In order to understand our Lord’s discourse in John 10, we must consider the circumstances under which it was delivered, and also distinguish between the three doors spoken of.
In the previous chapter, the Lord had given sight to a man who had been born blind. When the Lord heard that the man had been cast out of the synagogue, He found him and revealed Himself to him as the Son of God. He was evidently one of Christ’s sheep and heard His voice. It was under these circumstances that our Lord delivered this searching discourse of the Shepherd and the sheep.
The Door Into the Sheepfold
The first door, then, to which our Lord calls attention is The Door Into the Sheepfold. The Pharisaic rulers and teachers were in the sheepfold — the Jewish nation — but had not entered it by the divinely-appointed way. Instead of entering by the door, they had climbed up some other way. They were not accredited of God.
Into this door our Lord entered, and the porter opened to Him, because He brought all the credentials belonging to the Shepherd of Israel, the true Shepherd of the sheep. Prophets had long ago marked out His characteristics. Moses wrote of Him as “The Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,” and said unto the people, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto Me; Him shall ye hear” (Gen. 49:2424But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) (Genesis 49:24); Acts 7:3737This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. (Acts 7:37)). We are further told that His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:22But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)). Wise men announced His coming into the world, as His star in the heavens had guided them. The angel of the Lord visited the shepherds and announced the glad tidings, saying, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:1111For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)). But it was for John publicly to announce Him as the Son of God and the Lamb of God. Thus the man Christ Jesus brought every proof with Him that He was Jehovah’s Shepherd, and to Him the porter opened. Besides, He called His own sheep by name; whether it was Matthew, Mary of Magdala, a Samaritan adulteress, or industrious fishermen, those whom He called heard His voice and followed Him. He loved His sheep, and in purest love He freely laid down His life for them, for His purpose was to gather them together into one flock (John 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16)). Thus we see clearly that He entered into the sheepfold by the door and that He manifested in every way that He was “the Shepherd of the sheep.”
The Door of the Sheep
The second door mentioned in this beautiful discourse is The Door of the Sheep — Christ Himself, the door by which the sheep would be led out of Judaism, for the Shepherd of the sheep not only “calleth His own sheep by name,” but “leadeth them out” (vs. 3).
It is very important to see this clearly. We are told that Jesus came to His own (His loved nation), and His own received Him not, for they had terribly departed from God. Though they contended for the outward observance of the law, yet they had so far forgotten God that it became a mere formality. The nation had been given up to the Gentiles, in God’s governmental displeasure, because of their sins. Therefore we do not find our Lord reestablishing Judaism; rather, He led them individually outside corrupt things with Himself. When they knew Christ and became associated with Him, and knowing that “He putteth forth His own sheep” and “goeth before them,” they were constrained to follow Him. Christ is not only the Good Shepherd, but “the door of the sheep” — the door whereby the sheep were led out of a corrupted Judaism, through His calling them to Himself.
Early in Israel’s history, when Jehovah’s name had been dishonored by the sin of the golden calf, we find that “Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp. ... And it came to pass, that every one that sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp” (Ex. 33:77And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. (Exodus 33:7)). Thus we see that Moses led the faithful OUT.
Again we see in the epistles that in the last days, when the profession of Christianity would be associated with all kinds of evil and “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” the path of the faithful is clearly marked out: “From such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-51This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1‑5)). Elsewhere the faithful are enjoined to “go forth therefore unto Him [Christ] without the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13)). In the very last epistle Paul wrote, he contemplates terrible corruption and departure from the truth, and he appeals to saints for individual faithfulness to the Lord. He urges them to separate themselves from evil. “If a man therefore purge himself from these [vessels to dishonor], he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:2121If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)). These and other Scriptures show that when evil and corruption have come in, the faithful are to purge themselves from it. In this the Lord is “the door of the sheep,” as well as their Leader. Therefore no one can possibly be in a right position here without having personal communion with the Lord — the door of the sheep — and being subject to the guidance of His Word and Spirit. Difficulties and uncertainty soon become removed when souls really get before the Lord and are willing to be led by Him. The Lord is the Leader, the Door, and the Object for those who go forth unto Him, and we may be assured that His special presence and blessing will be outside of that which men try to accredit with the name of Christ, but which is corrupt and evil. Thus we see that Christ being the door of the sheep for leading His own out of corrupted Judaism is in accordance with a divine principle of action, which is equally incumbent in these days of corrupted Christianity. The path of the faithful now is surely to go outside of that which dishonors His name, and there to find His presence and His blessing. Happy indeed are they who know what it is to be before the Lord, what it is to be led by Him, and to be outside with Him, in separation from everything which dishonors His name.
The Door of Salvation
The third door mentioned by our Lord in this discourse is The Door of Salvation. He said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)). This door is Christ. Thus the Lord presented Himself as the only way of salvation, and the door stands wide open now, not to Jews only, but also to Gentiles. Observe, He is “the door”; there is no other. It is not a long, dreary, circuitous passage, but a door, and we know that to enter a door, one step only is needed. A person who is outside the door takes one step, and he is inside; he has entered in. And so the soul that now believes God’s testimony to the truth of salvation by Christ alone at once enters into God’s presence by faith, through Jesus the Savior. Salvation then is only by Christ. No one who desires it is debarred from this wondrous blessing, for it is open to “any man.” “If any man enter in, he shall be saved.” Having received Jesus as the door and having entered in by faith, he is entitled to salvation — salvation from sins, from condemnation, from wrath, from hell; he is saved with an everlasting salvation. When the soul thus knows the blessedness of having entered in by “the door,” taking the Lord at His Word, he is a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus. He knows the Good Shepherd, having heard His voice, and being willing to be led by Him, he is blessed indeed.
Lastly, observe that such “shall go in and out, and find pasture.” He can go into the presence of God inside the veil, and find strength and comfort there, where the good, great and chief Shepherd is. He can also go out in the Lord’s service, and find His presence and blessing in seeking to feed and refresh His sheep and lambs, according to that word, “He that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Prov. 11:2525The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)).
H. H. Snell (adapted)