ACC ~ John 10 v7 - 13

OVERVIEW:

Those who enter the sheepfold through the gate enter through Christ (AUGUSTINE), who is the source for those who would lead (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) and who seek the truth (THEODORE). Jesus would not have called himself the good Shepherd unless there were bad shepherds as well (AUGUSTINE). Like wolves, they take advantage of the unsophisticated (CLEMENT). Those who are not affected by the gospel in their faith and life, and yet presume to lead others, are using the gospel and are to be considered thieves and robbers (ORIGEN).

Christ is the door of the Father leading to unity with God (IGNATIUS). A shepherd’s ultimate concern is always for the sheep (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). The apostles go in and out of the sheepfold to find pasture (CHRYSOSTOM) that leads to eternal life (GREGORY OF NYSSA), filling the sheep with an abundant life of faith active in love (AUGUSTINE). Thieves bring destruction; Christ delivers from destruction because he works for the good of the sheep (THEODORE). He is the Shepherd of the shepherds (AUGUSTINE) who laid down his life for his sheep so that he might feed them (GREGORY THE GREAT). By sacrificing himself for his sheep he wins their love (BASIL OF SELEUCIA). Jesus is like a shepherd in sheep’s clothing (CLEMENT) who is looking for you in order to return you, his wandering sheep, to life (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS).

Hirelings, however, leave the sheep and run away, which should be grounds not only for termination but also for garnishing their wages in compensation to their master (TERTULLIAN). The hireling cares about pride of position more than sheep (GREGORY THE GREAT), seeking his own welfare rather than that of Christ (AUGUSTINE) and of the sheep, who are being attacked by the wolf, who is the devil. Trials will make evident who is a hireling (GREGORY THE GREAT) as the flock lives in the midst of the bitter and merciless wolves (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). But if a minister keeps silent during a wolf’s attack (AUGUSTINE) or withholds consolation from a repentant sheep, the shepherd has shirked his duty (GREGORY THE GREAT). Despite the hirelings that may be in their midst, sheep are to follow not the person but the voice of the Shepherd that may be heard even through the person who is a hireling (AUGUSTINE).

10:7 | I Am the Door of the Sheep

WHO IS THE ONE WHO ENTERS BY THE GATE?

AUGUSTINE: Our Lord just said now that he was a shepherd. He also said he was a gate…. He is the gate in the head and the shepherd in the body. You see, he says to Peter, whom he singles out to represent his [body the] church, “Peter, do you love me?” [1] … as though to say, What will you give me, what proof will you provide me with that you love me?… If you love me, feed my sheep; enter in by the Door and do not go up another way…. Who is the one who enters by the door? The one who enters by Christ. And who is that? The one who imitates Christ’s passion, who understands Christ’s humility, understands that while God has become man for us, he himself as a human being is not God, just a man [person]. I mean to say, anyone who wishes to play God while he is just a man is not imitating the one who, while he was God, became a man. SERMON 137.3-4. [2]

[1] Jn 21:15.

[2] WSA 3 4:373-74**.

JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF LEADERSHIP

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Jesus sees that the foolish Pharisees wanted to be rulers and that they were unwisely boastful of the name and character of leadership. And so it is good that he teaches them that he himself is the one who confers leadership in the church. And he bestows this authority without difficulty. For since Jesus is “the door” of the sacred and divine fold, he will both admit the one who is fit for leadership but also will block the entrance to the one who is unfit to lead the flock. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:67**.

THE PRINCIPLE OF ACCESS TO TRUTH

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He says that he is the door of the sheep because he is the principal access to truth for everyone. His doctrine that he has uniquely established calls everyone that is summoned by it. He established laws, as was his prerogative, so that we might live through them according to his will. And he was the Word through which all might know the Father. Therefore let us abandon the works of the law and apply ourselves to obey the precepts of Christ. Let us devote our entire being to the principles of the gospel and employ all diligence in fulfilling his laws. Thus, he very appropriately called himself the door of the sheep, since there is no other way to seek out the truth except by believing first of all in our Lord, and by drawing near to the entrance of truth through his commandments, finding pleasure in the good things we possess because of our nearness to God the Father. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.7. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:200.

10:8 | Those Who Came Before Are Thieves and Robbers

“GOOD SHEPHERD” IMPLIES “BAD SHEPHERDS” EXIST TOO

AUGUSTINE: He could not have added good if there were not bad shepherds as well. They are thieves and robbers, or at best mercenaries. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:256**.

WOLVES TAKE ADVANTAGE

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: These are rapacious wolves hidden in sheepskins, human traffickers, and opportunistic soul seducers, secretly, but [later] proved to be robbers. They strive by fraud and force to catch us who are unsophisticated and have less power of speech. STROMATEIS 1.8. [1]

[1] ANF 2:309*.

STRANGERS TO THE GOSPEL CANNOT PROCLAIM IT

ORIGEN: Those who teach with a dishonest and defiled soul steal. Of them it might be said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers.” Such people use the gospel without being affected by it in faith or in living. Instead, they use the good news of the word in a way in which it was not intended. Such a person is a thief, and it will be said of him, “you who preach not to steal—you still steal.” [1] FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 21. [2]

[1] Rom 2:21.

[2] FC 97:290**; GCS 6:208.

10:9 | Jesus Is the Door

CHRIST IS THE DOOR

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: [Christ] is the door of the Father through which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets, the apostles and the church all enter. All these enter into the unity of God. EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 9. [1]

[1] FC 1:116.

THE SHEPHERD’S ULTIMATE CONCERN FOR THE SHEEP

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: He is the Way, because he leads us through himself. He is the Door who lets us in, the Shepherd who makes us dwell in green pastures, [1] bringing us up by waters of rest and leading us there. He protects us from wild beasts, converts the erring, brings back what was lost and binds up what was broken. He guards the strong and brings them together into the fold beyond with words of pastoral knowledge. ON THE SON, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 4(30).21. [2]

[1] Ps 23:2 (22:2 LXX).

[2] NPNF 2 7:317*.

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES

CHRYSOSTOM: Here it is as though Jesus had said: They shall be safe and secure, that is, they shall remain within and no one shall throw them out. This is in reference to the apostles who went in and out boldly as though they had become masters of all the world. None could turn them out of their kingdom. But by “pasture,” Jesus means his own nurturing and feeding of the sheep as well as his power and lordship. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:214**.

FINDING THE PASTURE THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE

GREGORY OF NYSSA: Where do you pasture your sheep, O good Shepherd who carries all your flock on your shoulders? For the one lamb that you took up is the entire human race, which you raised on your shoulders. Show me then the place of pasture, make known to me the waters of rest, lead me out to the good grass, call me by name that I, your sheep, may listen to your voice and may your call be the gift of eternal life. … “Show me, then,” she says, “where you feed,” [1] so that I may find the pasture of salvation and be filled with the food of heaven which all people must eat if they would enter into life. HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2. [2]

[1] Song 1:6.

[2] FGTG 158; PG 44:801.

10:10 | Abundant Life

THE LIFE OF FAITH

AUGUSTINE: Therefore, he said, “I came that they may have life,” that is, faith that works by love. [1] By this faith they enter the fold so that they may live, for the just lives by faith. [2] And not only may those who endure to the end have life, but “they may have it more abundantly,” as they pass through this same door, that is, by the faith of Christ. For as true believers they die, and they will have life more abundantly when they come to the place where the Shepherd has preceded them—a place where they shall die no more. Although there is no want of pasture even here in the fold—for we may understand the words “and shall find pasture” as referring to both, that is, both to their going in and their going out—yet only there will they find the true pasture where they shall be filled who hunger and thirst after righteousness. [3] This is the pasture that was found by the one who heard, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” [4] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.15. [5]

[1] Gal 5:6.

[2] Rom 1:17.

[3] Mt 5:6.

[4] Lk 23:43.

[5] NPNF 1 7:255**.

10:11 | Jesus Is the Good Shepherd

FOR THE GOOD OF THE SHEEP

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: So after giving evidence derived from these facts, he said to them, “I am the good Shepherd.” Therefore, if I act against the thieves, not only am I not the cause of destruction for those who obey me, but I even invite them to eternal life. And so I appear to be the Shepherd because I work for the good of the sheep. Since he asserts this decisively, he proves his argument even more so, so that he may not appear to vainly portray himself as the good Shepherd. And so, with the intention of demonstrating this with different arguments, as well as the facts themselves, he says, “The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” If, he says, the good Shepherd is the one who accepts suffering for every affliction of his sheep, since I am going to die for the salvation of the whole world, the testimony about me is beyond doubt. “I am the good Shepherd.” Indeed, if the thief kills, on the contrary, not only do I not kill, but I also give new life to men and women after taking death from them. Therefore, in every respect, I appear to be the good Shepherd according to these facts. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.10-11. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:202.

THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEPHERDS

AUGUSTINE: Above he said that the good Shepherd entered through the door. If he is the Door, how does he enter through [1] himself?…

Just as he knows the Father through himself and we know the Father through him, so he enters into the fold through himself and we enter through him. Through Christ we [pastors] have a door of entrance to you; and why? Because we preach Christ and therefore enter in through the door. But Christ preaches Christ too because he preaches himself; and so the Shepherd enters in through himself…. He is also the door to the Father, for there is no way of approach to the Father except through him…. And indeed brothers and sisters, because he is the Shepherd, he has permitted his members to bear the office of shepherd. Both Peter and Paul and all the other apostles were shepherds: all good bishops are shepherds. But none of us calls himself the door. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 47.1, 3. [2]

[1] Lat per.

[2] NPNF 1 7:260-61**.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IS GOOD FOR US

GREGORY THE GREAT: He whose goodness is his own nature and not some nonessential gift, says, “I am the good Shepherd.” He adds the character of this goodness, which we are to imitate, saying, “The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He did what he taught; he gave an example of what he commanded. The good Shepherd has laid down his life for his sheep in order to change his body and blood into a sacrament for us and to satisfy the sheep he had redeemed with his own body as food. The way of contempt for death that we are to follow has been shown us, the mold that is to form us is there. The first thing we are to do is to devote our external goods to his sheep in mercy. Then, if it should be necessary, we are to offer even our death for these same sheep…. If someone does not give his substance to the sheep, how can he lay down his life for them? FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15. [1]

[1] CS 123:107-8**.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD WINS THE SHEEP’S LOVE

BASIL OF SELEUCIA: For the sake of his flock the shepherd was sacrificed as though he were a sheep. He did not refuse death. He did not destroy his executioners as he had the power to do, for his passion was not forced on him. He laid down his life for his sheep of his own free will. “I have the power to lay it down,” he said, “and I have the power to take it up again.” By his passion he made atonement for our evil passions, by his death he cured our death, by his tomb he robbed the tomb, by the nails that pierced his flesh he destroyed the foundations of hell.

Death held sway until Christ died. The grave was bitter, our prison was indestructible, until the Shepherd went down and brought to his sheep confined there the good news of their release. His appearance among them gave them a pledge of their resurrection and called them to a new life beyond the grave. “The good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” and so seeks to win their love. HOMILY 26.2. [1]

[1] JFB 54; PG 85:305-8.

LIKE A SHEPHERD IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: “I will be their shepherd,” he says, “and I will be close to them,” as clothing to their skin. He desires to save my flesh by clothing it in the robe of immortality, and he has anointed my body. “They shall call on me,” he says, and I will answer, “Here I am.” Lord, you have heard me more quickly than I ever hoped! “And if they pass over they shall not fall, says the Lord,” [1] meaning that we who are passing over into immortality shall not fall into corruption, for he will preserve us. He has said he would, and to do so is his own wish. Such is our Teacher, both good and just. He said he had not come to be served but to serve, [2] and so the Gospel shows him tired out, he who labored for our sake and promised “to give his life as ransom for many,” [3] a thing that, as he said, only the good Shepherd will do. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.9. [4]

[1] Is 43:2.

[2] Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45.

[3] Mt 20:28.

[4] JFA 62-63*.

WANDERING SHEEP RETURNED TO LIFE

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Will you think less of him… because to seek for what had wandered, the good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep came on the mountains and hills on which you used to sacrifice [1] and found the wanderer. And having found it, he took it upon his shoulders, [2] on which he also bore the wood. And having borne the wandering sheep, he brought it back to the life above. And having brought it back, he numbered it among those who have never strayed. ON HOLY EASTER, ORATION 45.26. [3]

[1] Jn 5:35.

[2] Hos 4:13.

[3] NPNF 2 7:432. See also Basil Letter 46.6 (NPNF 2 8:152).

10:12a | The Hireling Leaves the Sheep

BAD SHEPHERDS WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

TERTULLIAN: Why, a shepherd like this would be kicked off the farm! The wages held for him until the time of his discharge would be kept from him as compensation! In fact, the master’s losses would need to be compensated from this shepherd’s savings. [1] ON FLIGHT IN TIME OF PERSECUTION 11. [2]

[1] He then cites Lk 8:18.

[2] ANF 4:122**.

THE HIRELING REJOICES IN PRIDE OF POSITION

GREGORY THE GREAT: There are some who love earthly possessions more than the sheep and do not deserve the name of a shepherd…. He is called a hireling and not a shepherd because he does not pasture the Lord’s sheep out of his deep love for them but for a temporal reward. That person is a hireling who holds the place of shepherd but does not seek to profit souls. He is eager for earthly advantages, rejoices in the honor of preferment, feeds on temporal gain and enjoys the deference offered him by other people. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15. [1]

[1] CS 123:108**.

SEEKING THEIR OWN

AUGUSTINE: Who then is the hireling? There are some in office in the church, of whom the apostle Paul says, “Who seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ’s.” [1] What does that mean, “who seek their own”? It means those who do not love Christ freely, who do not seek after God for his own sake. It means those who are pursuing temporal advantages, gaping for gain, coveting honors from people. When such things are loved by an overseer, and this is why they serve God, whoever does this is a hireling who cannot count himself among the children. For of such also the Lord says, “Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.” [2] Listen to what the apostle Paul says of Timothy: “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly to you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your circumstances; for I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for you. For all seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ’s.” [3] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.5. [4]

[1] Phil 2:21.

[2] Mt 6:5.

[3] Phil 2:19-21.

[4] NPNF 1 7:257*.

10:12b | The Wolf Scatters the Flock

THE DEVIL SCATTERS THROUGH TEMPTATION

GREGORY THE GREAT: There is another wolf that ceaselessly, every day, tears apart minds, not bodies. This is the evil spirit that goes about attacking the sheepfolds of believers, seeking the death of souls. Of this wolf it is said, “And the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep.” The wolf comes, and the hireling flees. The evil spirit tears apart the minds of believers in temptation, and the one holding the place of shepherd does not take responsibility. Souls are perishing, and he enjoys earthly advantages. The wolf snatches and scatters the sheep when he entices one to drunkenness, inflames another with greed, exalts another by pride, destroys another by anger, stirs one up by envy, trips up another by deceit. When the devil slays believers through temptations, he is like a wolf dispersing the flock. No zeal rouses the hireling against these temptations, no love excites him. He seeks only the outward advantages and carelessly allows the inward injury to his flock. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15. [1]

[1] CS 123:109*.

10:13 | Hirelings Do Not Care About the Sheep

TRIALS SHOW WHO IS A HIRELING

GREGORY THE GREAT: But we cannot truly know whether anyone is a shepherd or a hireling if there is no occasion to test him. During times of peace even a hireling frequently stands for the protection of the flock like a true shepherd. When the wolf comes, each one shows what his intention was as he stood as protector of the flock. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15. [1]

[1] CS 123:108.

BITTER AND MERCILESS WOLVES

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Humanity, having yielded to an inclination for sin, wandered away from love toward God. On this account we were banished from the sacred and divine fold, I mean the realm of paradise. Having been weakened by this calamity, we became the prey of two bitter and merciless wolves: namely, the devil who had beguiled humanity to sin; and death, which had been born from sin. But when Christ was announced as the good Shepherd over all, in the struggle with this pair of wild and terrible beasts, he laid down his life for us. He endured the cross for our sakes that by death he might destroy death. He was condemned for our sakes that he might deliver all of us from condemnation for sin, abolishing the tyranny of sin by means of faith and “nailing to his cross the bond that was against us,” [1] as it is written. Accordingly, the father of sin used to put us “in hades like sheep,” delivering us over to “death as our shepherd,” [2] according to what is said in the Psalms. But the truly good Shepherd died for our sakes, that he might take us out of the dark pit of death and prepare to enfold us among the companies of heaven and give to us mansions above, even with the Father, instead of dens situated in the depths of the abyss or the recesses of the sea. Therefore Jesus says to us, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” [3] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1. [4]

[1] Col 2:14.

[2] See Ps 49:14 (48:15 LXX).

[3] Lk 12:32.

[4] LF 48:76-77**.

SILENCE AT THE WOLF’S ATTACK

AUGUSTINE: Suppose someone has sinned—grievously sinned. He ought to be rebuked, excommunicated. However, if he is excommunicated, he will become an enemy and will plot and do as much harm as he can. And so, for the time being, the pastor who seeks his own and not what is Christ’s keeps quiet and does not reprove the person so that he will not have to put up with the annoyances of their attacks or lose what he truly follows after—the advantage of human friendship. But look! The wolf has caught a sheep by the throat; the devil has enticed a believer into adultery. And yet, you are silent—you do not censure. As a hireling, you have seen the wolf coming, and you fled. Perhaps you answer and say, “See, I am here: I have not fled.” You have fled [1] because you have been silent; you have been silent because you are afraid. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.8. [2]

[1] In his Letter 228 (NPNF 1 1:577-78) Augustine uses this passage to discuss when it is permitted for a minister to flee during persecution.

[2] NPNF 1 7:259**.

WITHHOLDING CONSOLATION FROM THE SHEEP

GREGORY THE GREAT: The wolf too comes upon the sheep whenever any unrighteous person oppresses the humble believers. The one who only appears to be a shepherd leaves the sheep and flees because he is too afraid to resist the wolf’s violence from fear of danger to himself. He flees not by moving to another place but by withholding consolation from his flock. The one who conceals himself beneath his silence is the one who flees…. The hireling is inflamed with no enthusiasm to fight against this injustice…. The only reason that the hireling flees is because he is a hireling. A person who is in charge of the sheep, not because he loves them but because he is seeking earthly gain, cannot make a stand when the sheep are in danger. Because he esteems honor, because he enjoys his temporal advantages, he is afraid to oppose the danger for fear he should lose what he loves so much. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 15. [1]

[1] CS 123:108-9**.

FOLLOW THE VOICE, NOT THE HIRELING

AUGUSTINE: Many that seek temporal advantages in the church preach Christ, and through them Christ’s voice is heard. But the sheep are not following the hireling but the voice of the Shepherd speaking through the hireling. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.6. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:258**.