The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Shepherd” it comes from the Greek Word “poimen” which means “shepherd.”
Jesus describes Himself with an image everyone in His audience understood immediately, a shepherd who actually cares for his sheep. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is John 10.
Jesus contrasts a true shepherd, who enters through the door and whose sheep know his voice, with a thief or robber who climbs in some other way. He declares, “I am the good shepherd,” “poimen” in Greek, explaining that a good shepherd “giveth his life for the sheep,” unlike a hired hand who flees when danger comes since the sheep are not truly his own. Jesus says His sheep know His voice and follow Him, and He knows them personally, promising them eternal life, that “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Jesus makes an extraordinary claim about His unity with the Father. “I and my Father are one.” The Jews again take up stones, accusing Him of blasphemy for making Himself God, though Jesus defends His words by pointing to His works, and reminds them that Scripture itself calls certain people “gods” in a lesser sense, so His claim to be God’s Son should not seem so unbelievable given the works He performs.
This provokes another attempt to seize Him, but Jesus escapes out of their hands and withdraws beyond the Jordan, to the place where John first baptized. Many people come to Him there, and remembering that John, though he performed no miracles himself, spoke truly about Jesus, many of them believe on Him in that place.
The image of a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, rather than fleeing at the first sign of danger like a hired hand would, captures something central to who Jesus is. His care for His people was never distant management. It was personal enough to be worth His own life.
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