John 10

John 10:1

Where is thy Father? Asked in scorn, because he said “the Father beareth witness of me” (John 8:18). If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father. The knowledge of Christ leads to a knowledge of the Father. See John 14:8.

John 10:2

These words spake Jesus in the treasury. Of the temple. See notes on Mr 12:41 Lu 21:1.

John 10:3

Whither I go, ye cannot come. Because they shall “die in their sins”, and he will return to heaven, where the sinner cannot enter.

John 10:4

Will he kill himself? They understood that he referred to his death, but parried the thought that he would die at their hands. Their words were partly mockery.

John 10:5

I am from above. He shows more clearly that he returns to heaven, where they never can enter on account of their sins. This leads them to ask:

John 10:7

Who art thou? No doubt asked with a sneer; hence, he only refers them to his past words.

John 10:10

When ye have lifted up the Son of man. Lifted him up on the cross. His “lifting up” would be the means of breaking down unbelief. We can see how this was verified. In fifty days after he was lifted up three thousand believed in a single day (Acts 2:41), and the work of faith went on until the civilized world acknowledged him as King.

John 10:11

The Father hath not left me alone. The Father was with him. He was with him and in him. He was “the brightness of the Father’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). He did “those things that please him”, and God was with him.

John 10:12

Many believed. That he was a divine teacher.

John 10:13

If ye continue in my word, [then] ye are my disciples indeed. They “believed on him”, but their faith was not yet made perfect by obedience. Hence he adds the condition of discipleship. Their belief must move them to accept his word and obey it. There is a condition, “continue in my word”; a promise, “shall be my disciple”.

John 10:14

And ye shall know the truth. Disciples are learners. Their object is to know the truth. The way to know the truth is to obey the truth. The truth shall make you free. The Gospel obeyed, frees–frees from the yoke of Satan, from spiritual task-masters, from fear, fills the soul with hope and the free spirit of a son who serves the Father from love.

John 10:15

We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage. They trusted in their blood, rather than in obedience to the God of Abraham. Their proud language was false. Their nation had been in bondage for over six hundred years to Babylon, to Persia, to Macedon, to Syria, to Rome. They were also in bondage to sin.

John 10:16

Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. According to his custom, Christ makes no direct argument in reply, but states a truth and leaves them to apply it. The sinner is the slave of sin. See Romans 7:9-24.

John 10:17

The servant abideth not in the house for ever. The servant has no claim to remain continually in the same family, but may be changed at will. The son can remain because he is the son. The Jews, servants of sin, would soon be expelled from the Lord’s house.

John 10:18

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. If you would be free indeed you must have the freedom that the Son bestows, and become children. In order to fully comprehend the figure, read Galatians 4:19-21.

John 10:19

I know that ye are Abraham’s seed. According to the flesh, but not according to the spirit. Abraham had no such spirit as they.

John 10:20

I speak that which I have seen with my Father. Jesus was the Son; he had dwelt in the Father’s house. They had the spirit of Satan, and hence were, spiritually, his children.

John 10:23

Ye do the deeds of your father. Satan.

John 10:24

If God were your Father, ye would love me. They made this claim (John 8:41). Their hatred of the Son was proof that they were not God’s children.

John 10:25

Ye cannot hear my word. Cannot receive it because Satan has your hearts, and is your father.

John 10:26

Ye are of [your] father, the devil. There are two households: that of God, composed of his children; and that of the devil, composed of his children. All who hear the voice of Christ become God’s children by adoption (Romans 8:15-17), and all who refuse to hear him, do so because they belong to the devil’s household and hear his voice. They “will do the lusts of their father”. He was a murderer from the beginning. He caused the first murder, moves those who do murder, and those who seek to kill Christ are of his spirit.

John 10:28

Which of you convinceth me of sin? He points to his sinless character as a proof that there can be no falsehood in his words.

John 10:30

Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? They resort to the language of passion and vituperation. Of all men they hated the Samaritans most, and hence this charge. They next accuse him, not of having a devil, but of being possessed with a demon, or evil spirit.

John 10:31

I honour my Father. He passes by in silence their first charge; the second he shows cannot be true, for he honors his Father, which a demon could not do; and yet the Jews dishonored him, while he honored the Father.

John 10:32

I seek not mine own glory. He cared little therefore for their abuse, and sought not to defend himself.

John 10:33

If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Here again is a condition and a promise. Notice (1) Its universal character: If any one, Jew or Gentile, male or female, bond or free. (2) The condition: “Keep my words”. By obedience we are not only freed, but enter into life. (3) The promise: “Shall not see death”. Death of the body is not reckoned death, but merely the gate through which the believer enters upon a more perfect life. The real death is that of the soul.

John 10:35

Art thou greater than our father Abraham? Their argument is: They that heard the word of God are dead, and shall they who have heard thee not die? Their question is asked in scorn. Compare John 4:12.

John 10:36

If I honour myself, my honour is nothing. They had just asked: “Whom makest thou thyself”? (John 8:53). The Father, who honoreth him, will settle that question by his resurrection from the dead and exaltation.

John 10:38

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, etc. Saw it in promise by prophetic vision; whether or not “Abraham was greater” (John 8:53), he rejoiced in the hope of the revelation of Christ.

John 10:39

And hast thou seen Abraham? It had been about 2,000 years since the time of Abraham. Jesus did not say he had seen Abraham, but they pervert his words.

John 10:40

Before Abraham was, I am. A solemn and official declaration, preceded by “Verily, verily” (see PNT John 3:3). The utterance is a remarkable one. It does not merely assert that he was before Abraham, but before Abraham was, I AM. It identifies with the I AM of the Old Testament. Divinity has no past tense, no future tense, but always the present.

John 10:41

They took up stones to cast at him. They regarded his language blasphemy. If he had been only a man it would have been.