The Sheep of John 10

Perhaps about a month or so ago, I came across this argument against Calvinism and John 10:

Only the elect are in view because Calvinism requires that reading of the text. Thus anyone cannot mean anyone but must be redefined to mean, in this case due to your contextual requirement to conform to Calvinism, something other than anyone, it must mean My sheep. Logically, no one is part of "My Sheep" until they enter the door. [source]

A similar argument:

Folks, lets look at John 10:2 and following to see if "the sheep" equates with "his sheep"

Now of course, "the sheep" which are His sheep are part of "the sheep" but are not all of "the sheep.

First we have the shepherd entering by the door, thus the doorkeeper knows that the shepherd is the shepherd of at least some of "the sheep." Now "the sheep" hear his voice, so this could refer to all of the sheep or just the sheep that are his sheep. But He calls his own sheep by name, so the others of "the sheep" are not called by name. He leads only His sheep out. Thus this first illustration clearly teaches that "the sheep" include His sheep, but in no way suggests other sheep do not exist. [source]

What we are told is:

• No one becomes Christ's sheep until they follow Him through the door (in other words, a synergistic approach to salvation).
• Christ only refers to His sheep when He says "My sheep," and therefore His call to the sheep is a general call to all the sheep in the pen. Again, they only become "My sheep" and receive the salvation thereof by following Christ's voice out the door.

Let's review these two arguments first by looking at the entirety of Christ's sermon regarding His sheep within chapter ten of John's gospel.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again This commandment I received from My Father." [John 10:1-18; NASB]

The first part of the sermon (10:1-5) is a summary of what Christ will later elucidate in the longer version (10:7-18), having had to explain because no one understood the figure of speech (10:6). Some theologians, such as Adam Clarke, have made the case that 10:1-5 are examples of lesser shepherds (in other words, Christian ministers), however I believe the clarification our Lord makes in the following verses shows this is merely the shortened version of His identification as the Good Shepherd.

Christ begins His sermon, as He often does in the gospels, with a double affirmation ("truly truly" or "Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν") of what He is about to say. Our Lord then starts first with the antithesis of the Good Shepherd, saying: "he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber" (10:1). There is only one entrance into the sheep pen: the doorway, through which the Good Shepherd enters. This Christ affirms in the next passage with: "he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep" (10:2). A shepherd enters because his flock inside belongs to him, and he only intends good; any one who tries to sneak in has nothing but ill intent. In that instance, it would be illogical to say that the use of "the sheep" here refers to a large group of sheep that includes more than simply the shepherd's sheep - he is identified as "shepherd of the sheep," not "shepherd of some of the sheep."

Now, in the following verse, Christ illustrates something very important to our topic:

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (10:3)

The doorkeeper (θυρωρὸς, coming from the Greek words for "gateway" and "guardian") opens for no one else except the shepherd - that is, the one who owns the sheep inside. The sheep inside hear his voice, and then the shepherd "calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." In other words, before the sheep even move, the shepherd knows which ones are his sheep. To clarify, the sheep are identified as the shepherd's sheep: (1) again, before they follow him, and (2) before they leave the gate. This is further illustrated in the following verse: "he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice" (10:4). The shepherd puts forth his own, and goes ahead of them. Christ emphasizes the possessive nature of the sheep to the shepherd with: "a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers" (10:5). They follow only the shepherd (that is, Christ), and anyone else (that is, a false teacher, prophet or messiah) they will seek to avoid.

According to the arguments given at the beginning of this post, we are expected to believe two things: (1) the Good Shepherd essentially walks into the pen, gives a whistle, looks at some sheep coming to him, and concludes, "Ah, those must be my sheep!"; (2) upon walking towards the door, some of the sheep are able to say, "Bugger this!" and run off, with the shepherd unable to do anything. We do not become Christ's sheep by following Him out the door - we are already Christ's sheep, for He knows who are His own.

Before we continue, it might be worthy to note how much credit some synergists seem to give sheep. Sheep are not known for being intelligent animals - in fact, out of most barnyard animals, they're considered one of the dumbest. They are not able to reason, let alone resist the shepherd, and will do as the shepherd commands. They know who their shepherd is - that is the only thing good that can be said regarding their intelligence. A shepherd, likewise, knows his flock, and we cannot believe that the Good Shepherd is "sheep-napping" from other flocks. Not only would that contradict the ancient idea behind shepherds and their flocks, but that is not what is told in scripture.

Explaining what He meant more clearly, Christ tells the people:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." (10:7-9)

Our Lord begins His sermon anew (once again starting with His "Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν") and immediately identifies Himself as "the door of the sheep" - in other words, He is the gateway for salvation, and the sole source of salvation (for only one door is mentioned). All who came before Christ (that is, false messiahs, who are spoken of by Gamaliel in Acts 5) were the thieves and robbers spoken of in 10:1, being those who sought to enter another way. "The sheep," however, "did not hear them" - in other words, the sheep of the shepherd did not follow them, for it is clarified that the "my sheep" do not follow the voice of strangers (10:5) - therefore, there is no difference between the "my sheep" and "the sheep" of John 10, for they are identified as being one and the same.

Those who propose the arguments presented at the start of this post have tried leaping to 10:9 and saying, "Christ says 'if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved,' and therefore it is our entering the doorway that saves us." Let's not, however, forget the identification of how one enters through the door: the shepherd leads them out (10:3). Again, sheep are not known for being clever enough to pick and choose shepherds, and Christ has already identified that these sheep follow no one else but their own shepherd.

People do this likewise with the next verse: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (10:10). Again, we cannot jump to the affect while ignoring the cause: the cause is the leading of the shepherd's flock out by the shepherd; the affect is the salvation of the shepherd's flock. This is also done by many for an earlier sermon of Christ's in the gospel, in which they take John 6:40 ("everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life") and forget 6:44 ("No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him").

Now comes the most revealing aspect of the sermon:

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (10:11-15)

Christ reveals the shepherd as Himself and states, "the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (10:11). Those proponents of the opening argument say that this is speaking generically - that Christ says He, as the good shepherd, lays down His life for "the sheep" in a general sense. However, that would break the train of thought that has been perpetuated for this entire chapter. The shepherd is never identified with any flock other than his own, and it would be nonsensical to suddenly assume that Christ is speaking of a larger flock that does not include the shepherd's own. Shepherds do not die for other flocks, but rather take care of their own and preserve them like children. The sheep in this sermon are those that belong to the shepherd. Our Lord emphasizes this with "I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father," followed by the reiteration, "I lay down My life for the sheep" (10:14-15). "The sheep" are His own who know Him, just as sheep know their shepherd.

Some now cling to the following verse: "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd" (10: 16). It seems to prove that there do exist other sheep besides the one in the pen. This verse, however, speaks of the Gentiles whom God will bring into the fold. This is illustrated by Christ's emphasis: "I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice." God is the active party on all accounts here. It is the shepherd's responsibility to gather the sheep, not the sheep themselves.

Let's review again what was discussed at the beginning:

• "Logically, no one is part of 'My Sheep' until they enter the door." - On the contrary, it is stated at the very beginning that the shepherd calls his sheep by name and leads them out, emphasized later with "I know My own and My own know Me." Ironically, it was admitted by the opening argument that Christ calls "His sheep" and "by name" from among the general group of sheep, but it would appear that there was some confusion as to how this argumentation would not only contradict the first argument, but still lead one into Calvinism.
• "Thus this first illustration clearly teaches that 'the sheep' include His sheep, but in no way suggests other sheep do not exist." - As we have shown, nowhere does the context of "my sheep" change with "the sheep." We are expected to believe that Christ's train of thought amounted to: "My sheep. My sheep. My sheep. Other sheep! My sheep. My sheep..." No human mind works this way, save in the criminally insane.

The context of John 10 is clear: Christ has His sheep, and they will be called to Him, the Good Shepherd. Furthermore, it is for these sheep that the Good Shepherd dies for.