John 10:11-39

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His [own] life for the sheep. [Ps 23; Is 40:11] But the hired man [who merely serves for wages], who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away; and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. The man runs because he is a hired hand [who serves only for wages]and is not concerned about the [safety of the] sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, and I know [without any doubt those who are] My own and My own know Me [and have a deep, personal relationship with Me]— even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My [very own] life [sacrificing it] for the benefit of the sheep. I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they will listen to My voice and pay attention to My call, and they will become one flock with one Shepherd. [Ezek 34:23; Eph 2:13-18] For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My [own] life so that I may take it back. No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to lay it down and to give it up, and I am authorized and have power to take it back. This command I have received from My Father.” A division [of opinion] occurred again among the Jews because of these words [of His]. Many of them said, “He has a demon and He is mad [insane—He raves and rambles]. Why listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words and thoughts of one possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple [area] in Solomon’s portico. So the Jews surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are [really] the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), tell us so plainly and openly.” Jesus answered them, “I have told you so, yet you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name testify concerning Me [they are My credentials and the evidence declaring who I am]. But you do not believe Me [so you do not trust and follow Me] because you are not My sheep. The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works [and many acts of mercy] from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We are not going to stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS [human judges representing God, not divine beings]’? [Ps 82:6] If He called them gods, men to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be undone or annulled or broken), [if that is true] then do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father [that is, the miracles that only God could perform], then do not believe Me. But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works [that I do—admit that they are the works of God], so that you may know and keep on knowing [clearly—without any doubt] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [that is, I am One with Him].” So they tried again to seize Him, but He eluded their grasp.