JOHN CHAPTER 10: 11-13.
THE Lord Jesus is speaking to His sheep--to those already so, and to
those yet to become such--who were then present; for in the place where
they were, there were those who were already His sheep, as well as those
who were afterwards to become so: and He likewise shows to those then present
and those to come, both to them and to us, and to as many also after us
as shall yet be His sheep, who it is that had been sent to them. All, therefore,
hear the voice of their Shepherd saying, "I am the good Shepherd." He would
not add "good," were there not bad shepherds. But the bad shepherds are
those who are thieves and robbers, or certainly hirelings at the best.
For we ought to examine into, to distinguish, and to know, all the characters
whom He has here depicted. The Lord has already unfolded two points, which
He had previously set forth in a kind of covert form: we already know that
He is Himself the door, and we know that He is Himself the Shepherd. Who
the thieves and robbers are, was made clear in yesterday's lesson; and
to-day we have heard of the hireling, as we have heard also of the wolf.
Yesterday the porter was also introduced by name. Among the good, therefore,
are the door, the doorkeeper, the shepherd, and the sheep: among the bad,
the thieves and robbers, the hirelings, and the wolf.
We understand the Lord Christ as the door, and also as the Shepherd;
but who is to be understood as the doorkeeper? For the former two, He has
Himself explained: the doorkeeper He has left us to search out for ourselves.
And what doth He say of the doorkeeper? "To him," He saith, "the porter
[doorkeeper](1) openeth." To whom cloth he open? To the Shepherd. What
doth he open to the Shepherd? The door. And who is also the door? The Shepherd
Himself. Now, if Christ the Lord had not Himself explained, had not Himself
said, "I am the Shepherd," and "I am the door," would any of us have ventured
to say that Christ is Himself both the Shepherd and the door? For had He
said, "I am the Shepherd," and had not said, "I am the door," we should
be setting ourselves to inquire what was the door, and perhaps, mistaken
in our views, be still standing before the door. His grace and mercy have
revealed to us the Shepherd, by His calling Himself so; have revealed to
us also the door, when declared Himself such; but He hath left us to search
out the doorkeeper for ourselves. Whom, then, are we to call the doorkeeper?
Whomsoever we fix upon, we must take care not to think of him as greater
than the door itself; for in men's houses the doorkeeper is greater than
the door. The doorkeeper is placed before the door, not the door before
the doorkeeper; because the porter keepeth the door, not the door the porter.
I dare not say that any one is greater than the door, for I have heard
already what is the door: that is no longer unknown to me, I am not left
to my own conjecture, and I have not got much room for mere human guess
work: God hath said it, the Truth hath said it, and we cannot change what
the Unchangeable hath uttered.
In respect, then, of the profound nature of this question, I shall tell
you what I think: let each one make the choice that pleases him, but let
him think of it reverently; as it is written, "Think of the Lord with goodness,
and in simplicity of heart seek Him."(2) Perhaps we ought to understand
the Lord Himself as the doorkeeper: for the shepherd and the door are in
human respects as much different from each other as the doorkeeper and
the door; and yet the Lord has called Himself both the Shepherd and the
door. Why, then, may we not understand Him also as the doorkeeper? For
if we look at His personal qualities,(3) the Lord Christ is neither a shepherd,
in the way we are accustomed to know and to see shepherds; nor is He a
door, for no artisan made Him: but if, because of some point of similarity,
He is both the door and the Shepherd, I venture to say, He is also a sheep.
True, the sheep is under the shepherd; yet He is both the Shepherd and
a sheep. Where is He the Shepherd? Look, here thou hast it; read the Gospel:
"I am the good Shepherd." Where is He a sheep? Ask the prophet: "He was
led as a sheep to the slaughter."(4) Ask the friend of the bridegroom:
"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world."(5) Moreover,
I am going to say something of a still more wonderful kind, in accordance
with these points of similarity. For both the lamb, and the sheep, and
the shepherd are friendly with one another, but from the lions as their
foes the sheep are protected by their shepherds: and yet of Christ, who
is both sheep and Shepherd, we have it said, "The Lion of the tribe of
Judah hath prevailed."(1) All this, brethren, understand in connection
with points of similarity, not with personal qualities. It is a common
thing to see the shepherds sitting on a rock, and there guarding the cattle
committed to their care. Surely the shepherd is better than the rock that
he sits upon; and yet Christ is both the Shepherd and the rock. All this
by way of comparison. But if thou askest me for His peculiar personal quality:(2)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God."(3) If thou askest me for the personal quality peculiarly His
own: The only Son, from everlasting to everlasting begotten of the Father,
the equal of Him that begat, the Maker of all things, unchangeable with
the Father, unchanged by the assuming of human form, man by incarnation,
the Son of man, and the Son of God. All this that I have said is not figure,
but reality.
4. Therefore, let us not, brethren, be disturbed in understanding Him,
in harmony with certain resemblances, as Himself the door, and also the
doorkeeper. For what is the door? The way of entrance. Who is the doorkeeper?
He who opens it. Who, then, is He that opens Himself, but He who unveils
Himself to sight? See, when the Lord spoke at first of the door, we did
not understand: so long as we did not understand, it was shut: He who opened
it is Himself the doorkeeper. There is no need, then, of seeking any other
meaning, no need; but perhaps there is the desire. If there is so, quit
not the path, go not outside of the Trinity. If thou art in quest of some
other impersonation of the doorkeeper, bethink thee of the Holy Spirit;
for the Holy Spirit will not think it unmeet to be the doorkeeper, when
the Son has thought it meet to be Himself the door. Look at the doorkeeper
as perhaps the Holy Spirit: about Him the Lord saith to His disciples,
"He shall guide you into all truth."(4) What is the door? Christ. What
is Christ? The Truth. Who, then, openeth the door, but He who guideth into
all truth?
5. But what are we to say of the hireling? He is not mentioned here
among the good. "The good Shepherd," He says, "giveth His life for the
sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the Shepherd, whose own the
sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth;
and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep." The hireling does
not here bear a good character, and yet in some respects is useful; nor
would he be called an hireling, did he not receive hire from his employer.
Who then is this hireling, that is both blameworthy and needful? And here,
brethren, let the Lord Himself give us light, that we may know who the
hirelings are, and be not hirelings ourselves. Who then is the hireling?
There are some in office in the church, of whom the Apostle Paul saith,
"Who seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's." What means
that, "Who seek their own"? Who do not love Christ freely, who do not seek
after God for His own sake; who are pursuing after temporal advantages,
gaping for gain, coveting honors from men. when such things are loved by
an overseer, and for such things God is served, whoever such an one may
be, he is an hireling who cannot count himself among the children. For
of such also the Lord saith: "Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward."(5)
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says of St. Timothy: "But I trust in the
Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good
comfort, when I know your circumstances; for I have no man like-minded,
who will naturally(6) care for you. For all seek their own, not the things
which are Jesus Christ's."(7) The shepherd mourned in the midst of hirelings.
He sought some one who sincerely loved the flock of Christ, and round about
him, amongst those who were with him at that time, he found not one. Not
that there was no one then in the Church of Christ but the Apostle Paul
and Timothy, who had a brother's(8) concern for the flock; but it so happened
at the time of his sending Timothy, that he had none else of his sons about
him; only hirelings were with him, "who sought their own, not the things
which are Jesus Christ's." And yet he himself, with a brother's anxiety
for the flock, preferred sending his son, and remaining himself amongst
hirelings. Hirelings are also found among ourselves, but the Lord alone
distinguisheth them. He that searcheth the heart, distinguisheth them;
and yet sometimes we know them ourselves. For it was not without a purpose
that the Lord Himself said also of the wolves: "By their fruits ye shall
know them."(1) Temptations put many to the question, and then their thoughts
are made manifest; but many remain undiscovered. The Lord's fold must have
as overseers, both those who are children and those who are hirelings.
But the overseers, who are sons, are the shepherds. If they are shepherds,
how is there but one Shepherd, save that all of them are members of the
one Shepherd, to whom the sheep belong? For they are also members of Himself
as the one sheep; because "as a sheep he was led to the slaughter."
6. But give heed to the fact that even the hirelings are needful. For
many indeed in the Church are following after earthly profit, and yet preach
Christ, and through them is heard the voice of Christ; and the sheep follow,
not the hireling, but the Shepherd's voice speaking through the hireling.
Hearken to the hirelings as pointed out by the Lord Himself: "The scribes,"
He saith, "and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: do what they say; but
do not what they do."(2) What else said He but, Listen to the Shepherd's
voice speaking through the hirelings? For sitting in Moses' seat, they
teach the law of God; therefore God teacheth by them. But if they wish
to teach their own things, hear them not, do them not. For certainly such
seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's; but no hireling
has dared to say to Christ's people, Seek your own, not the things which
are Jesus Christ's. For his own evil conduct he does not preach from the
seat of Christ: he does injury by the evil that he does, not by the good
that he says. Pluck the grapes, beware of the thorn. It is well I see that
you have understood; but for the sake of those that are slower, I shall
repeat these words with greater plainness. How said I, Pluck the bunch
of grapes, beware of the thorn; when the Lord saith, "Do men gather grapes
of thorns, or figs of thistles"? That is quite true: and yet what I said
is also true, Pluck the bunch of grapes, beware of the thorn. For sometimes
the grape-cluster, springing from the root of the vine, finds its support
in a common hedge; its branch, grows, becomes embedded among thorns, and
the thorn bears other fruit than its own. For the thorn has not been produced
from the vine, but has become the resting-place of its runner. Make thine
inquiries only at the roots. Seek for the thorn-root, thou wilt find it
apart from the vine: seek the origin of the grape, and from the root of
the vine it will be found to have sprung. And so, Moses' seat was the vine;
the morals of the Pharisees were the thorns. Sound doctrine cometh through
the wicked, as the vine-branch in a hedge, a bunch of grapes among thorns.
Gather care. fully, so as in seeking the fruit not to tear thine hand;
and while thou art to hear one speaking what is good, imitate him not when
doing what is evil. "What they tell you, do,"--gather the grapes; "but
what they do, do not,"--beware of the thorns. Even through hirelings listen
to the voice of the Shepherd, but be not hirelings yourselves, seeing ye
are members of the Shepherd. Yea, Paul himself, the holy apostle who said,
"I have no one who hath a brother's concern about you; for all seek their
own, not the things which l are Jesus Christ's," draws a distinction in
another place between hirelings and sons; and see what he saith: "Some
preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of good will: some
of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; but some
also preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction
to my bonds." These were hirelings who disliked the Apostle Paul. And why
such dislike, but just because they were seeking after temporal things?
But mark what he adds: "What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether
in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached: and I therein do rejoice,
yea, and will rejoice."(3) Christ is the truth: let the truth be preached
in pretense by hirelings, let it be preached in truth by the children:
the children are waiting patiently for the eternal inheritance of the Father,
the hirelings are longing for, and in a hurry to get, the temporal pay
of their employer. For my part let me be shorn of the human glory, which
I see such an object of envy to hirelings: and yet by the tongues both
of hirelings and of children let the divine glory of Christ be published
abroad, seeing that, "whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached."
7. We have seen who the hireling is also. Who, but the devil, is the
wolf? And what was said of the hireling? "when he seeth the wolf coming,
he fleeth: but the sheep are not his own, and he careth not for the sheep."
Was the Apostle Paul such an one? Certainly not. Was Peter such an one?
Far from it. Was such the character of the other apostles, save Judas,
the son of perdition? Surely not. Were they shepherds then? Certainly they
were. And how is there one Shepherd? I have already said they were shepherds,
because members of the Shepherd. In that head they rejoiced, under that
head they were in harmony together, with one spirit they lived in the bond
of one body; and therefore belonged all of them to the one Shepherd. If,
then, they were shepherds, and not hirelings, wherefore fled they when
suffering persecution? Explain it to us, O Lord. In an epistle, I have
seen paul fleeing: he was let down by the wall in a basket, to escape the
hands of his persecutor.(1) Had he, then, no care of the sheep, whom he
thus abandoned at the approach of the wolf? Clearly he had, but he commended
them by his prayers to the Shepherd who was sitting in heaven; and for
their advantage he preserved himself by flight, as he says in a certain
place, "To abide in the flesh is needful for you."(2) For all had heard
from the Shepherd Himself, "If they persecute you in one city, flee ye
into another."(3) May the Lord be pleased to explain to us this point!
Lord, Thou saidst to those whom Thou didst certainly wish to be faithful
shepherds, and whom Thou didst form into Thine own members, "If they persecute
you flee." Doest Thou, then, injustice to them, when Thou blamest the hirelings
who flee when they see the wolf coming! We ask Thee to tell us what meaning
lies hid in the depths of the question. Let us knock, and the keeper of
the door, which is Christ, will be here to reveal Himself.
8. Who is the hireling that seeth the wolf coming, and fleeth? He that
seeketh his own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. He is one that
does not venture plainly to rebuke an offender.(4) Look, some one or other
has sinned--grievously sinned; he ought to be rebuked, to be excommunicated:
but once excommunicated, he will turn into an enemy, hatch plots, and do
all the injury he can. At present, he who seeketh his own, not the things
that are Jesus Christ's, in order not to lose what he follows after, the
advantages of human friendship, and incur the annoyances of human enmity,
keeps quiet and does not administer rebuke. See, the wolf has caught a
sheep by the throat; the devil has enticed a believer into adultery: thou
holdest thy peace--thou utterest no reproof. O hireling, thou hast seen
the wolf coming and hast fled! Perhaps he answers and says: See, I am here;
I have not fled. Thou hast fled, because thou hast been silent; thou hast
been silent, because thou hast been afraid. The flight of the mind is fear.
Thou stoodest with thy body, thou fleddest in thy spirit, which was not
the conduct of him who said, "Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I
with you in the spirit."(5) For how did he flee in spirit, who, though
absent in the flesh, yet in his letters reproved the fornicators? Our affections
are the motions of our minds. Joy is expansion of the mind; sorrow, contraction
of the mind; desire, a forward movement of the mind; and fear, the flight
of the mind. For thou art expanded in mind when thou art glad; contracted
in mind when thou art in trouble; thou movest forward in mind when thou
hast an earnest desire; and thou fleest in mind when thou art afraid. This,
then, is how the hireling is said to flee at the sight of the wolf. Why?
"Because he careth not for the sheep." Why "careth he not for the sheep"?
"Because he is an hireling." What is that, "he is an hireling"? He seeketh
a temporal reward, and shall not dwell in the house for ever. There are
still some things here to be inquired about and discussed with you, but
it is not prudent to burden you. For we are ministering the Lord's food
to our fellow-servants; we feed as sheep in the Lord's pastures, and are
fed together. And just as we must not withhold what is needful, so our
weak hearts are not to be overcharged with the abundance of provisions.
Let it not then annoy your Charity that I do not take up to-day all that
I think is still here to be discussed; but the same lesson will, in the
Lord's name, be read over to us again on the preaching days, and be, with
His help, more carefully considered.
