The Lord proceeds to set forth the consequences of His rejection, spite of His dignity, under a variety of forms. It is the disclosure of His grace to and for the sheep, from His humiliation as man and servant even to the laying down His life in all its intrinsic excellency, and of His glory as one with the Father.
“Verily, verily, I say to you, he that entereth not through the door into the fold of the sheep but climbeth up otherwise, he is a thief and a robber; but he that entereth through the door is shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice; but a stranger they will in nowise follow, but will, flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. This proverb said Jesus to them; but they knew not what things they were which he was speaking to them.” (Vers. 1-6.)
It is an allegorical mode of speech, departing so far from ordinary language, but adopting a figure very familiar to the law, the psalms, and the prophets. (Gen. 49; Psa. 80; Isa. 40; Ezekiel xxxiv.; Zech. 11; 13) The application to pastors of the church is ridiculously out of place and. time. It is the Shepherd of Israel in contrast with those who claimed to guide the ancient people of God. Even He, albeit a divine person, entered in the appointed way. Others who had no competency were no less destitute of title or commission. The woman's Seed, the virgin's Son, the Seed of Abraham, the Son of David, the mighty God, the Father of the age to come, coming forth out of Bethlehem, from of old, from everlasting, yet to be cut off after sixty-nine of Daniel's seventy weeks, the righteous Servant abased beyond all yet to be exalted above all, what did not meet to point Him out and exclude every rival? Yes, the rejected Christ is He that entered through the door, Shepherd of the sheep—none but He.
All others sought to mount some other way. Theudas might boast to be somebody, Judas draw away people after him, Pharisees love the first seats, scribes and doctors of law lay heavy burdens on men; but the, sheep, taught of God, hear His voice, not theirs; even as the porter, the Spirit, in His care for the glory of God, opened to Him only, as we see from the beginning in the Simeons and Annas and all who waited for redemption in Jerusalem. The others, small or great, orderly or revolutionary, had no right to the sheep; they were nothing better than thieves or robbers. He only is Shepherd, and the sheep hear His voice. They are His own, and He calls them as such by name. Who could, who would, but Himself? He knows and loves them, making them feel that He has an interest in them, such as God alone could have.
Again, Christ entered in, but He leads out. Judaism is doomed. The Israel of God follow Him outside. It was no question now of gathering back into the land the outcasts of Israel, or the dispersed of Judah; this must await another day. Now He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. “When He shall have put forth all His own” —for if such were the principle of His action now, still it was to be the necessary effect of His death on the cross—He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. It is the wisdom of God for the simple.
Precious word of God, the hearing of His voice! It is due to His person, it is the fruit of His grace, it is their true and only safeguard. And a stranger will they in no wise follow, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. The “stranger” has nothing to do with them; however he might seek it, what have they to do with him? Their wisdom is to follow Jesus, whose they are, whose voice they hear and know. How simple, were we but simple! How honoring to the Son! This too best pleases the Father. It is through faith we are kept, not by discerning shades of skepticism or superstition, though this may be for some a duty or call of love for others.
But such words are powerless to the men of either reason or tradition. For they seek their own honor, they give or receive it one of another. Jesus came in the Father's name, and Him they receive not. They avow themselves strangers to Him; they deny that any can know His voice. Had they heard it themselves, they would not doubt it could be known. They prefer and follow a stranger. The superstitious exalt their church: were it God's church, it would repudiate such exaltation at the expense of Christ. The skeptical exalt man as he is. But both agree in ignoring the Shepherd's voice. So it is now, and so it was then.
“This proverb said Jesus to them, but they knew not what things they were which he was speaking to them.” (Ver. 6.) His sayings are as Himself: if He is valued, so are they; if He is not believed on, neither are they understood. He is the light and the truth. All that He says depends on faith in Him for its apprehension. And therefore it is that in 1 John 2 the very babes of the family of God are said to know all things. Knowing Christ, they have an unction from the Holy One. It is not by learning, but by the possession of Christ, that they refuse errors which have ensnared unnumbered doctors of divinity. They are thus kept bright and fresh, simple and secure, because dependent on Him. These who count themselves wise venture to judge for themselves, and perish in their unbelieving presumption. To hear His voice is the humblest thing in the world, yet has it the power and wisdom of God with it. What they heard from the beginning abides in them, but for the stranger they have no ear nor heart. They are satisfied with Christ's voice. They know the truth in Him, and that no lie is of the truth. They are glad of every help which reminds them of His words, and brings them home to their souls. A stranger's voice they distrust, and flee from him. They are right—God would have us value no other voice.
“Therefore said Jesus again to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All as many as came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: through me if any one have entered, he will be saved, and will go in and will go out, and will find pasture. The thief cometh not unless that he may steal and slaughter and destroy; I came that they might have life, and have abundantly.” (Vers. 7-10.)
In the former allegory the Lord speaks of Himself generally as Shepherd of the sheep, and this to put them forth, going at the head of them as they follow Him. Now He employs a different figure of Himself in direct terms, and with no less solemnity: “Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” There is no confusion with the former relation. It is not a question now of the sheepfold. This He had entered, with every proof suited to man by God—proofs personal, moral, ministerial, miraculous, and prophetic; but the carnal mind is invincible in its unbelief, and withal being enmity against God, it is if possible less subject to His grace (which it understands not, but suspects) than to His law, which conscience feels to be just and right. When bowed or broken in the sense of sin against God, how sweet to hear the voice of Jesus! “I am the door of the sheep” —not of the fold, but of such as are of God, who yearn after the knowledge of Him, and deliverance from self. “All, as many as came.... are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” They were not sent, but came without warrant; they sought their own things, not those of Jesus Christ, not of others therefore; corrupt or violent, how could they avail, either for the sheep, or for God's glory? To them the porter did not open, and, if the adversary deceived, the sheep listened not; these were guarded, however tried.
But now another was here. “I am the door: through me if any have entered, he will be saved, and will go in and will go out, and will find pasture.” How striking, yet perfectly simple, the fullness of grace touched in His words! It is no longer the narrow enclosure, but in principle for “any one” to enter; and if one shall have entered through Christ, there is salvation, liberty, and food—the sure, free, and rich blessing of Christianity. All turns on His glorious person. Grace bringing salvation to any, to all, has appeared. When law shut up a people from the depravities of a rebellious and idolatrous race, when it schooled those who heeded it, we can see why the wisdom of God chose a single nation for this great moral experiment. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we (the sheep of the fold) might receive sonship. But because ye are sons (the Gentiles that believe the gospel) God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. (Gal. 4) The gift was too precious, the boon too efficacious, to be pent up in the strait limits of Israel, especially as the Light manifested the darkness universal around.
Whoever then has entered through Christ will be saved, will go in and will go out, and will find all he lacks. God that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? The law condemned the sinner, placed him in bondage, and sentenced him to die. The Unchanging One changes all for the believer, be he who he may. This is grace as well as truth, and both came through and in Christ the Lord. What a Savior! How worthy of the God who gave and sent Him, His only-begotten Son, into the world, that we might live through Him
Outside Christ is sin and misery. Such is the world; and of all the world no part so delusive, so selfish, so fatal to itself and all governed by it, as the religious world and its leaders, the leaders now of infidelity as well as of superstition. Here is the testimony of Christ, of Him who is the truth; “the thief cometh not unless that he may steal, and slaughter, and destroy.” No creature can rise above its level: what then can the creature do that is steeped in unremoved evil and selfishness? It may sink indefinitely; it cannot possibly rise above itself. The world's hatred may become more deadly, its darkness more dense; but no ideas, no feelings, no helps, no ordinances, can change its nature, though the pretension to be of God when it is not, may, and must, precipitate into the depths of avarice and cruelty—the more destructive, because the false claim of His name shuts up every avenue of ordinary human pity, and the reality of what is of God provokes in the unreal the determination to get rid of what condemns itself.
How blessed the contrast of Christ! “I came that they might have life, and have abundantly.” He was the life, and life was in Him, not light only but life. All outside Him lay in darkness and death. He not only was sent of the Father but came and came that the sheep might have life; and He would give it abundantly, as was most due to His personal glory and His work, a work ever before Him here. Hence it was only in resurrection that He breathed on the disciples. As Jehovah God breathed on Adam, and the man became a living soul, after a different sort from every other living thing on earth, so did He who was alike the risen Man and true God breathe a better life on those who believed in Him. It is life eternal, and this after all question of sin and law was settled for faith by His death.