Every faithful teacher, coming into a morally mixed society, meets with a twofold experience: he evokes the hostility of those who hate truth and righteousness, and he rallies to him those who are candid, just, and pure. Such was eminently the result of our Lord's ministry among the Jews. It was foretold that, as a consequence of Christ's coming, "thoughts out of many hearts should be revealed." Never was this more manifestly the case than during those discussions which arose between Jesus and the Jews towards the close of his ministry.

I. THE CALUMNY ADVANCED AGAINST CHRIST.

1. The real and lasting ground of calumny. It was the truthfulness and purity of Christ's character; it was the justice and severity of his denunciations of formalism and hypocrisy, that incensed the Jewish leaders against the holy, outspoken, and fearless Prophet of Nazareth.

2. The immediate and special ground of calumny. It is noticeable that, on the several occasions upon which the slander mentioned in the context was uttered, Jesus had just been making some high claim to communion with his Divine Father, and to a consequent authority altogether above any wielded by created beings.

3. The real motive of the calumnies of the Jews was, therefore, their moral indisposition to tolerate the highest excellence. They loved darkness rather than light.

4. The nature of the calumny. It was said to Jesus, and of him, that he was possessed by a demon, and was insane. How it could be supposed that such gross slanders could meet with any credit, we are at a loss to say. It is certainly an instance of the malignity of sinners that such a calumny could be invented, and of the credulity of fools that it could be believed.

5. The purpose of the calumny. This was to discredit Jesus, to weaken his influence with the people, and so to aid the Jews in their malevolent aim, which was, no doubt, to bring his ministry to a shameful and violent close.

II. THE CONFUTATION OF THE CALUMNY.

1. It is observable that this did not proceed from Jesus himself, or from his immediate friends and professed disciples. Its effect must have been all the greater from its origin in the minds of impartial. spectators and auditors.

2. The sayings of Christ are declared incompatible with the supposition that Jesus was possessed by a demon. Their sobriety and reasonableness was a refutation of the charge of madness; whilst their justice, their purity, their opposition to falsehood, error, and deceit, were conclusive against the foolish accusation that they were inspired by the prince of darkness.

3. The works of Christ were, if possible, even more exclusive of such an imagination, such an invention as that referred to. Jesus had opened the eyes of a blind man, he had wrought other miracles of a nature most beneficent, he had relieved men from privations and sufferings, and restored them to health, to sanity, to happiness. It was incredible that such deeds of mercy as these could be inspired by the emissary of the foe of man. - T.

"There arose a division again among the Jews" because of the words which Jesus had uttered. It is the old story. Jesus Christ has always divided human communities. He cannot be ignored. How can He be accounted for? He is the great enigma which calls forth many answers. In the preceding verses we have one of those hurried estimates of Christ given in the white heat of anger — "He hath a devil and is mad." There are a class of men who never fail to come to very speedy and decided conclusions. They arrive at them by a short cut, and very often by astounding leaps. They have a keen sensitiveness to the presence of a devil a long time before he appears, and as a rule point in the direction from which he is least likely to come. The explanation that Jesus had a devil had became a commonplace, but had carried with it no conviction in being frequently repeated. There were keen-sighted men in the crowd who saw through it all — "Others said, These are not the words of Him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?" There is true philosophy in these words uttered hurriedly by unknown speakers in that surging throng. Some of the world's best utterances are anonymously recorded. The truth suggested by our text is — That words and deeds are tests of character which men should not ignore.

I. Our Lord's SPEECH as a test of His character — "These are not the sayings of one possessed with a devil." Some one possibly smiles incredulously and asks — "Who can judge a man by his speech?" Napoleon the Great held that speech was made to conceal thoughts and purposes. But did he succeed in confining speech within these ignoble limits? For a time and in certain cases he doubtless did. But what of those peevish and angry utterances of his at St. Helena? As we read the story we are forced to exclaim, "Oh, man, thy speech bewrayeth thee!" That great actor was no longer able to conceal himself, when he fretted and fumed and swore in helpless pevishness. Watch a man's utterances through and through, and he cannot hide himself from you. He may at times flatter himself that he has succeeded in the attempt, but his speech so wronged and misused at length plays traitor with him in return, and reveals what manner of man he is. Speech, graciously given by God to man alone on earth, as a means by which he shall be able to express truth, will not suffer itself evermore to be made the degraded instrument of diplomacy and deceit. It will at times involuntarily start and assert itself. In the records of the best lives we find words uttered in haste, unpremeditated, or under great provocation, which needed an apology, since they revealed the weaker and less noble side of character. When did Christ utter such words? In speech He was never overtaken in a fault. His disciples often were, but He never. Again, see if there were immature words uttered at the outset of His ministry, which revealed the crudities of youth, or an imperfect estimate of that ministry to which He had committed His life. Was there ever anything said by Him which betrayed a wrong motive, or defective moral teaching? Have succeeding ages been able to find a flaw in His doctrine, or have they been able to add a single virtue to those which He taught men? Have any words lived like His, or living, exerted such a sanctifying, healing and ennobling influence over human lives? Let us refer to one or two features of His incomparable utterances. What does he say about God? No teacher of men can be silent on this great theme. He tells men many tender, loving things concerning God — that He clothes the lily, feeds the sparrow, numbers the hairs of our head, and, finally, "that He so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Has any teaching concerning God given such light and joy to human heart as this? Verily, "These are not the sayings of one possessed with a devil!" Again, what has He to say about man? By the graveside of our dearest and best ones can any assurance compare with His — "I am the Resurrection and the Life, he that believeth in Me shall never die"? "Because I live ye shall live also"? "Whence hath this man these things?" "These are not the words of one possessed with a devil." We consider —

II. Our Lord's DEEDS as tests of His character. "Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?" It is the prerogative of the devil to close men's eyes, not to open them. It is not so much the miracle of giving sight as the beneficent nature of it that stamps it as undiabolic. What was the tendency of our Lord's deeds? Precisely the same as His teaching. Did He not always go about doing good? There is a harmony of goodness and of benevolence in His works from the beginning to the close. Above all, is there anything for power and tenderness to compare with His Cross? And here we come to the root of the whole matter. Theology, history, and moral philosophy can all apply their tests; but no test can compare with Chat of our own experience. Our experience may fail to appeal powerfully to others, but nothing is so convincing to ourselves. Among our Lord's disciples are the noblest men and women whom the world has ever known, and they attribute all their blessings to Him.

(David Davies.)

Jesus, John, SolomonJerusalem, Jordan RiverAble, Argued, Blind, Demon, Demoniac, Demon-possessed, Devil, Evil, Isn't, Language, Men's, Open, People's, Possessed, Possible, Saying, Sayings, Spirit1. Jesus is the door, and the good shepherd.
19. Diverse opinions of him.
23. He proves by his works that he is Jesus the Son of God;
31. escapes the Jews;
39. and goes again beyond Jordan, where many believe on him.

John 10:19-21

     5401   madness

John 10:20-21

     4133   demons, possession by

February 5 Morning
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.--JOHN 10:10. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.--She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.--If by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 18 Evening
His name shall be in their foreheads.--REV. 22:4. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep.--The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.--Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. After that ye believed, ye were sealed …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 11 Evening
My sheep hear my voice.--JOHN 10:27. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, 1 will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 10 Morning
No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.--JOHN 10:29. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.--The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.--We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 18 Morning
He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.--JOHN 10:3. The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his; and, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.--Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you . . . depart from me, ye that work iniquity.--The Lord …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 19 Morning
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.--JOHN 10:7. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.--Christ . . . hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.--The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.--Through …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

'Other Sheep'
[Footnote: Preached before the Baptist Missionary Society.] 'Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock and one Shepherd.'--JOHN x. 16 (R.V.). There were many strange and bitter lessons in this discourse for the false shepherds, the Pharisees, to whom it was first spoken. But there was not one which would jar more upon their minds, and as they fancied, on their sacredest convictions, than this, that God's flock …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gifts to the Flock
... By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.'--JOHN x. 9. One does not know whether the width or the depth of this marvellous promise is the more noteworthy. Jesus Christ presents Himself before the whole race of man, and declares Himself able to deal with the needs of every individual in the tremendous whole. 'If any man'--no matter who, where, when. For all noble and happy life there are at least three things needed: security, sustenance, and a …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Good Shepherd
'I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. 15. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.'--JOHN x. 14,15. 'I am the Good Shepherd.' Perhaps even Christ never spoke more fruitful words than these. Just think how many solitary, wearied hearts they have cheered, and what a wealth of encouragement and comfort there has been in them for all generations. The little child as it lays itself down to sleep, cries-- 'Jesus, tender Shepherd, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

January the Seventeenth Spiritual Discernment
"My sheep hear My voice!" --JOHN x. 19-30. This is spiritual discernment. We may test our growth in grace by our expertness in detecting the voice of our Lord. It is the skill of the saint to catch "the still small voice" amid all the selfish clamours of the day, and amid the far more subtle callings of the heart. It needs a good ear to catch the voice of the Lord in our sorrows. I think it requires a better ear to discern the voice amid our joys! The twilight helps me to be serious; the noonday …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

August the Twenty-Third not Lost in the Flock
"I know My sheep, and am known of mine." --JOHN x. 7-16. There is mutual recognition, and in that recognition there is confidence and peace. "I know my sheep." He knows us one by one. My knowledge of the individual wanes in proportion as the multitude is increased. The teacher with the smaller class has the deepest intimacy with her scholars. The individual is lost in the crowd. But not so with our Lord. There are no "masses" in His sight. However big the crowd, even though it be "a multitude …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

On the Words of the Gospel, John x. 14, "I am the Good Shepherd," Etc. Against the Donatists.
1. We have heard the Lord Jesus setting forth to us the office of a good shepherd. And herein He hath doubtless given us to know, as we may understand it, that there are good shepherds. And yet that the multitude of shepherds might not be understood in a wrong sense; He saith, "I am the good Shepherd." [4124] And wherein He is the good Shepherd, He showeth in the words following; "The good Shepherd," saith He, "layeth down His life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, John x. 30, "I and the Father are One. "
1. Ye have heard what the Lord God, Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, born of God the Father without any mother, and born of a Virgin mother without any human father, said, "I and My Father are One." [4164] Receive ye this, believe it in such wise that ye may attain [4165] to understand it. For faith ought to go before understanding, that understanding may be the reward of faith. For the Prophet hath said most expressly, "Unless ye believe, ye shall not understand." [4166] What then is simply preached …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

The Sheep and their Shepherd
In a very simple way, we shall speak about the proprietor of the sheep. "My sheep," says Christ. Then, we shall have a little to say about the marks of the sheep. After that I propose to talk awhile about the privileges of the sheep. "I know my sheep:" they are privileged to be known of Christ. "My sheep hear my voice." I. Who is the proprietor of the sheep? They are all Christ's. "My sheep hear my voice." How came the saints to be Christ's? They are his, first of all, because he chose them. Ere …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Good Shepherd
JOHN x. 11. I am the good shepherd. Here are blessed words. They are not new words. You find words like these often in the Bible, and even in ancient heathen books. Kings, priests, prophets, judges, are called shepherds of the people. David is called the shepherd of Israel. A prophet complains of the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves, and will not feed the flock. But the old Hebrew prophets had a vision of a greater and better shepherd than David, or any earthly king or priest--of a heavenly …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Abbott -- the Divinity in Humanity
Lyman Abbott was born at Roxbury, Mass., in 1835. As successor to Henry Ward Beecher, at Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, he ministered with great spiritual power until 1898, when he resigned his pastorate to devote his entire time to The Outlook, of which he was, and still is, the editor. Dr. Abbott's conception of the minister's work is briefly summed up in his own words: "Whenever a minister forgets the splendid message of pardon, peace and power based on faith in Jesus Christ as God manifest in the …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 8

Life.
I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.'--St. John x. 10. In a word, He came to supply all our lack--from the root outward; for what is it we need but more life? What does the infant need but more life? What does the bosom of his mother give him but life in abundance? What does the old man need, whose limbs are weak and whose pulse is low, but more of the life which seems ebbing from him? Weary with feebleness, he calls upon death, but in reality it is life he wants. It is …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- what is the Meaning and Purpose of the Cross...
The Disciple,--What is the meaning and purpose of the cross, and why do pain and suffering exist in the world? The Master,--1. The cross is the key to heaven. At the moment when by My baptism I took the cross upon My shoulders for the sake of sinners, heaven was opened, and by means of My thirty-three years bearing of the cross and by death upon it, heaven, which by reason of sin was closed to believers, was for ever opened to them. Now as soon as believers take up their cross and follow Me they …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Questions and Answers
Question. How may we know definitely that we are sanctified? Answer. We may know it by knowing that we have met all the conditions. This grace is obtained upon the conditions of consecration and faith. When we are sure that we have measured up to a true Bible consecration, we will have no difficulty in knowing that we are sanctified. The depth of meaning of this consecration does not necessarily need to be fully comprehended by the seeker, as we enter into this covenant, but there is a yielding up …
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Feast of the Dedication. The Jews Attempt to Stone Jesus and He Retires to Peræa.
(Jerusalem and Beyond Jordan.) ^D John X. 22-42. ^d 22 And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: 23; it was winter; and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. [The feast of dedication was one of eight days' duration and began upon the 25th Chisleu, which, according to the calculation of M. Chevannes, fell upon the nineteenth or twentieth of December, a.d. 29. The feast was kept in honor of the renovation and purification of the temple in the year b.c. 164, after it had been desecrated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The closing words which Jesus had spoken to those Pharisees who followed HIm breathe the sadness of expected near judgment, rather than the hopefulness of expostulation. And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. All the topics of the former Discourses are now resumed and applied. They are not in any way softened or modified, but uttered in accents of …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

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