John

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

“Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate.

The keeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

A stranger they will not follow; instead, they will run away from him because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So, Jesus said:

“Truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep.

All who came before me were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, will go in and out freely, and will find food.

The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, abandons the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away; then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep.

This is because he works for pay and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me,

as the Father knows me and I know the Father. Because of this, I give my life for my sheep.

I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. These I must lead as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

The Father loves me because I lay down my life to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down freely. It is mine to lay down and to take up again: this mission I received from my Father.”

Because of these words, the Jews were again divided.

Many of them said:

“He is possessed and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”

But others said: “

A man possessed doesn’t speak in this way. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God

The time arrived for the Feast of Dedication. It was winter,

and Jesus was walking back and forth in the portico of Solomon.

The Jews then gathered around him and said to him:

“How long will you keep us in doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered:

“I have already told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name, proclaim who I am,

but you don’t believe because you are not among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one can take them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.

The Father and I are one.”

The Jews again picked up stones to throw at him;

so Jesus said:

“I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave me to do. For which of these do you stone me?”

The Jews answered:

“We are not stoning you for doing a good work, but for insulting God; you are only a man, and you make yourself God.”

Then Jesus replied:

“Is this not written in your law: I said, you are gods?

So those who received this word of God were called gods, and scripture cannot be annulled,

can you say that the one the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me,

but if I do them, even if you have no faith in me, believe because of the works I do; and know that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

Again, they tried to arrest him, but Jesus escaped from their hands.

He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptized, and there he stayed.

Many people came to him and said:

“John performed no signs, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

And many believed in him there.