The Gospel of John Chapter 9:39-10:42

9:39-41) Distinguishing between the blind and the seeing

[39] What does Jesus’ statement remind you of?

Matthew 10:34 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Does this verse seem to contradict ?

John 3:17 ESV

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

There is no real conflict between the two verses. The purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was not to judge but to save. However, judgment is the inevitable result fro all who fail to receive Jesus.

The preaching of the gospel has two effects. Those who admit that they do not see are given sight. But those who insist that they can see perfectly, without the Lord Jesus, are confirmed in their blindness.

There cannot be any neutrality when it comes to Jesus. He came to bring spiritual sight to the spiritual blind.

[40] The Pharisees sneered at Jesus, confident in their own spiritual sight. They realized that Jesus was speaking of them and of their blindness. So they came to him and asked if He meant to insinuate that they were blind also.

Which proves their blindness, because they could not see the Son of God right in front of them.

[[Example]] Spurgeon’s glasses:

“Take a homely illustration from myself: I used to be very backward in using spectacles for some time, because I could almost see without them, and i did not wish to be an old gentleman too soon. But now that I cannot read my notes at all without wearing spectacles, i put them on without a moment’s hesitation, and i do not care whether you think me old or not. So when a man comes to feel thoroughly guilty, he does not mind depending upon God.”

[41] What do you think Jesus is trying to convey to the Pharisees here in verse 41?

What Jesus is getting at is: If you admit that you are “blind” and sinful, and that you need to be saved from such a condition, then your sins can be forgiven.

However they claimed that they were righteous and that they have no sin. Therefore, there is no forgiveness of sins.

There is a great difference between the one who is blind and knows it, and the one who simply shuts his eyes.

To be so self-deceived as to shut one’s eyes to the light is a desperate state to be in: the light is there, but if people refuse to avail themselves of it but rather deliberately reject it, how can they be enlightened? Their sin still remains.

Chapter 10:1-2 Jesus is the true shepherd

Jesus had been speaking to the Pharisees, who claimed to be rightful shepherds of the people.

We also saw that they did not care about the sheep in the slightest, they were just means to an end.

A sheepfold was an enclosure in which sheep were sheltered at night. It was an area surrounded by a fence and having one opening that was used as a door.

Political and spiritual leaders were often called shepherds in the ancient world.

Isaiah 56:11 ESV

The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

Jeremiah 31:5 ESV

Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit.

Jesus explained that not everyone among the sheep is a true shepherd; some are like thieves and robbers.

How can we tell if someone is a thief or a robber?

One mark of their being a thief and a robber is how they gain entry among the sheep.

The fact that there is a door means that there is a proper way to gain entry.

How might they have gotten in?

The religious leaders gained their place among God’s people, through personal and political connections, through formal education, through ambition, manipulation, and corruption.

[2] Jesus refers to Himself here. He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was the true shepherd of the sheep. He entered by the door, that is, He came in exact fulfillment of the OT prophecies concerning the Messiah.

He wasn’t a self-appointed Savior, but came in perfect obedience to the will of His Father. He met all the conditions.

Besides the prophecies what else made Jesus the true shepherd?

He called His sheep. Living them, caring for them, ultimately giving His life for them in a sacrificial way.

God always intended that His people be led, fed, and protected by those who come in the legitimate way.

The door is there for a reason. Some will always climb over the barriers, but God has the barriers and the door there for a reason.

Anyone who enters not by Jesus into the pastoral office, is no other than a thief and a robber. They enter with a prospect of any other interest besides that of Christ and His people.

A good pastor takes care of the flock.

Vv 3-6) The sheep and their shepherd.

There is considerable disagreement as to the identity of the gatekeeper in this verse.

Some think that this expression refers to the the prophets of the Old Testament who foretold the coming of the Christ.

Others believe it refers to John the Baptist, since he was the forerunner of the true Shepherd.

Still others are equally sure that the gatekeeper in this verse is the Holy Spirit who opens the door for the entrance of Jesus into hearts and lives.

The gatekeeper was one who watched who came in and who went out. They know the true shepherd and appropriately grants him access.

In towns of that time, sheep from many flocks were kept for the night in a common sheepfold, overseen by one gatekeeper who regulated which shepherds brought and took which sheep.

The sheep heard the shepherd’s voice. Just as literal sheep recognize the voice of their own shepherd, so there were those among the Jewish people who recognized the Messiah when He appeared.

Throughout the Gospel, we have heard the Shepherd Calling His own sheep by name. He called to several disciples in chapter 1, and they all heard His voice and responded.

He called the blind man in previous chapter. The Lord Jesus still calls those who will receive Him as Savior, and the call is personal and individual.

What a wonderful thing to be called by God and to enjoy His guidance and care.

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

“If God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to you; you are the object of His choice, accepted in His beloved Son.” -Spurgeon

What do you suppose the expression, “leads them out” means?

May refer to the fact that the Lord Jesus led those who heard His voice out of the sheepfold of Israel. There they were shut up and enclosed.

There was no liberty under the law. The Lord leads His sheep into the freedom of His grace.

In the last chapter, the Jews had cast the man out of the synagogue. Exiled him, but in doing so, they had been assisting the work of the Lord without knowing it.

[4] What do you notice about this verse?

Notice that it doesn’t state, that the shepherd drives them. He leads them. He doesn’t ask them to go anywhere that He himself has not first gone. He is ever out in the front of the sheep as their Savior, their Guide, and Example.

This truth applies to businesses, parenting, and men leading our families. Leading from the front.

They do not become sheep by following Jesus’ example, but by being born again.

As we saw Sunday, to truly be born again one must place their faith in Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection.

[5] The same instinct that enables a sheep to recognize the voice of the true shepherd also prompts it to flee from a stranger.

Here the strangers Jesus is talking about were the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jewish people who were only interested in the sheep for their own personal advantage.

The man who recieved his sight illustrates this point. He recognized the voice of Jesus but knew that the Pharisees were strangers. That’s why he said do you want to be a disciple too? He refused to obey them, even though it meant being excommunicated.

There is a story from WWI: Some soldiers tried to steal a flock of sheep from a hillside near Jerusalem. The sleeping shepherd awoke to find his flock being driven off. He couldn’t recapture them by force, so he called out to his flock with his distinctive call. The sheep listened, and returned to their rightful owner. The soldiers couldn’t stop the sheep from returning to their shepherd’s voice.

[6] To drive all of this home verse 6 tells us that Jesus used this “figure of speech” or this “illustration” on the pharisees, and they did not understand it.

Why didn’t they understand?

The reason being they were not true sheep. If they had been, they would have heard his voice and followed Him.

Adam Clarke described six marks of the true and legitimate minister of God in these first six verses of this chapter.

He has a proper entrance into the ministry.

He sees the Holy Spirit open his way as a doorkeeper to God’s sheep.

He sees that the sheep respond to his voice in teaching and leadership.

He is well acquainted with his flock.

He leads the flock and does not drive them or lord it over them.

He goes before the sheep as an example.

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.