Since John 7:14 to this point, we have been considering what the Lord said and did during the season of the Feast of Tabernacles, 29 AD. In fact, most of what is recorded by this Gospel narrator was said and done on the Last Great Day of those annual holy days occurring in the seventh month of that year.[1] The record continues without a break and without any reference to another day. Therefore, it is natural to assume what the narrator records in John 10:1 to 10:21 also occurred on the Last Great Day, during its closing hours (sunset to sunset). So, Jesus had been speaking to the Pharisees who were with him. They may have been among those who were willing to believe he was the Messiah, but were hesitant to accept everything Jesus taught (cp. John 9:40). Jesus had just said that he had come into the world to give light to the spiritually blind and to disclose that those who thought they were able to see, were, in fact spiritually blind (John 9:39). When the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ conclusion, he told them they continue to be blind, because they won’t admit that all men, including those who think they see, are really spiritually blind.
Jesus continues in this same context into chapter 10 saying, he is the good shepherd and he enters the sheepfold by the door (John 10:2), all others come another way and they are nothing but thieves and robbers, who have come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:1). In the context of the Kingdom of God being within the heart of man (Luke 17:20-21; cp. John 3:3), the door of the sheep would be the heart of the believer. Thieves and robbers are unable to enter one’s heart to lead folks away. Instead, the “drive” them as though they were cattle. Namely, they are driven by fear (cp. John 7:13; 9:22).
Another figure is introduced in John 10:3, and this is the porter. The term means gate keeper or door keeper. Who might this be in the context of Jesus’ parable? Since we are speaking of a spiritual kingdom (John 3:3), which is found in the heart of man (Luke 17:20-21), the one in authority of one’s heart is the believer, himself. So, the doorkeeper represents the will of the believer. The believer will permit the Lord entry, but not thieves and robbers. They may force or drive the believer against his will, but they don’t possess the will of the believer.
On the other hand, the sheep recognize the voice of their Shepherd. He calls them by name and he leads them out (John 10:3-4) to pasture (John 6:35, 48-51). Only those who are of the Truth (cp. John 14:6) hear his voice (John 18:37).
As for those who don’t enter the believing community by the door but come in another way, the believer won’t recognize their voice. Therefore, they won’t willingly listen to them. Their first impulse is to run (John 10:5). The underlying power behind everything that opposed Jesus from John 7:14 to this very time in John 10 is fear (John 7: 13; 9:22). Folks who heard the voice of the Lord, but were driven away (take note that they were not led away), were driven away by fear. The authorities who opposed Jesus loved the darkness (John 3:19), vis-à-vis the state of rebellion against God. Therefore, they slandered the Truth, which is not a doctrine (cp. John 14:6). Those who abide in rebellion (darkness) follow the ways of the slanderer (translated devil – 1John 3:8), but Jesus came that he might destroy their works (John 9:39; cp. 1John 3:8).
The narrator concluded this portion of his record by saying they, the Pharisees, or the Jewish authorities didn’t understand the parable (John 10:6). But, they couldn’t, could they? Why? …because they were convinced they were able to see, yet they were actually blind spiritually (John 9:40-41), and the parable is spiritually discerned (1Corinthians 2:14).
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[1] Technically, the Feast of Tabernacles occurred on the 15th of the seventh month of the year. It was a Sabbath and the feast continued for seven days to the 21st of the month. The Last Great Day was also an annual Sabbath and was the 8th day of the Feast, occurring on the 22nd of the month (see Leviticus 23 for a list of all the annual feast days).
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