John 9:35–10:21

The Blind Man’s Sight and the Pharisees’ Blindness

³⁵When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found him and asked, “Do you believe in the ^•Son of Man?” ^gh

³⁶“Who is He, Sir, ⁱthat I may believe in Him?” he asked.

³⁷Jesus answered, “You have seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.”

³⁸“I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped Him.

³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world ^jfor judgment, ^kin order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” ^l

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and asked Him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

⁴¹“If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. ^mnBut now that you say, ‘We see’—your sin remains.

The Ideal Shepherd

10“^•I assure you: Anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. ^o2The one who enters by the door is the shepherd ^pof the sheep. ^q3The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. ⁵They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand ^rwhat He was telling them.

The Good Shepherd

⁷So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am ^sthe door of the sheep. ^t8All who came before Me ^uare thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰A thief comes only to steal ^vand to kill and to destroy. ^wI have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. ^xThe good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ^y12The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them ^zand runs away when he sees a wolf ^acoming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, ¹⁵as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. ^bI lay down My life ^cfor the sheep. ¹⁶But I have other sheep ^dthat are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. ^e17This is why the Father loves Me, ^fbecause I am laying down My life ^gso I may take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.” ^h

¹⁹Again a division ⁱtook place among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon ^jand He’s crazy! Why do you listen to Him?” ²¹Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” ^k