Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of John
Chapter 10: I and My Father Are One
John 10 gives us the tender and majestic picture of the Good Shepherd. Jesus is 'the door of the sheep,' by whom 'if any man enter in, he shall be saved,' and He is 'the good shepherd' who 'giveth his life for the sheep,' laying it down of Himself and taking it again by His own power. His sheep 'hear his voice,' He 'calleth his own sheep by name,' and to them He gives 'eternal life,' with the promise that 'they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' He speaks of 'other sheep' not of this fold whom He must bring, that 'there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.' And when the Jews demand plainly whether He is the Christ, He answers with the words that shook them: 'I and my Father are one.' They take up stones, charging that He, 'being a man, makest thyself God,' and He points them to the works that reveal 'that the Father is in me, and I in him.' The chapter unveils Christ as the one Shepherd of the one flock, the Saviour who lays down His life, and the LORD in whom the Father Himself is manifest.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of John chapter 10. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus reveals Himself as the door and the Good Shepherd, promises eternal security to His sheep, and declares His oneness with the Father. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
By Me He Shall Be Saved
Christ is the only door into salvation and safe pasture.
He Giveth His Life
The Shepherd lays down His life of Himself for the sheep.
They Shall Never Perish
His sheep hear His voice and are held in His hand forever.
I and My Father Are One
The Father is manifest in the Son; the one God in flesh.
The Good Shepherd Giveth His Life for the Sheep (John 10:1-18)
Jesus reveals Himself as the only door into salvation and the Good Shepherd who lays down His life and gathers one flock.
One Fold, and One Shepherd
"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 in 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. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And 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. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
Word Study
"shepherd," Greek poimen (ποιμήν). The word means a shepherd, one who tends and feeds a flock. When Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd," He takes to Himself the title that the Old Testament gives to the LORD Himself: "The LORD is my shepherd" (Psalm 23:1), and the promise of Ezekiel, "I will set up one shepherd over them... even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23). God had promised to come and shepherd His people Himself, and here that Shepherd stands in flesh. The "good" (kalos) shepherd is the noble, true, model Shepherd, who unlike the hirelings does not flee but "giveth his life for the sheep." In Jesus the LORD, the Shepherd of Israel, has come to seek, feed, and die for His flock.
Explanation
Jesus draws two "I am" pictures from the sheepfold: "I am the door" -- the only rightful entrance to salvation, by whom "if any man enter in, he shall be saved" -- and "I am the good shepherd" who, unlike the hireling, "giveth his life for the sheep." The Shepherd knows His sheep by name and they know His voice, and He speaks of "other sheep" -- the Gentiles -- to be gathered into "one fold." Twice He says He lays down His life of His own accord: "no man taketh it from me... I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." The cross is not a tragedy that befalls Him but a sacrifice He freely gives.
Gospel Focus
Following the healing of the man born blind and His clash with the false shepherds of Israel, Jesus draws a picture from the sheepfold. The true shepherd enters "by the door," and "the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." This is the intimacy of Christ with His own: He knows each by name, goes before them, and they follow because "they know his voice." A stranger they will not follow. Then Jesus applies the picture with two great "I am" declarations. First, "I am the door of the sheep... by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." He is the one entrance into the fold of salvation; there is no other way in, for salvation is found in no one else. Over against the thief who comes "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy," Jesus says, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." He gives not a bare existence but life in fullness, life eternal and overflowing. Second, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Unlike the hireling who abandons the flock when the wolf comes, the true Shepherd dies for His sheep. Here is the cross: the Shepherd lays down His life to save the flock. He knows His own with the same intimacy the Father and the Son share, "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father," and He dies for them by His own will. He speaks too of "other sheep... which are not of this fold," the Gentiles to be gathered in, "and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." One flock, Jew and Gentile together, under one Shepherd, Christ. And He reveals the sovereign freedom of His sacrifice: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." His death was no defeat forced upon Him; He laid down His life willingly and would take it up again in resurrection, by His own divine power. The good Shepherd chooses the cross out of love, and by His own authority rises to be the living Shepherd of one everlasting flock.
I and My Father Are One (John 10:19-30)
Jesus promises His sheep eternal security in His hand, and declares His oneness with the Father.
They Shall Never Perish
"There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."
Word Study
"one," Greek hen (ἕν). "I and my Father are one." The word for "one" here is neuter, hen, not the masculine heis; Jesus does not say "we are one person" as if Father and Son were two persons who agree, nor does He say something less than unity of being. The neuter "one thing" declares a oneness of nature, essence, and power: the Father and the Son are one God. This harmonizes perfectly with the Shema, "the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4), and with all Jesus reveals of Himself. The Father is not another divine person beside the Son, but the eternal Spirit of God dwelling in the Son; and the Son is that same one God manifest in flesh. When Jesus says "I and my Father are one," He is declaring that in Him the one God, the LORD, has come; hence, as the next verses show, the Jews rightly understood Him to be claiming to be God, and He did not correct them.
Explanation
Pressed at the Feast of Dedication to say plainly whether He is the Christ, Jesus points to His works and His sheep: "My sheep hear my voice... and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Then comes the summit: "I and my Father are one." The word "one" is neuter -- one in essence and being, not merely one in purpose -- for the Son who holds the sheep in His hand is the same LORD whose hand no one can escape. This is the Gospel's plainest confession of the deity of Christ: the Father and the Son are the one God, and the security of the believer rests in that oneness.
Gospel Focus
His words divide the crowd: some say "He hath a devil, and is mad," while others answer that a demon could not "open the eyes of the blind." At the feast of the dedication the Jews press Him: "If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus replies that He has told them, and that His works, done "in my Father's name," bear witness to who He is; their unbelief is not for lack of evidence but because "ye are not of my sheep." Then He gives one of the most precious promises in all Scripture concerning His sheep. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me": His own are marked by hearing and following Him. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." The security of the believer rests not on his own grip but on the Shepherd's; no enemy, no power, can snatch a true sheep from the hand of Christ. And He binds this security to the Father: "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." The sheep are held in the Son's hand and in the Father's hand, and then Jesus reveals why these are one and the same safe-keeping: "I and my Father are one." Here is the mountain peak of the chapter. The hand of the Son and the hand of the Father are one hand because the Son and the Father are one God. This is not two persons cooperating but the one God, who is Spirit, manifest in the Son. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is that one LORD; the Father is the eternal Deity dwelling in Him. So the sheep are utterly secure, held in the one hand of the one God who came to shepherd and to die for them. And the claim is unmistakable: to say "I and my Father are one" is to claim to be the one God, as the Jews' violent reaction immediately shows. Christ does not soften it; He presses it, for it is the truth. The Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep and keeps them forever is none other than the LORD our God, one LORD, come in flesh.
The Father Is in Me, and I in Him (John 10:31-42)
The Jews take up stones for blasphemy, and Jesus points to His works as proof that the Father dwells in Him.
That Ye May Know That the Father Is in Me
"Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there."
Word Study
"God," Greek theos (θεός). The Jews understood Jesus exactly: "thou, being a man, makest thyself God (theos)." They did not accuse Him of claiming to be a second divine person; they accused Him, a man, of claiming to be God. And their understanding was correct, for that is precisely who He is: God manifest in the flesh. Jesus does not deny the claim; He defends it. He shows from the Scripture that even men to whom God's word came could be called "gods" in a lesser sense, so how much more may He, "whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world," rightly be called "the Son of God." Then He drives to the heart of it: "the Father is in me, and I in him." The reason He and the Father are one, the reason His deity is no blasphemy, is that the Father, the one God, dwells fully in Him. He is not a man become God nor a second God, but the one God dwelling bodily in the man Christ Jesus.
Explanation
The crowd's response proves they understood "I and my Father are one" as a claim to deity: they take up stones "because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Jesus does not retract the claim; He presses it, pointing to the Father's works done through Him -- "the Father is in me, and I in him." His argument from Psalm 82 ("I said, Ye are gods") is not a denial of His deity but a rebuke of their inconsistency: if Scripture could call mere men "gods," why is it blasphemy for the One the Father sanctified and sent to say "I am the Son of God"? He escapes their hands, for His hour has not yet come, and many beyond Jordan believe.
Gospel Focus
The Jews' response to "I and my Father are one" removes all doubt about what they heard: "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him." When Jesus asks for which good work they stone Him, they answer plainly: "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." They understood His claim perfectly, that He, a man, was declaring Himself to be God, and only such a claim, if false, would warrant stoning for blasphemy. Jesus does not retreat or say they have misunderstood. Instead He reasons with them from their own Scripture. In the Psalm, God called certain men "gods" because the word of God came to them, using the term in a lower, appointed sense; and "the scripture cannot be broken." If Scripture could call mere men "gods" in that sense, how much more fitting that He "whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world" should be called "the Son of God." He is not lowering His claim to that lesser sense, He is arguing from the lesser to the greater: if they could bear the lower usage, they should not stumble at His true and higher claim. Then He gives the decisive proof and the decisive truth: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do... believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him." The works He does are the works of God, and they testify that the Father, the one God, dwells in Him. This is the very heart of the matter: Jesus is God not as a second person beside the Father, but because "the Father is in me." The one God, who is Spirit, is fully present in the Son; the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. His oneness with the Father is the indwelling of the one God in the man Christ Jesus. They seek to seize Him, but His hour is not yet come, and He withdraws beyond Jordan, where "many believed on him." The chapter thus closes as it centered: with the revelation that in Jesus the one God has come, the Father manifest in the Son, and with the division of men into those who take up stones and those who believe.
Chapter 10 in Review
John 10 gives us the Good Shepherd and the one God in flesh. Jesus is "the door of the sheep," by whom alone "if any man enter in, he shall be saved," and "the good shepherd" who "giveth his life for the sheep," laying it down of Himself and taking it again by His own power. His sheep "hear his voice," and to them He gives "eternal life," with the unbreakable promise, "they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." He gathers "other sheep" into "one fold," under "one shepherd." And to the demand for a plain word He answers, "I and my Father are one," at which the Jews take up stones, understanding rightly that He, "being a man," was claiming to be God, a claim He defends by pointing to the works that reveal "that the Father is in me, and I in him."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a treasure of both comfort and truth. The comfort: the Good Shepherd knows His sheep by name, gave His life for them, rose again by His own power, and holds them so securely that no power in heaven or earth can pluck them from His hand. The truth: this Shepherd is the LORD Himself, the God of Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34 come in flesh to feed and to die for His flock. When Jesus says "I and my Father are one," He uses a word that means one in nature and essence, declaring that He and the Father are the one God, not two persons but the one LORD, the Father dwelling fully in the Son. The Jews grasped the claim and called it making Himself God; Jesus did not deny it but proved it by His works and named its ground, "the Father is in me, and I in him." Here is the mystery of godliness: God manifest in the flesh. The hand that holds the sheep is the hand of the one God who became their Shepherd. So hear His voice, follow Him, and rest secure in the hand of the LORD your Shepherd, who loved you, gave His life for you, and in whom the Father Himself has come to save.
- Christ is the only door: "by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (10:9).
- The Good Shepherd lays down His life of Himself and takes it again (10:11, 18).
- His sheep are eternally secure in His hand and the Father's hand (10:28-29).
- Jew and Gentile become one flock under one Shepherd (10:16).
- "I and my Father are one": Father and Son are the one God (10:30).
- His deity is grounded in the indwelling: "the Father is in me, and I in him" (10:38).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you entered by the door, Christ Himself, into salvation and life?
- Do you hear the Shepherd's voice and follow Him?
- Do you rest in the security of being held in His hand forever?
- Do you confess Jesus as the one God, in whom the Father is manifest?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The LORD as Shepherd: Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34:11-23; Isaiah 40:11. Christ the door and the abundant life: John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16. The Good Shepherd's laid-down life: John 10:11, 18; 1 John 3:16; Hebrews 13:20. One flock, Jew and Gentile: Ephesians 2:14-18; John 11:52. Eternal security of the sheep: Romans 8:38-39; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24. The oneness of the Father and Son: Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 9:6; John 14:9-11; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The door and the Good Shepherd: John 10:1-18; Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34:11-23.
- The sheep and the oneness of Father and Son: John 10:19-30; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 14:9-11.
- The charge of blasphemy and the Father in the Son: John 10:31-42; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16.