The allegory of the shepherd.
Our Lord contrasts the religious guidance of the Pharisees, as the shepherds of the Jewish fold, with that afforded by himself in respect of loyal devotion and obedience.
I. THE SHEEPFOLD. This is the Jewish theocracy.
1. The Lord represented himself to the old prophets as the Shepherd of Israel. (Isaiah 11:11; Ezekiel 35:1-15.)
2. He had isolated Israel from all the nations of the earth that he might train her for himself.
3. The flock consists of two classes, which are distinguished in New Testament times
II. THE DOOR INTO THE SHEEPFOLD. There is a divinely instituted method of entering the sheepfold. It is the Messianic office. Jesus is the Center of the Old Testament theocracy.
III. THE TWO CLASSES OF SHEPHERDS.
1. The false guides of the people. "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." The allusion is to the scribes and Pharisees.
(a) by stratagem, like thieves;
(b) by violence, like robbers.
2. The true guide of the people.
(a) John the Baptist
(b) or the Holy Spirit.
(a) He calls them forth by name, as if to mark the individual interest of Christ in believerses
(b) He takes himself the way to their pasture. "He leadeth them out; He goeth before them" (Psalms 23:1-3). He leads forth his own sheep, in separation from others who follow other guidance.
They recognize his voice. "For they know his voice." it is a voice of love, grace, and mercy. They know it
( α) by its majesty and authority;
( β) by its tenderness;
( γ) by its power in their souls;
( δ) by its consistency with the actual kindness of the shepherd, as contrasted with the dangerous voice of strangers, which they instinctively reject.
(b) They follow him. This is their true safety as well as their happiness. Thus they find their way into the green pastures and the still waters of Divine love and grace.