NLT Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 46
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they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and
scatters the flock. 13The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money
and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15just as my
Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16I have other
sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my
voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18No one
can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down
when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19When he said these things, the people* were again divided in their opinions about
him. 20Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like
that?” 21Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon
open the eyes of the blind?”
Religious Leaders Surround Jesus at the Temple (152)
22It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of
Dedication. 23He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s
Colonnade. 24The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep
us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the
work I do in my Father’s name. 26But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29for my Father
has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.* No one can snatch
them from the Father’s hand. 30The Father and I are one.”
31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32Jesus said, “At my Father’s
direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
33They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a
mere man, claim to be God.”
34Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures* that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’* 35And you know that the Scriptures cannot be
10:19 Greek Jewish people; also in 10:24, 31. 10:29 Other manuscripts read for what my Father has given me
is more powerful than anything; still others read for regarding that which my Father has given me, he is greater
than all.
10:34a Greek your own law.
10:34b Ps 82:6.
10:16 The “other sheep” were n
on-Jews. Jesus came to save Gentiles
(people from all nations) as well as Jews. Here Jesus provides insight into
his worldwide mission—to die for the sins of the world. People tend to
want to keep God for themselves, limited to their own group, but Jesus
wants us to love and help people beyond the fences we build.
10:17-18 Jesus’ death and resurrection, as part of God’s plan for the
salvation of the world, were under God’s full control. No one could kill
Jesus without his consent.
10:19-20 If Jesus was merely a man, his claims to be God would have
proven him insane. But his miracles proved his words true—he really is
God. The Jewish leaders could not see beyond their own preconceived
ideas, and they looked at Jesus only from a human perspective—Jesus
confined in a human box. But Jesus was not limited by their restricted
vision.
10:22-23 Hanukkah commemorates the cleansing of the Temple under
Judas Maccabeus in 164 BC after Antiochus Epiphanes had defiled it by
sacrificing a pig on the altar of burnt offering. The festival is celebrated
in the month of December.
10:23 Solomon’s Colonnade was a roofed walkway supported by large
stone columns, just inside the walls of the Temple courtyard.
10:24 Many people who were asking for proof did so for the wrong
reasons. Most of these questioners didn’t want to follow Jesus if it required
them to submit to his leadership. They hoped that Jesus would declare
himself to be the Messiah and then overthrow Rome and restore the
prosperity of King David’s golden age. They, along with the disciples—
and everyone else in the Jewish nation—would have been delighted to
have him drive out the Romans. Many of them, however, wondered if he
10:14
2 Tim 2:19
10:15
Matt 11:27
10:16
Isa 56:8
Ezek 37:24
John 11:52
Eph 2:14-18
10:17-18
Phil 2:8-9
Heb 5:8; 7:16
10:23
Acts 3:11; 5:12
10:24
Luke 22:67
10:25
John 5:36; 10:38;
14:11
10:26
John 8:47
10:28
John 6:37, 39; 17:12
10:29
John 14:28
17:2, 6, 24
10:30
John 1:1; 10:38;
14:8-11; 17:21-24
10:33
Lev 24:16
Matt 26:63-66
John 1:1, 18; 5:18;
20:28
Rom 9:5
Phil 2:6
Titus 2:13
2 Pet 1:1
1 Jn 5:20
10:34
†Ps 82:6
had the power to do that. These doubters hoped Jesus would identify
himself so they could accuse him of making false claims to be God, as
the Pharisees had done (8:13).
10:28-29 In the same way that a shepherd protects his sheep from
external threats, Jesus protects his people from eternal harm. While believers can expect to suffer on earth, Satan cannot harm their souls or take
away their eternal life with God. You may face many fearful and dangerous
trials here on earth because this is currently the devil’s domain and he
controls the hearts and minds of many (1 Peter 5:8). But if you choose to
follow Jesus, he will give you peace of mind now and everlasting safety.
10:30-31 Here, Jesus gave the clearest and most dramatic statement
of his divinity. Jesus and his Father are one in being and nature. Thus,
Jesus was not merely a good t eacher—he is God. His claim to be God was
unmistakable. It made the religious leaders want to kill him because Moses’
law said that anyone claiming to be God should die. The Jewish leaders
attempted to carry out the directive found in Leviticus 24:16 regarding
those who blaspheme (claim to be God). Nothing could persuade them
that Jesus’ claim was true. They intended to stone him.
10:34-36 Jesus referred to Psalm 82:6, where the Israelite rulers and
judges are called gods (also see Exodus 4:16; 7:1). If God called the Israelite
leaders gods because they were agents of his revelation and will, how
could it be blasphemy for Jesus to call himself the Son of God? Jesus was
rebuking the religious leaders because he is the Son of God in a unique,
unparalleled relationship of oneness with the Father.
10:35 “The Scriptures cannot be altered” clearly affirms the truth revealed in God’s Word. If we accept Jesus as Lord, we also must accept
his confirmation of Scripture’s authority for our lives.
