I Am the Good Shepherd

I am the good shepherd, and I know My sheep

JOHN 10 BIBLE STUDY ◄
John 10:12-13 Hireling

John 10:14-21 I Am the Good Shepherd

JOHN 10:14-15 14 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Against whom is Jesus, "the good shepherd" (John 10:14), contrasting Himself?
The Hireling.

What does Jesus mean by "I know My sheep" (John 10:14), that He is "known by" (John 10:14) His sheep, that God "the Father knows" (John 10:15) Him, and that He "knows the Father" (Acts 10:15)?
Jesus is using the word "know" to express an intimate relationship of love, not just having knowledge about someone. As God the Father loves Jesus and Jesus loves the Father, Jesus loves His sheep and His sheep love Him.

How did Jesus express His love for His sheep?
By sacrifice, which is the definition of love. Imagine you need a life-saving lung transplant but have neither a donor nor the $50,000 it will cost. If a billionaire hears about you and offers to pay for your surgery, it would be a generous gift but not necessarily love, for what is $50,000 to a billionaire? But if he offers you one of his own two lungs, that would be love, and the greatest love is giving up your life to save someone you love: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13, see Love One Another).

Did Jesus walk His talk?
See Crucify Him.

JOHN 10:16-18 16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes 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 command I have received from My Father.”

What does Jesus mean by “other sheep... which are not of this fold” who will also "hear My voice" (John 10:16)?
The gentiles who will believe in Him.

Who took Jesus' life on the cross - the Jews or the Romans?
Neither. Nobody "took" Jesus' life. He gave it voluntarily: "I lay down My life... No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself" (John 10:17-18).

What power does Jesus have?
The power to lay down His life, and the power to "take it again" (John 10:18) through resurrection.

JOHN 10:19-21 19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

What caused the "division" (John 10:19) among the Jews?
Jesus' words were more than they could understand and most likely flew over most of their heads, but they could grasp that these weren't the words of someone who was mad or demon-possessed, and His words were backed up by a miracle that they couldn't refute and that only God can grant (see healed on the Sabbath).