Aquinas Commentary: John Part 2 Chapter 10
The Good Shepherd
Main Home Page | Aquinas Commentary Home Page | John Part 2 Contents10:1 Amen, amen I say to you: he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in another way is a thief and a robber.
10:2 But he who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
10:3 To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 And when he has let out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
10:5 But a stranger they do not follow but fly from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.
10:6 This proverb Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
10:7 Jesus therefore said to them again: amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
10:8 All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them.
10:9 I am the door. If any man enter by me, he will be saved. He will go in and out, and he will find pastures.
10:10 The thief only comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.
10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
10:12 But the hireling and he who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flies: and the wolf catches and scatters the sheep:
10:13 And the hireling flies because he is a hireling, and he has no care for the sheep.
10:14 I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me.
10:15 As the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for my sheep.
10:16 And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: those also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one fold and one shepherd.
10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
10:18 No man takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment I have received from my Father.
10:19 A dissension rose again among the Jews on account of these words.
10:20 And many of them said: he has a devil and is mad; why do you hear him?
10:21 Others said: these are not the words of one who has a devil; is a devil able to open the eyes of the blind?
10:22 It was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter.
10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.
10:24 The Jews therefore gathered around him and said to him: how long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
10:25 Jesus answered them: I speak to you, and you do not believe: the works that I do in the name of my Father give testimony about me.
10:26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep.
10:27 My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me.
10:28 And I give them eternal life; they will never perish, and no man will pluck them out of my hand.
10:29 That which my Father has given to me is greater than all, and no man is able to snatch them out of the hand of my Father.
10:30 I and the Father are one.
10:31 The Jews then took up stones to stone him.
10:32 Jesus answered them: many good works I have shown you from my Father; for which of these works do you stone me?
10:33 The Jews answered him: we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, make yourself God.
10:34 Jesus answered them: is it not written in your law, I said you are gods?
10:35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the Scripture is not able to be broken;
10:36 Do you say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world: you are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God?
10:37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me.
10:38 But if I do them, even though you do not want to believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
10:39 They sought therefore to take him, and he escaped out of their hands.
10:40 And he went again beyond the Jordan, into that place where John was baptizing first, and he remained there.
10:41 And many came to him, and they said: John indeed did no sign.
10:42 But all things whatsoever John said of this man were true. And many believed in him.