John 10

10 ¹"Truly, truly, I tell you: whoever doesn't enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in another way, is a thief and a robber. ²But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴After bringing all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will never follow a stranger—they'll run from him, since they don't know the voice of strangers."

⁶Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they didn't grasp what he meant.

⁷So Jesus said again, "Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸"All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved, going in and out, finding pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so they may have life, and have it in abundance.

¹¹"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ^a a v11 Jesus takes the shepherd title our Father wore over Israel and makes it his own — the Shepherd who does what no hired hand would: lay down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, not a shepherd, doesn't own the sheep. Seeing the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and flees—the wolf snatches and scatters them. ¹³The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep not of this fold; I must lead them too, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷This is why the Father loves me: I lay down my life only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have authority to lay it down, and authority to take it up again. This charge I received from my Father."

¹⁹These words brought division among the Jews once again. ²⁰Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to him?" ²¹But others said, "These aren't a demon-possessed man's words. Can a demon open blind eyes?"

The Feast of Dedication

²²Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ^b b v22 The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) celebrated the temple's rededication; it falls in winter and is not among the festivals commanded in the Law of Moses. ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon's Colonnade. ²⁴The Jews surrounded him and said, "How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

²⁵Jesus answered, "I told you, and you don't believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify about me, ²⁶but you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them from my hand. ²⁹My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one." ^c c v30 Jesus claims oneness with his Father — distinct Persons sharing one being. The crowd hears it as blasphemy and reaches for stones (v.33).

³¹Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him.

³²Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?"

³³"We're stoning you not for good work," they said, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

³⁴Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law: 'I have said you are gods'? ^d d v34 Jesus quotes Psalm 82, where Israel's judges are called "gods" because the word of God came to them—not a claim that many gods exist, but an argument from their own Scripture. ³⁵If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of my Father came—and Scripture cannot be broken, ³⁶what about the one the Father set apart and sent into the world? Why accuse me of blasphemy for saying, 'I am the Son of our Father'?

³⁷"If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸But if I do them, even if you won't believe me, believe the works, so you'll know and keep knowing the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

³⁹Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

⁴⁰Jesus then went back across the Jordan, to the place where John had first been baptizing, and stayed there. ⁴¹Many came to him, saying, "John performed no sign, but all John said about this man was true." ⁴²And in that place many believed in him.