The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 40

Zeolrnrio.h (xi. 4-17) of similar imagery from the eyo. The shepherds towards even- to denoto the contrast between the true ing were probably gathering their scattererl and falso shepherds, o.nd the anticipation by flocks, according to Oriental custom, into the prophets of a time when the true and their well-known enclosures and Jesus with good Shepherd would fulfil all Jehovah's his audience might have s~en tbem doing pleosure, throws vivid light on these words it if they gazed out from the courts of tho of our Lord, Verily, verily, I BBY unto you, temple over the neighbouring hills (see also Ke tho.t entereth not by the door into the Thomson, 'The Land and the Book,' i. 301, told of the sheep, but olimbeth up some a passage which provides an admirable com- other wo.y, the same is o. thief and a robber. mentary on this parable). There is no abso- Severo.I commentators of eminence have lute need that the customary an,l well-known maintnined that by "the doOT," in this firijt habit of the countrv-side should have been verse, our Lord (as in ver. 7) meant e.t once visible at the moment. The ahundantly at- to designo.te himself. 'fhis is not neces- tested practice furnished to his hearers all sary. He rather en mm ons the Pho.risees to needful corroboration. The deeper signifi- recognize the fact that there is a door, a way cance of the passage lies in the prophetic of sure o.nd divinely appointed o.dmission to symbolism of Jcr. xxiii. 1-4; Isa. xl. 11; the " fold of the sheep," through which the Ps. xxiii. 1-3; lxxviii. 52; Numb. xxvii. veritable Shepherd passes, bringing his flock 17; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 31; xxxvii. '.H. Jehovah with him by well-known voice and manner. was the Shepherd of Israel (Ps. lxxx. 1), and l.nter on, our Lord claims to be the one Way he would appoint once more in their Mcssial:- by which all under-shepherds can gain true King a David, who should be his gracious access to the flock, and all the sheep of Representative and Agent. All these repre- God's pasture co.n find protection and free- sentations were gathcretl up in Chri-t';; dom; but here he suggests the principle of wonderful parable of the lost sheep (Luke discrimino.tion between e. true shepherd e.nd xv. 3-7). Thoma endeavours to credit the a thief or robber. The ,c/l.e1rT71s is one who is author of the Gospel with this ideal picture selfishly seeking his own ends, and would of the contrast between the true and false avoid detection; the /1.'1/0''Tt/S is one who shepherd. would use violent means to secure his pur- Ver. 3.-To him the porter openeth. pose (Jude.a we.s e. "thief," Bare.bbas was a The doorkeeper of the fold has been vari- " robber "). The fe.lse shepherd disdains ously interpreted. Bengel and Hengsten- the door, e.nd climbs up some other we.y berg say, "God himself" is meant; Stier, a.long his own selfish lines of action ( d/1./1.a• Alford, and Lange, "the Holy Spirit;" x&B,11 is used in this p!o.ae only, equivo.lent to against which interpretations may be urged " from some other quarter than the ordinary the subordinate position assigned to the home of the shepherd "). His purpose is "porter," as compared with the shepherds not to benefit the sheep, but to seize them, themselves. Lampe and Godet think that or slaughter them for his own purposes "John the Baptist" was intended; while (Ezek. x.xxiv. 8). The Lord suggests that Meyer e.nd De Wette say that it is one of me.ny have assumed to sustain the relation those elements of the parable which is of shepherd to the flock and fold of God, dropped out of our Lord's own exposition with no inward call either of commission or for which we need not seek any special profession. They have been eager to insist application. Westcott thinks it must vary on their own rights, have mistaken their with the special sense attributed to "sheep" own narrow traditions for the command- and "shepherd," and that we must think ments of God, have imposed upon starved of it as " the Spirit working through his and worried souls their own selfish interpre- appointed ministers in ea.eh case." The tations of that commandment, and have "doorkeeper," if Christ be himself tha shown that they had no legitimate access to "Door," is the keeper of that door-the the hearts of men. agency, the ministry, the or<linances by which Ver. 2.-But he that enters in by the door the excellences and power of Christ were is a shepherd of the sheep. Let him be who or are manifested. We are reminded of sub- he may, Pharisee or priest, prophet or king, sequent use of the imagery in Paul's Epistles pastor or evangelist, unless he approach the (1 Cor. xvi. 9; 2 Cor. ii. 12; Col. iv. 3; cf. sheep by the right " way " he demeans and Acts xiv. 27); but the full meaning of the condemns himself. If he come by the door phrase is only suggested, e.nd we he.d better into the fold, he may be so far presumably wait for Christ's interpretation of some a shepherd. One fold might contain several parts of this e.llegory. The context provides flocks, and e. shepherd might lend these e. specific filling out, first of one part of the flocks into different enolosures according to imagery, e.nd secondly of another part of it. his wisdom u.nd cu.l'!l for his sheep. N eander, The two interpretations u.re not to be forced Godet, and Watkins think it possible that at one and tbe same time upon the parabl<l, the whole imagery may he.ve been borrowed Our Lord continues : And the sheep helU' hill  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [oH. X, 1-42.