9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
If any man enter by me. The highest consolation of believers is, that when they have once embraced Christ, they learn that they are out of danger; for Christ promises to them salvation and happiness. He afterwards divides it into two parts. He shall go in and out, and find pasture. First, they shall go safely wherever they find necessary; and, next, they shall be fed to the full. By going in and out, Scripture often denotes all the actions of the life, as we say in French, aller et venir, (to go and come,) [1] which means, to dwell These words, therefore, present to us a twofold advantage of the Gospel, that our souls shall find pasture in it, which otherwise become faint and famished, and are fed with nothing but wind; and, next, because he will faithfully protect and guard us against the attacks of wolves and robbers.
1 - A phrase in Scottish law, denoting a full right to occupy a house or any property, is, free ish (issue) and entrance, or, in other words, a right to go out and to come in, as the occupant pleases. -- Ed.
By me - By my instruction and merits.
Shall be saved - See John 5:24.
Shall go in and out - This is language applied, commonly to flocks. It meant that he shall be well supplied, and defended, and led "beside the still waters of salvation."
I am the door: by me if any man enter, etc. - Those who come for salvation to God, through Christ, shall obtain it: he shall be saved - he shall have his sins blotted out, his soul purified, and himself preserved unto eternal life. This the scribes and Pharisees could neither promise nor impart.
Go in and out - This phrase, in the style of the Hebrews, points out all the actions of a man's life, and the liberty he has of acting, or not acting. A good shepherd conducts his flock to the fields where good pasturage is to be found; watches over them while there, and brings them back again and secures them in the fold. So he that is taught and called of God feeds the flock of Christ with those truths of his word of grace which nourish them unto eternal life; and God blesses together both the shepherd and the sheep, so that going out and coming in they find pasture: every occurrence is made useful to them; and all things work together for their good.
(3) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall (d) go in and out, and find pasture.
(3) Only Christ is the true Pastor, and those only are the true Church who acknowledge him to properly be their only Pastor: opposite to him are thieves who do not feed the sheep, but kill them: and hirelings also, who forsake the flock in time of danger, because they feed it only for their own profit and gains.
(d) That is, will live safely, as the Jews used to speak (see (Deuteronomy 26:6-10)), and yet there is a special reference to the shepherd's office.
I am the door,.... Of the sheep, as before, see John 10:7. The Ethiopic version reads, "I am the true door of the sheep"; which is repeated for further confirmation, and for the sake of introducing what follows:
by me if any man enter in; into the sheepfold, the church,
he shall be saved; not that being in a church, and having submitted to ordinances, will save any, but entering into these, at the right door, or through faith in Christ, such will be saved, according to Mark 16:16; such shall be saved from sin, the dominion of it, the guilt and condemning power of it, and at last from the being of it; and from the law, its curse and condemnation, and from wrath to come, and from every evil, and every enemy; such are, and for ever shall be, in a safe state, being in Christ, and in his hands, out of which none can pluck them:
and shall go in and out; in allusion to the sheep going in and out of the fold: not that those who come in at the right door, shall go out of the church, or from among the saints again; but this phrase rather denotes the exercises of faith in going unto Christ, and acting upon him, and in coming forth in the outward confession of him, and the performance of good works; or in going unto him, and dealing with his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, and coming out of themselves, and all dependence on their own righteousness; or it may regard the conversation of the saints in the church, their attendance on ordinances, their safety there, their free and open communion one with another, and with Christ, in whose name and strength they do all they do, coming in and out at this door:
and find pasture; green and good pasture; pasture for their souls; the words of faith, and good doctrine; the wholesome words of Christ Jesus; the ordinances, the breasts of consolation; yea, Christ himself, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed: the Persic version renders it, "and shall a pastor", or "shepherd"; see Jeremiah 3:15.
by me if any man enter in--whether shepherd or sheep.
shall be saved--the great object of the pastoral office, as of all the divine arrangements towards mankind.
and shall go in and out and find pasture--in, as to a place of safety and repose; out, as to "green pastures and still waters" (Psalm 23:2) for nourishment and refreshing, and all this only transferred to another clime, and enjoyed in another manner, at the close of this earthly scene (Revelation 7:17).
By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Christ is at once the door, the shepherd and the pasture. His pasture is the bread of life and the water of life.
If any one - As a sheep, enter in by me - Through faith, he shall be safe - From the wolf, and from those murdering shepherds. And shall go in and out - Shall continually attend on the shepherds whom I have sent; and shall find pasture - Food for his soul in all circumstances.
*More commentary available at chapter level.