...he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is teh shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Again, the Pharisees did not understand. He continued,
...I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus explained how the "hireling, who is not the shepherd," and does not own the sheep, will flee when he sees the wolf coming after the sheep because the hireling is a fraud. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He will and does lay His own life down for the sheep. And He has other sheep that are not of this fold (Israel), which He will also bring, and "there will be one flock and one shepherd."
Also Jesus said that He lays down His life willingly and with power, and no one takes it from Him. This caused more divisions among the Jews. Some continued to ask Him the same questions about who He was. Jesus had already told them, but they did not believe, which was because they were not His sheep.
Then He told them that He and His Father are one, to which they took us stones to stone Him. Jesus asked which of the works (of God) did they want to stone Him for, and they said not for good works but for blasphemy. And He escaped from them.
COMMENTARY
The sheepfold represents the nation Israel. Jesus told the Pharisees that He came legally (by the door -- fulfilling prophecy that a Savior would come to Israel) and under the Law: God sent His Son, made of a woman, under the law (Gal. 4:4); He came through the line of David (Luke 1:32); He was born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2); born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14); and a rod out of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1). Jesus is the Messiah and the Good Shepherd. The religious rulers should have recognized Jesus!
The porter in these verses is the Holy Spirit who opens the ears of His sheep to hear His voice. He calls them by name. Jesus leads His sheep out of the sheepfold, out of Judaism, out of the legal system, and they follow Him because they know His voice.
The door is Jesus. Jesus is the actual door. He is showing that there is no longer a connection with the nation Israel, but through a relationship with HIM, like in the joining of the branches to the Vine. But the people have to come out of Judaism or out of whatever legal system they put themselves and come to Him. That is why He is also called the Way. He is the Way out.
Note that the hireling does not care about the sheep, but rather he uses them for his own benefit, like for fame or fortune. And of the other sheep, Jesus is talking about Gentiles, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, of every nation and tongue.
Jesus is no longer going into the Temple, but He is seeking His very own. He made very clear who He is, and the Jewish rulers and leaders did not hear Him. It is only a short time before He must go to the cross and lay down His life; therefore, from now on, He is taking His ministry to His sheep.
