This chapter connects with chapter 9 as Jesus continues schooling the Pharisees. Being blind, they were deceived and claimed to know how to save themselves morally and spiritually, having no sense of needing God. Jesus now contrasts the blind false shepherds with the true Shepherd. 

This entire figure of speech confused the Pharisees, and they could not comprehend what Jesus was saying (6). Their confusion ran so deep over the metaphor Jesus used of the Good Shepherd that some again blurted out He had a demon and was insane. Others, however, held firm and were divided from the demon-accusing group, declaring no one could do what Jesus did in opening blind eyes and being oppressed by demons (20-21). 

I AM the Good Shepherd (1-6)

Jesus opened with one of His “truly” statements, calling those gathered to listen closely to His truth. Jesus pictured a shepherd coming to the sheepfold in the early hours of the morning. The sheepfold Jesus had in mind was one surrounded by rock walls. Briars and thorns snarled up together on top of the walls. Thieves who sought to enter the sheepfold secretly and robbers who entered the sheepfold violently would not use the door to enter, finding another way in. The shepherd, however, would always come to the door to enter, and the sheep would know him by this (1-2).

The gatekeeper, also serving as the watchman by night, would open the door to the shepherd. Once in the sheepfold, the shepherd would call out to his sheep. Of the several flocks in the fold, his sheep would recognize his voice and begin following him (3).

The shepherd would not drive them out from behind, for the shepherd was affectionate with his sheep, having given them names, and they would naturally follow the lead of his voice (4). In contrast, a stranger would need to drive the sheep out; they would not follow and would instead fear the stranger and flee from him, knowing a stranger posed a danger to them (5). The Pharisees didn't understand (6).

I AM the Door of the Sheep (7-10)

Jesus changed the figure of speech, seeking to help them understand. He again asked them to listen closely to the truth they were struggling to hear. 

Jesus was moving from the morning time to the daytime. He again declared Himself the door of the sheepfold. Jesus then portrayed the shepherd leading the sheep to pasture. Once in the pasture, the shepherd would find an enclosure for the sheep to enter and exit. They could go feed or they could remain in the safety of the enclosure. The enclosure had no door so the shepherd would become the door, letting the sheep of his flock in and out (7).

Jesus then made a rough claim: all who came before Him and pretended to be shepherds were actually thieves and robbers. Some were being sneaky and some were being violent—all were caring for themselves and not the sheep. Sheep would not listen to their voices because they knew the supposed shepherds never really cared for them (8). These pretend shepherds came only to steal the sheep so they could kill and sell the sheep or eat the sheep themselves and destroy the flock. The true shepherd was known because he would come to give the sheep life, abundant life, lush fields to feed in, and protection from thieves and robbers (10). All who entered by the Jesus-door would be saved from the thieves and robbers. They would come to the enclosure for safety; they would go to the pastures and thrive abundantly with the Good Shepherd, Jesus, watching over them (9).

I AM the Good Shepherd, Further Developed (11-21)

The first scene of the Good Shepherd story presents morning, and the second, daytime. Jesus completed the figure of the Good Shepherd by introducing the nighttime. In ancient Palestine, nighttime predators roamed the countryside: wolves, panthers, leopards, bears, lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. The hired shepherds cared for their own lives more than the sheep’s. When the hired one saw danger, his instinct and practice were to save his own life, while the predators snatched up the unprotected sheep and scattered the flock into greater danger (12). The hired shepherd fled because he cared about his wages and his own preservation but had no compassionate commitment to the sheep (13). 

The Good Shepherd, on the other hand, would not leave the sheep and would instead risk—even give—His life to save the sheep (11). All through Scripture, God's leaders were not so much called leaders as they were called shepherds to God's people. The Pharisees would have understood the analogy because God always used the shepherd metaphor to describe His leaders. 

Even today's leaders are called to “pastor” God's flock. Pastor comes from the Greek word poimen, meaning shepherd.

Not only would the Good Shepherd know His sheep, but they would know Him. They would experience intimacy and caring love between them (14).

Jesus explained that the relationship between the Good Shepherd and His sheep was modeled after the relationship between the Father and His Son. The Son laid down His life for the Father and the Father for the Son. Using that relationship as a model, the Son would also lay down His life for the Father's sheep. Here, Jesus was shedding light on His death to come. He would lay down His life to save His sheep from the wild beasts of sin unleashed on them through religion and religious hirelings (15).

Jesus then prophetically mentioned other sheep not of the Israelite fold: Gentiles. Jesus would become a Good Shepherd to the Gentiles. He would speak to them, and they would listen to Him. One flock would form, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, who would listen to and follow Jesus (16).

The Father had a special love for Jesus because of His sacrificial love for His sheep. Four times Jesus made the point: He, as the Good Shepherd, would lay His life down for the sheep (11, 14, 17, 18).

No one would take Jesus’ life. No one had authority over Jesus' physical life, save His Father. Jesus willingly laid His life down and had the authority to take it up again. Jesus was not some kind of a punching bag for the devil or some helpless pawn in a Heaven-and-Hell spat. Not even the Jews would be capable of taking His life. Jesus not only had the authority to lay down His life, but He also had the power to take up His life again because His Father gave Him such authority (17, 18).

The entire episode, which began with the healing of the blind man, ended as it started. The listeners were divided: some claimed Jesus was troubled by demons, and others could not imagine such a person could heal the blind (19-21).

Tell Us Plainly, Are You the Christ? (22-33)

It was December, during the eight-day feast known today as Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights. Jesus likely would have stayed in Jerusalem from the Feast of Booths in October to this Feast in December. The Feast celebrated the rededication of the Temple in 164 B.C. 

Alexander the Great had made Palestine a part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. This lasted until 200 B.C. when King Antiochus III made Palestine part of the Seleucid Empire of Syria. 

During this time, the Second Temple—the Temple rebuilt by the exiles who returned from Babylon—was looted and its religious services stopped. Judaism was also outlawed. In 167 B.C., Antiochus IV then built an altar to Zeus in the Temple and had pigs sacrificed. Antiochus IV eventually banned the practice of circumcision. 

All of this led to a revolt under the leadership of Mattathias in 167 B.C., who eventually overthrew Antiochus and the Seleucid army, gaining independence for Israel that lasted until 63 B.C. In 63 B.C., Pompey conquered Palestine and made it a Roman province. 

Three years after the altar was erected in the Temple, Mattathias restored temple worship. To commemorate the victory and the restoration of the light of worship to Israel every December, Israel celebrated the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah. 

It was during this feast that Jesus was walking in the Temple among the colonnades of Solomon. The colonnades were a long covered area supported by columns built around the Temple area. 

There the Jews found and gathered around Jesus, demanding straight talk about whether He was the Christ or not.

In a rather hostile manner, they wanted to know if He would do something Messianic for them against Roman oppression, like Mattathias had done to the Seleucid Empire for Israel. They wanted no more suspense—was He the One Israel was looking for to free them from Rome? (22-24)

Jesus then told those Jews, or more correctly the leader of the Jews, that His works bore witness concerning His true identity (25). Jesus informed them that they were not among His sheep so they could not see the works nor hear His words. They were assuming that they needed a Mattathias kind of Messiah to liberate them from Rome; Jesus had come to liberate the whole world, including Rome (26).

On the other hand, Jesus' flock was responsive to His voice. They were hearing Him, and they were following Him. Those who were not His sheep could not hear His voice, while those who were His sheep could. The math was simple (27).

Jesus then told the Jews that His sheep, those who heard His voice, were given eternal life. They would never perish because of their sin or because of physical death. Further, no one would be able to snatch or forcibly take them from the safety of Jesus' hand (28). Jesus then explained to them why this was, just in case they assumed He was seeking attention for Himself. 

The Father gave souls, or sheep, to Jesus. The sheep did not follow Jesus because He had captured their attraction as some celebrity. They followed Jesus because they had been given to Him. They were safe in His hand from forcibly being taken because they were safe in the hand of the Father. The Father was the real focal point (29).

Then Jesus made the outright claim: “I and the Father are One.” This was reminiscent of shema language. Shema means to “hear.” Israel was given a command to “hear”: “Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is One.” By this statement, Jesus was making Himself a part of what Israel was to hear: God is One, and He is the Son of God, One with Yahweh (30).

In 20 B.C., Herod tore down the Temple the exiles had rebuilt and built a new Temple. Herod's Temple was begun in 20 B.C. and completed in 64 A.D., taking some 80 years to finish. When the Jews heard Jesus say He was One with the Father, they took up some of the stones being used for the rebuilding of the Temple and intended to stone Jesus again (8:59). They had tried this once before, but Jesus hid (31).

Before they could throw a stone, Jesus got in a question: “For which of My many good works are you stoning Me?” It was against Jewish law for a mob to spontaneously stone anyone. Second, the Jews had not been given the right under Rome to stage an execution (32).

The Jews then announced they were not stoning Jesus for good works but for claiming Himself God, the religious crime of blasphemy. The crime of blasphemy was based on Numbers 15:30-31 and Deuteronomy 21:22 where those who defiantly despised and rebelled against God were to be executed. The Jews were indicting Jesus for being defiant to Yahweh by calling Himself God (33).

Believe the Works (34-39)

Jesus began a rather complicated defense. 

He first directed them to their “law,” not the first five books, but the whole Old Testament. The entire Old Testament was considered by the Jews and Jesus to be the law of God. 

Jesus chose Psalm 82 as His text to show He was not being defiant to God based on their law. 

Psalm 82 mentions a court in Heaven and a court on Earth, which was supposed to hand out the justice of Heaven in its verdicts upon the poor and oppressed of Earth.

In Psalm 82:5, God calls the judges and oppressors those wandering around in darkness. In verse 6, God calls them “gods.” They were human judges, called to carry out God's justice. As such, they were “gods” to the children who belonged to the Most High—not “gods” in the sense of being divine, but “gods” in the sense of carrying out the justice of God in God's place to His people. 

Jesus then brilliantly concluded His logic. If God called those who brought Heaven's justice to Earth “gods,” how could Jesus be considered defiant in calling Himself one with God since He was sent from God to bring justice to Earth?

Jesus urged them to consider that the Scripture was inspired, inerrant, and unbreakable. If God said it, it was so. 

If He, Jesus, was set apart to bring justice to the world, and His works and words proved He was doing just that, then based on their law, how could He be defiant? He was, as God had declared concerning His judges, “God” (34-36).

No doubt Jesus was referring to Himself as divine but in a brilliant maneuver was using biblical logic to prove He was within scriptural bounds to claim the term “God.”

Jesus urged them not to believe if He was not doing the Father's works (37). If He was doing the Father's works, however, then Jesus urged them to believe His works, even if they could not believe in Him. If they believed in the works of the Father, they would at least understand that the Father was in Him and He was in the Father. They may not be able to get right then to the Deity of Christ, but they would be able to grasp that He was sent by God to bring to the earth the loving justice of God (38).

Based on Jesus’ argument, they downgraded their purpose from stoning Jesus to arresting Jesus. Again, when they reached out their hands to detain Him, Jesus slipped away; His hour had not yet come (39).

Many Believed (40-42)

Jesus then decided to leave Jerusalem and gain some separation from Jewish hostility. Jesus went to the east side of the Jordan, likely to the Bethany area (John 1:28) where John first began baptizing people. Jesus spent some time there (40). People made the journey and came to Him. Even though John was dead, they affirmed the message he had taught them was true. John did no miracle, but everything he said about Jesus was true. Many came to Jesus there and believed in Him based on John's predictions, Jesus' works, and Jesus' words (41-42).