John 10:1

Verily. [The Good Shepherd, John 10:1-21.] See on Matt. 5:18; John 1:51. The present passage is a sequel to the healing of the blind man. The Pharisees, the recognized shepherds of Israel, had been unfaithful to their trust. They had cast out one from the fold who had expressed faith in the Messiah (John 9:34).

Sheepfold. Gr. aide, a fenced-in, unroofed enclosure around a house, such as a courtyard (see on Matt. 26:58). This was sometimes used as an enclosure for sheep. Some scholars think that an uncovered enclosure in the country is referred to.

Thief. Gr. kleptes, one who pilfers, or steals, as did Judas from the common purse (ch. 12:6). He may or may not employ violence. The idea of violence is more prominent in the word for “robber,” lestes, “one who plunders.” Such was Barabbas (ch. 18:40). The one who climbs up and over the wall of the enclosure by a way of his own making gives evidence that he is not the owner of the sheep. He may be a lone sneak thief carrying out his pilfering under cover of darkness, or he may be one of a gang of robbers who acquires property by violence. In any case he is a false shepherd.

By thieves and robbers Jesus was here designating especially the Pharisees, who claimed that they were the shepherds of Israel. They decreed who should be admitted to, and who should be expelled from, the fold. They “shut up the kingdom of heaven against men” and prevented those who sought to enter (Matt. 23:13). They compassed land and sea to make one proselyte, but when he was made he was twofold more a child of hell than they (Matt. 23:15). They took away the “key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52), and by their false interpretation of the Scriptures prevented men from recognizing and accepting the light.

Thieves and robbers are they who offer men any other means of salvation than that which has been provided through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). The world has had, and will continue to have, its false messiahs. They do not enter by the door, Christ Jesus (John 10:9). Their claims, are false, and their carefully laid schemes will end in disaster.