amid the crowd’s unbelief.
John 10:11The shepherd’s goodness takes its clearest form in his willingness to lay down his life for the sheep.
Where this chapter reaches

Ezekiel shares the picture of failed shepherds, endangered sheep, and God’s promise to gather his flock under one shepherd, a pattern echoed in Jesus’ claims. Jesus also quotes Psalm 82 in his response to the blasphemy charge, appealing to Scripture’s authority and its use of the term gods.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do the shepherd’s actions reveal about the kind of care Jesus gives his sheep?

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Which part of Jesus’ exchange with his opponents raises a question you want to explore further?

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Questions people ask about John 10

What does hearing Jesus’ voice mean in John 10?

Jesus uses the familiar bond between sheep and their shepherd to describe his relationship with those who belong to him. Verse 27 links hearing his voice with being known by him and following him. The passage concerns recognizing and responding to Jesus; it does not explain a method for receiving private messages.

Who are the other sheep in John 10:16?

Jesus says he has sheep beyond the present fold whom he must bring into one flock under one shepherd. The verse does not name them. They are commonly understood as Gentiles who will believe in him, alongside Jewish believers. The stated emphasis is their shared shepherd and their unity as one flock.

What does Jesus mean by “I and the Father are one”?

The immediate context is Jesus’ promise that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand or his Father’s hand. His claim expresses their unity in divine power and care. His opponents hear a claim to deity. Jesus distinguishes himself from the Father while affirming that each is in the other.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).