Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
John
Book: John
Chapter: 10
Overview:
The
Parable of the good
Shepherd.
(1-5) Christ the Door.
(6-9)
Christ the good
Shepherd.
(10-18) The Jews' opinion concerning
Jesus.
(19-21) His discourse at the
Feast of
Dedication.
(22-30)
The Jews attempt to
Stone Jesus.
(31-38) He departs from
Jerusalem.
(39-42)
1-5 Here is a
Parable or similitude, taken from the customs of
the
East, in the management of
Sheep. Men, as creatures
depending
On their Creator, are called the
Sheep of his pasture.
The
Church of
God in the world is as a
Sheep-Fold, exposed to
deceivers and persecutors. The great
Shepherd of the
Sheep knows
all that are his, guards them
By his
Providence, guides them
By
his
Spirit and
Word, and goes before them, as the Eastern
shepherds went before their
Sheep, to set them in the way of his
steps. Ministers must serve the
Sheep in their spiritual
concerns. The
Spirit of
Christ will set before them an open
door. The
Sheep of
Christ will observe their
Shepherd, and be
cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from
Faith in
him to fancies about him.
6-9 Many who hear the
Word of
Christ, do not understand it,
because they will not. But we shall find one
Scripture
expounding another, and the blessed
Spirit making known the
blessed
Jesus.
Christ is the Door. And what greater security has
the
Church of
God than that the
Lord Jesus is between it and all
its enemies? He is a door open for
Passage and communication.
Here are
Plain directions how to come into the
Fold; we must
come in
By Jesus Christ as the Door.
By Faith in him as the
great
Mediator between
God and
Man. Also, we have precious
promises to those that observe this direction.
Christ has all
that care of his
Church, and every believer, which a good
Shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the
Church, and every
believer, to wait
On him, and to keep in his pasture.
10-18 Christ is a good
Shepherd; many who were not
Thieves, yet
were careless in their duty, and
By their neglect the flock was
much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The
Lord Jesus knows whom he has
Chosen, and is sure of them; they
also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here
the
Grace of
Christ; since none could demand his
Life of him, he
laid it down of himself for our
Redemption. He offered himself
to be the
Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case
Calling for it, he offered himself for the
Sacrifice. He was
both the offerer and the
Offering,
So that his laying down his
Life was his
Offering up himself. From hence it is
Plain, that
he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set
free from the
Punishment of
Sin, to obtain the
Pardon of their
Sin; and that his
Death should obtain that
Pardon. Our
Lord laid
not his
Life down for his doctrine, but for his
Sheep.
19-21 Satan ruins many,
By putting them out of conceit with the
Word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their
necessary
Food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of
what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the
cause of
Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his
Sheep into his
Fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed
it, but remember our Master was thus reproached before us.
22-30 All who have any thing to say to
Christ, may find him in
the
Temple.
Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves
doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his
words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious
disposition and happy state of his
Sheep; they heard and
believed his
Word, followed him as his
Faithful disciples, and
none of them should perish; for the Son and the
Father were one.
Thus he was able to defend his
Sheep against all their enemies,
which proves that he claimed Divine power and
Perfection equally
with the
Father.
31-38 Christ's
Works of power and
Mercy proclaim him to be over
all,
God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He
is in the
Father, and the
Father in Him. Whom the
Father sends,
he sanctifies. The holy
God will reward, and therefore will
employ, none but such as he makes holy. The
Father was in the
Son,
So that
By Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son
was
So in the
Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This
we cannot
By searching find out to
Perfection, but we may know
and believe these declarations of
Christ.
39-42 No weapon formed against our
Lord Jesus shall prosper. He
escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his
Hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows
how to deliver the godly out of their temptations, and to make a
way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive
Christ and his
Gospel out of their own
City or country, but they cannot drive
him or it out of the world. When we know
Christ By Faith in our
hearts, we find all that the
Scripture saith of him is true.