The Good Shepherd Teaching
Life of Jesus · Draft · BSB
Content revision: f05b414726e2e1d9 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Judea, Perea and the road to Jerusalem. A guided comparison of Gospel accounts, not a measured calendar or a claim that every parallel follows the same sequence.
Jesus describes himself as the gate and the good shepherd, contrasting his care with thieves and hired workers. He speaks of laying down and taking up his life, bringing other sheep, and one flock with one shepherd.
The discourse follows the healed man’s expulsion, and its closing disagreement still refers to opening blind eyes. Reading it in that setting connects the shepherd imagery with the treatment of people rather than an isolated pastoral scene.
Primary Scripture
10:1 “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
10:2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
10:3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
10:5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”
10:6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
10:7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
10:8 All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
10:9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
10:12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
10:13 The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.
10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
10:15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
10:16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
10:17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.
10:18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
10:19 Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.
10:20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”
10:21 But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Related Scripture
Ezekiel’s critique of Israel’s shepherds and promise of God’s care supplies important background.
Location evidence
The discourse continues John’s Jerusalem narrative after the man’s healing. John does not locate Jesus in a literal sheepfold for this teaching.
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.23494, 31.77744]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.23494, 31.77744]. Classification source: rule.
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
For the class
What distinguishes the shepherd’s relationship with the sheep from that of the hired worker?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: theographic (427)
Record source: editorial
Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm