The Lord Jesus told this parable to the men of Jerusalem: He spoke with authority, as a declaration, saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
“To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
In that land sheep were kept at night in a high walled yard, called, “a fold”, and large flocks had a watchman to guard; in the morning when the sheerd came, he would be let in. The sheep were such pets that each one had its own name, and knew the shepherd’s voice: as he called each name, the sheep came to hint and followed him to the pasture lands.
But in this parable we know Jesus did not mean to tell of a shepherd of real sheep: but the people who believed God were called “sheep” and He, their “Shepherd”, as we too say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Ps. 23.
It was promised that the Holy One to come to earth would “lead His flock as a shepherd.” (Isa. 40;11).
“He that entereth in by the door (the right or proper way) is the Shepherd of the sheep.”
That right way was the way God had said, and was written by the prophets in the Scriptures long before the One to come from God was to come a holy Child, to “grow up as a tender plant,” to be One to teach God’s ways, to care for the people, heal thy: sickness, and care for them every way. (Is. 7:14; 9:6; 53:2).
Jesus had come just as God had said and He had done for the people as has been written of Him, so He had come by the “door”, the right way and was the true Shepherd. The Holy Spirit had been as the “porter” to let Him in where the “sheep” would hear Him and know His voice: All who believe God’s words “knew His voice”, that His words were from God, and they believed and followed Him.
Though Jesus’ words about the true Shepherd seem so plain and easy understand, the men He told them to did not understand, because they had not believed God’s words about the One to come; they were not thinking of Him or wanting Him to be there Shepherd.
If we would re-write the words of Jesus’ parable with a capital letter for the word Shepherd, and think of all as His own words to us, perhaps it would be still more plain: we can ask ourselves if He is our Shepherd and if we know His voice.
ML 10/14/1946