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JOHN 10:11 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 10:10John 10:12
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep — the third I-Am statement in this discourse presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34's messianic shepherd promises, with the crucial addition that this shepherd's goodness is demonstrated through self-sacrifice. The laying down of life (tithēmi tēn psychēn) is not passive death but an active, voluntary offering — Christ chooses to give His life as ransom for the sheep. The adjective 'good' (kalos) suggests both moral excellence and beauty; the shepherd's character is proven through willingness to die for the flock.

Church Fathers on John 10:11

Our Lord has acquainted us with two things which were obscure before; first, that He is the Door; and now again, that He is the Shepherd: I am the good Shepherd. Above He said that the shepherd entered by the door. If He is the Door, how does He enter by Himself? Just as He knows the Father by Himself, and we by Him; so He enters into the fold by Himself, and we by Him. We enter by the door, because we preach Christ; Christ preaches Himself. A light shows both other things,…

Augustine · 4th century

The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. He did what He bade, He set the example of what He commanded: He laid down His life for the sheep, that He might convert His body and blood in our Sacrament, and feed with His flesh the sheep He had redeemed. A path is shown us wherein to walk, despising death; a stamp is applied to us, and we must submit to the impression. Our first duty is to spend our outward possessions upon the sheep; our last, if it be necessary, is to…

Gregory the Great · 6th century · And He adds what that goodness is, for our imitation

Our Lord shows here that He did not undergo His passion unwillingly; but for the salvation of the world. He then gives the difference between the shepherd and the hireling: But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees.

Chrysostom · 4th century
Read all 16 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 10:11 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy