John Chapter 10

"Most truly I declare to you, the one who does not proceed into the sheepfold through the door but climbs in the other way, that one is a thief. But the one who comes in through the door is the sheep's shepherd. The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep will listen to his voice. He calls each sheep by name and leads each other out. When he has sent every one of his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they heard clearly to his voice. They will by no means follow with a stranger but will run away from him because they do not know every stranger's voice."

Jesus talked about His comparison to His disciples, but they didn't comprehend what He was saying to them. Jesus told them again, "I declare to you most truly again that I am the door for the sheep. All those who have come in place of Me are thieves, but the sheep have not heard them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out to find pasturage. The thief does not come but to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd gives up his life on behalf of the sheep. The hardworking man, who isn't a shepherd and to whom the sheep doesn't belong, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away, and the wolf seizes and throws them because he is a good man and does not care for the sheep. I am a good shepherd. I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I give up My life on behalf of the sheep. And I have other sheep, which aren't of this fold; those too I must send in, and they will hear My voice, for they will become one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves Me because I give up My life so that I may receive it again. No man takes it away from Me, but I give it up of My own initiation. I have the authority to give it up and receive it again. This is the commandment that I have received from My Father."

A division started among the Jews again because of these words. Many of them were declaring, "He has a demon and is completely out of His mind. Why do you listen carefully to Him?" Others declared, "These are not the sayings of a criticized man. A demon can't open people's blind eyes to see well, can it?" The Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem at that time. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.

The Jews gathered and began to declare to Him, "How long are you going to keep us in anxiousness? If You are the Christ, tell us perceivably." Jesus responded to them, "I told you, and yet you do not believe Me. The works that I am doing in My Father's name, these give witness about Me. But you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen carefully to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them everlasting life, and they will not ever be destroyed or seized away from My hand by any means. What My Father has given me is greater than any other things, and no one will seize them out of the hand of the Father. I and the Father are one."

Once more, the Jews had stones to throw at Him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many fine works from the Father. From which of these works are you stoning Me with?" They answered, "We are stoning You not for good work but for profane talk, for You, although being now a man, make Yourself a god." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I declared, you are gods'? If he called 'gods' those against whom the word of God came, and yet the Scriptures cannot be fulfilled, do you say to Me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You profaned Me because I declared, I am God's Son'? If I am not doing My Father's works, then do not believe Me. But if I am doing them, even though you still do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may come to know and may continue knowing that the Father is with Me, and I am also with the Father."

They tried again to take hold of Jesus, but He fled from their reach. He went across the Jordan River to the place where John was administering baptism at first, and He stayed there. Many people came to Jesus and began declaring, "John did not make a single sign, but all these things that John declared about this man were true." Many had faith in John there.

Our PECS/Picture Exchange Communication System for John Chapter 10

Questions

1. How did the Jews feel about Jesus' works?
2. Why did the Jews throw stones at Jesus' teachings?
3. What is the good shepherd when anyone enters through him?
4. What is the Festival of Dedication?