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JOHN 10:2 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 10:1John 10:3
“But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep — the authorized leader enters properly, with permission and appointment, establishing the criterion for authentic pastoral ministry. John distinguishes sharply between methods: legitimate shepherds enter through established authority, not through deception or force. The shepherd has a right to the sheep and the sheep have a right to a true shepherd. This reflects the OT expectation of Israel's rightful king and priest coming through proper channels, fulfilling what the false shepherds of Ezekiel's time failed to do.

Church Fathers on John 10:2

Our Lord having reproached the Jews with blindness, they might have said, We are not blind, but we avoid you as a deceiver. Our Lord therefore gives the marks which distinguish a robber and deceiver from a true shepherd. First come those of the deceiver and robber: Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is an allusion here to Antichrist, and to certain false Christs…

Chrysostom · 4th century

Many go under the name of good men according to the standard of the world, and observe in some sort the commandments of the Law, who yet are not Christians. And these generally boast of themselves, as the Pharisees did; Are we blind also? But inasmuch as all that they do they do foolishly, without knowing to what end it tends, our Lord said of them, Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a…

Augustine · 4th century · Or thus

Or, the Holy Spirit is the porter, by whom the Scriptures are unlocked, and reveal the truth to us.

Theophylact · 11th century
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 10:2 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy