The story so far. The giving of sight to a blind-from-birth beggar on a Sabbath day in AD 30 Jerusalem had become a major incident. The Pharisees and their supporters (“They” referred to above) have thrown the man out of the Temple but the man himself has trusted and followed Jesus. They are focused on destroying Jesus and cannot therefore accept this sign. Jesus has spoken a first parallel to them – see last week’s Info.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I state to you that I myself am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me – they are stealers and robbers, but the sheep do not hear them. I myself am the door. If anyone may come in through me, he will be saved, and will come in and will come out and will find pasturage. The stealer never comes except so that he may steal and may kill and may destroy; I myself come so that they may have life, and may surpassingly have.”
This second parallel started with Jesus being “the door of the sheep”. He directly contrasted himself with previous “stealers and robbers”. “Stealers and robbers” have one thing in common – the self-interest that drives them to personal gain. “I myself come so that they [the sheep] may have life, and may surpassingly have.” Others gain, by him.
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“I myself am the good one, the shepherd. The good one, the shepherd lays down his human life on behalf of the sheep. The rented person, not being a shepherd and whose own the sheep are not, observes the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees—and the wolf seizes them and scatters them - because he is a rented person and is not himself concerned about the sheep.”
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Jesus then describes himself twice, in parallel, as, “the good one, the shepherd” who “lays down his human life on behalf of the sheep”. He contrasts himself with “the rented person not being a shepherd and whose own the sheep are not”. The over-arching concern of “the rented person” is “the rented person”. But who or what did Jesus refer to when he said “the wolf seizes [the sheep] and scatters them”? Is there an over-arching destructive wolf behind all of us self-seeking human beings? Is that power still triumphant throughout today’s world? Who can help us?
“I myself am the good one, the shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my human life for the sheep.”
There is something very special about this three times repeated statement of Jesus about himself as, “the good, the shepherd”. Also, four times in one sentence, Jesus used the verb “know”. All four parties “know” one another. They share one character. When Jesus stated, “I lay down my human life for the sheep”, he was contrasting himself with every “rented person” and with “the wolf.” It is for “the sheep” that he “will lay down [his] life” so that they may escape “the wolf”.
“And I have other sheep which are not from this enclosure. These also I myself must bring, and they will hear my call, and they will become one flock—one shepherd."
“This enclosure” was probably the Judean religion and its Temple. The “other sheep” would be from outside of those descendants of Abraham.
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“Through this the Father loves me, in that I myself lay down my human life so that I may lay hold of it again. No one takes it from me, but I myself set it down - from myself. I have authority to set it down, and I have authority to lay hold of it again. I lay hold of this command from my Father.”
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“The Father loves” Jesus because of his obedient, self-chosen, self-sacrificing actions - “I myself lay down my human life”.
A division came to be - in the Jews - through these words. In fact, many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is mad. Why hear him?” Others were stating, “These messages are not demon-produced. A demon is not able to open blind eyes.”
“A demon is not able to open blind eyes.” Nor willing to “lay down his human life” for others – for “the sheep”. Who are these blind sheep?
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