John 10:27-30 continues the Good Shepherd discourse within a context (vv. 22-42) that is polemical and where Jesus' special relationship with the Father is once more the object of disputation. Before this, in chapters 7-8, one finds Jesus in a series of confrontation with the Jews about his words and deeds. In John 10:22-42, we find Him in the temple area again, around the time of another great feast -- Hannukah -- being asked whether He is the Messiah. Below is the outline of this section:
| Verses | Description |
| 22-23 | Setting: Feast of the Dedication, Solomon's Portico, the Temple |
| 24 | The question of the Jews: "Are you the Messiah"? |
| 25-30 | Jesus' response: "You don't believe me." |
| 31-32 | Reaction of the Jews at the words "I and the Father are one": They pick up stones. |
| 33-38 | The charge of blasphemy and Jesus' response |
| 39-42 | Jesus escapes the Jews and returns to the Jordan where many come to believe in Him. |
In the context of this controversy, vv. 27-30 elaborates on the initial answer to the Jews expressed in vv. 25-26. The Jews do not believe Jesus because they are not His sheep.
"My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me...". What was previously said about the shepherd and the sheep are now expressed in first person. The shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate which the gatekeeper opens for him (1-3a)
... and the sheep hears his voice
as he calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own
he walks ahead of them
and the sheep follow him
because they recognize his voice (3b-4)
This very pastoral imagery of the shepherd leading out his sheep may as well be an allussion to the time when the Christians were anathemized from the synagogue and began to live a life in separation from mainline Judaism. But the scene also echoes Psalm 23 which is about a shepherd leading his sheep to pasture.
In green pastures you (The Lord, the shepherd) let me graze
to safe waters you lead me
you restore my strength.
You guide me along the right path
for the sake of your name.
Even when I walk through a dark valley I fear no harm
for you are at my side
your rod and your staff, they give me courage (Psalm 23:2-4, NAB)
"... and I give them life." The shepherd who leads his flock to "green pastures" and "safe waters" and makes them secure from harm with his "rod and staff" is an image of Yahweh, Israel's shepherd leading His flock to life. Jesus who had previously identified Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11.14) now says that he pastures them to "eternal life." The phrase "eternal life" is a keyword in chapters 3, 5 and 6.
In John 3, it is associated with the lifting up of the Son of Man (v. 15). The Son of God was given for this purpose, "that all who believe in Him may have eternal life" (v. 16) John the Baptist testifies that eternal life is for those who believe in the Son (v. 36). In John 5, it is declared that he who hears the words of Jesus and believes in the One Who Sent Him has passed from death to eternal life (5:24). The Scriptures, insofar as they point to Jesus, give eternal life (5:39). In John 6, eternal life is given to those who eat the Bread come down from heaven, the flesh and blood of Jesus (vv.27.40.47.54.68). By word and sacrament then, the Good Shepherd gives eternal life to those who hear His voice and follow Him.
"No one can take them away from my hands ... and the Fathers'". John the Baptist had earlier said that the Father has entrusted all to the Son (Jn. 3:35; cf. Jn. 17:6-7). Later in his priestly prayer, Jesus will declare to the Father that not one of those given to Him has been lost (Jn. 17:12, cf. 18:9). Earlier, Jesus had compared the shepherd to a hired man. The hired man, when he sees danger coming, escapes leaving behind the sheep to their fate. The shepherd on the other hand does not escape; he lays down his life for the sheep (10:11-15). Thus Jesus can later on pray
When I was with them
I protected them in your name that you gave me
and I guarded them
and none of them was lost...(17:12)"
"I and the Father are one". The declaration in verse 30 about Jesus' identity with the Father justifies the Jews picking up stones and charging Jesus with blasphemy. In Jn. 8:59, Jesus had used the Divine Name "I AM" as His own and the Jews would have stoned him if not for the fact that He hid himself. Now, after Jesus had identified himself as the Good Shepherd, he also makes the declaration that He and the are one, thereby leaving no doubt that He is the Messiah that the Jews never imagined. These have expected a Messiah, a son of David who would lead them out of political bondage and give them peace and economic prosperity. The shepherd metaphor could have reminded them of passages in the Scriptures where David or one like him is set up by God to lead Israel as in the ones below
He chose David his servant
took him from the sheepfold
from leading sheep God brought him
to shepherd Jacob, his people; Israel, his heritage (Ps. 78:70-71)
I will appoint over you
shepherds after my own heart
who will shepherd you, wisely and prudently (Jer. 3:15)
Instead, however, we find in the person of Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecy made through Ezekiel: "I (Yahweh) myself will look after and tend my sheep" (Ezek. 34:11). Jesus' declaration of his identity with the Father is not only a unity of wills as asserted by some, since he uses the number one en to characterize it. Later, during the Last Supper, Jesus describes the identity even more clearly: "Whoever sees me has seen the Father." (14:9) Those therefore who follow Jesus and heed His voice are following God Himself.
