Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 10:1-3

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." — John 10:1-3 (ASV)

He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

Here the people of God are compared to sheep. Their harmlessness and gentle character, their feebleness and quiet in the fold, their profitable uses, their defenseless state, requiring someone always to watch over them, the patience with which they are led to the shearer or to the slaughter, and the constancy with which they are associated with sacrifice, render sheep a most excellent symbol of the people of God.

Undoubtedly, the fold is the Church. Within this fold, all the saints of God are gathered—not always in the visible, but always in the invisible and indivisible Church of Christ.

No one may set up to be shepherds of this fold except those who come in a proper and fitting way. This way is not by a pretended apostolical descent—that is, not by a commission they have received from their own assumption—but by a commission direct from Christ—coming in through him as by the door.

The great true Shepherd, the antitype of all shepherds, is Christ himself. To him the porter openeth.

All the prophecies, which, like porters, kept the gates, opened at once to Christ; all godly hearts, which, like the porters of the gate, were watching for the coming of the true Shepherd, opened at once to Jesus; whether it were Anna or Simeon, they at once confessed him.

The sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

We are told by Eastern travelers that in the large district folds into which the sheep-farmers put their different flocks, while they are all assembled in one common flock, the shepherd of any one flock has but to make his appearance and begin to speak, and his sheep at once recognize him.

Though another person should dress up in his garments, they would take no notice of him; they know their shepherd by his voice.