Jesus has just healed a blind man on the Sabbath, sparking a conflict with the Pharisees. While the Pharisees resist any special claims by Jesus, Jesus says that they are the blind ones. He now elaborates on this spiritual darkness.
John 10: 1-5, The true shepherd
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
The sheep, presumably the people of Israel, or the people of God, listen only to their shepherd, not to a fraud. These people recognize the voice of their shepherd, the Messiah and follow him. But there are false voices, people who attempt to get to the sheep in other ways.
John 10: 6-8, A shepherd who is a gate
Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.
In this metaphor Jesus is the gate or gatekeeper ... and also, presumably, the shepherd! It is now time for the people of Israel to listen.
John 10: 9-10, A thief, a hired hand, and the shepherd
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus describes the response of three different types of possible caretakers. The thief has clearly evil intentions. The hired hand has good intentions but no real commitment. Only the shepherd has full commitment, to the point that he will risk his life for the sheep.
The offer to the sheep is an abundant pasture, where they are taken care of by a caring shepherd.
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