Allegory of the door. The Jews could not understand the previous allegory. Our Lord utters another, which carries the truth to a higher point. I. CHRIST IS THE WAY OF SALVATION TO THE BELIEVER . "I am the Door of the sheep." 1. He is the Door of access to the Father . ( Ephesians 2:18 .) 2. He is the Door to heaven itself . ( John 14:2 .) 3. The Door is ever open . 4. It may be strait , but those who enter will assuredly be saved . ... read more
I am the Door: by me —by living relation to me— if any man ; i . e . either shepherd or sheep, for in this part of the interpretation they are not distinguished, and they alike need "salvation" and "pasture." By me if any man enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. "Salvation" here spoken of refers primarily to deliverance from dangers, protection from the ravenous wolves without the fold, and from false shepherds within. "Go in and out" is a phrase... read more
Christ the Door. A homely and simple metaphor; yet how full of meaning, how precious, how suggestive, to every hearer of the gospel! There may be a door to a sheepfold, to a house, to a palace, to a fortress. There may be a door to a dungeon, to a church, to a torture-chamber, to a royal treasury. A door may be of material as weak as wicker, or as strong as oak, iron, or brass. The door may be opened by a latch which a child may lift, or it may be secured by bolts and bars that may resist... read more
The Portal of safety and promise. "I am the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." During long ages Israel was God's flock; her system of life and worship, fenced round with laws and ordinances, was his fold; her prophets and righteous rulers were his shepherds. It was in many respects a strange and unique spectacle. "A people that dwelt alone, and was not reckoned among the nations." What was the key to this historic problem? One... read more
The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy. Christ, elaborating, evolving, what is contained in the image of "thief," regards his rival as the thief of souls; he whose pretension to be a way to God is based on no inward and eternal reality, who comes for no other purpose than to make the sheep his own, not to give them pasture; to sacrifice them to his selfish ends, to use them for his own purposes, not to deal with them graciously for theirs; but to destroy, since in... read more
Life and abundance. Sad indeed is the perversion of Divine gifts, which takes place when those who teach and lead mankind use their influence for moral harm. Yet so it was, our Lord Jesus tells us, with many who came before him with great professions indeed, yet with no help for the spiritually necessitous. Some such had altogether carnal notions of what deliverance , salvation, means. Others were animated by selfishness and ambition. The purpose of many who made great claims was in... read more
The two missions. Notice— I. THE MISSION OF HUMAN SELFISHNESS . We are taught by Christ that there is such a mission in the world. It is as old as the temptation of our first parents by that evil and selfish spirit, the devil. It was active in the world before and at the time of Christ, and to a greater extent afterwards. Every false teacher, every one that assumes Christ's position, or leads souls from Christ and God either intentionally or unintentionally, is pronounced by... read more
The fullness of life in Jesus. Jesus is the Shepherd, contrasted first of all with the thief , and then with the hireling. In this verse the contrast is with the thief. The thief comes to steal , taking away the sheep from its proper owner. The thief comes to kill , taking away from the sheep all further use and enjoyment of its own life. The thief comes to destroy , ravaging through the fold in pure malice and wantonness, killing the sheep, not for food, but just through... read more
By me - By my instruction and merits.Shall be saved - See John 5:24.Shall go in and out ... - This is language applied, commonly to flocks. It meant that he shall be well supplied, and defended, and led “beside the still waters of salvation.” read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - John 10:7-10
(2) Allegory of the door and the fold , in which Christ claims to be "the Door of the sheep ." read more