Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 10:6-10

"This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have [it] abundantly." — John 10:6-10 (ASV)

Here the Evangelist explains why it was necessary to clarify the preceding parable, a necessity caused by the listeners’ failure to understand. He does two things:

1. He mentions the reason for their failure to understand.
2. He explains that they failed to understand.

The cause of their failure to understand was that Christ was speaking in figures. The Evangelist says, this proverb Jesus spoke to them. A “figure,” properly speaking, is the use of one word in place of another, where one word is meant to be understood from its likeness to the other. This is also called a parable.

Our Lord spoke in figures for two reasons. First, for the sake of the wicked, to conceal from them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables (Luke 8:10). Second, for the sake of the good, so that his figures might stir them to inquire further. Thus, after our Lord spoke his figures or parables to the crowds, his disciples questioned him in private, as mentioned elsewhere (Matthew 13:10; Mark 4:10). This is why Augustine says, “Our Lord feeds the believing crowds with clear words and stirs up his disciples with things that are obscure.”

The Evangelist reveals their failure to understand when he says, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. The ignorance that resulted from Christ’s figures was both useful and harmful. For the good and the just, it was useful for praising God; for although they did not understand, they believed and praised the Lord and His wisdom, which was so far beyond them: it is the glory of God to conceal the word (Proverbs 25:2). But for the wicked, it was a source of harm, because, failing to understand, they blasphemed: but these men revile whatever they do not understand (Jude 1:10). As Augustine observes, when both the good and the wicked hear the words of the Gospel, and neither of them understands, the good person says that what was said was true and good, but that he does not understand it. Such a person is knocking and deserves to have the door opened, provided he perseveres. But the wicked person says that what was said had no meaning or was evil.

Now our Lord explains the parable. If examined correctly, the parable contains two principal clauses. The first is, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in another way is a thief and a robber (John 10:1). The second is, he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep (John 10:2). Accordingly, this section is divided into two parts.

1. First, He explains the first clause.
2. Then, He explains the second clause, beginning at I am the good shepherd.

Concerning the first part, He does two things:

1. He explains the clause.
2. He proves it, beginning at I am the door.

The first clause mentions a door, a thief, and a robber. He explains these in order:

1. First, the door.
2. Then, the thief and the robber, at all others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers.

Concerning the first point, he says, Jesus therefore said to them again, to gain their attention and have them understand the parable: the man of understanding may acquire skill to understand a proverb and a figure (Proverbs 1:6). Jesus said, amen, amen, I say to you, I am the door. The purpose of a door is to lead one into the rooms of the house, and this is true of Christ, for one must enter into the secrets of God through him: this is the gate of the Lord, that is, Christ, the righteous will enter through it (Psalms 118:20).

He says, I am the door of the sheep, because through Christ not only the shepherds are brought into the present Church or enter into everlasting happiness, but the sheep also. Thus he says below: my sheep hear my voice... and they follow me; and I give them eternal life (John 10:27–28).

Then when he says, all others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers, he explains what he had said about thieves and robbers. He shows who the thieves and robbers are, and then their sign.

In regard to the first point, we should avoid the error of the Manicheans, who rejected the Old Testament on the grounds that it says here, all others, as many as have come, are thieves. They maintained that the fathers of the Old Testament, who came before Christ, were evil and have been damned.

The falsity of this view is clear from three things. First, from what this parable says. The statement, all others, as many as have come, is intended as a description of the previous statement, which mentioned those who do not enter by the door. Therefore, all others, as many as have come, but not through me—that is, not entering by the door—are thieves and robbers. It is clear that all the patriarchs and prophets, whom the Christ who was to come had sent as forerunners, entered by the door, that is, Christ. For although he took flesh and became man in time, he was the Word of God from all eternity: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Indeed, the prophets were sent by the Word and wisdom of God: in every generation she, the wisdom of God, passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets . Accordingly, we expressly read in the prophets that the word of the Lord came to this or that prophet, who prophesied by participating in the Word of God.

Second, the falsity of the Manichean teaching is seen when our Lord says, have come, implying that they were thrusting themselves forward on their own authority and were not sent by God: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran (Jeremiah 23:21). Indeed, such prophets have not come from the Word of God: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing (Ezekiel 13:3). But the fathers of the Old Testament were not of this type, as has been said.

Third, this falsity is seen from the effect their words had, for we read, but the sheep did not hear them. Therefore, those whom the sheep did heed were not thieves and robbers. Now the people of Israel did listen to the prophets, and those who did not heed them were rebuked in Sacred Scripture: Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? (Acts 7:52). O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! (Matthew 23:37).

Having excluded this error, it must be said that all others, as many as have come—that is, apart from me, without divine inspiration and authority, and with the intention not of seeking God’s glory but of acquiring their own—are thieves, in that they usurp what is not theirs, namely, the authority to teach: your princes are rebels and companions of thieves (Isaiah 1:23); and robbers, because they kill with their corrupt doctrine: you make it a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13); as robbers lie in wait for a man... they murder on the way (Hosea 6:9). But the sheep, that is, the predestined, did not hear them, the thieves and robbers; otherwise they would not have been Christ’s sheep, because, as was said before, a stranger they do not follow but fly from him (John 10:5). Furthermore, this is commanded: you will not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams (Deuteronomy 13:3).

I am the door. Here he clarifies his explanation of the door, and then of the thief (at the thief only comes). Concerning the door, he first repeats what he intends to explain, and second, he gives the explanation.

He repeats what he had already said, namely, I am the door; if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar (Song of Solomon 8:9), that is, let us grant her an incorruptible power.

He explains this when he says, if any man enter by me, he will be saved. First, he shows that the purpose of a door, which is to keep the sheep safe, applies to himself. Second, he mentions the manner in which they are kept safe, at he will go in and out.

The door safeguards the sheep by keeping those within from going out and by protecting them from strangers so that they cannot come in. This applies to Christ, for he is our safeguard and protection. This is what he says: if any man, not insincerely, enter into the community of the Church and of the faithful, by me, the door, he will be saved, that is, if he perseveres: for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12); we will be saved by his life (Romans 5:10).

The way the sheep are safeguarded is explained when he says that he will go in and out, and he will find pasture. This statement can be explained in four ways.

1. First, according to Chrysostom, it simply affirms the security and freedom of those who cling to Christ. For one who enters some other way than by the door does not have free entry and exit; but one who does enter by the door has free exit, because he can leave freely. Therefore, when he says, he will go in and out, the meaning is that the Apostles adhering to Christ enter with security by living with the faithful, who are within the Church, and with unbelievers who are outside. They became masters of the whole world and no one wished to cast them out: Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out before them and come in before them... that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd (Numbers 27:16). And find pasture, that is, find delight in converting others, and find joy even when persecuted by unbelievers for the name of Christ: then the Apostles left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).
2. Second, this can be explained as Augustine does in his Commentary on John. Two things are required of anyone who acts well: to be well-ordered regarding what is within him, and what is without. Within a person is the spirit, and without is the body: though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Therefore, a person who clings to Christ will go in through contemplation to protect his conscience: when I enter my house, that is, my conscience, I will find rest with her, that is, with wisdom ; and out, namely, by good actions, to discipline the body: man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening (Psalms 104:23); and find pasture, in a clean and sincere conscience: I will appear before your sight: I will be satisfied when your glory appears (Psalms 16:15). Again, by his actions he will find pasture, that is, fruit: he will come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him (Psalms 126:6).
3. The third explanation is also Augustine’s, as well as that given by Gregory in his Commentary on Ezekiel. The meaning, then, is this. Such a one will go in, into the Church, by believing: I will go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle (Psalms 41:5), which is to enter the Church militant; and out, from the Church militant into the Church triumphant: go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of the wedding (Song of Solomon 3:11); and find pasture, that is, the pastures of doctrine and grace in the Church militant: he makes me lie down in green pastures (Psalms 22:2); and the pastures of glory in the Church triumphant: I will feed them with good pasture (Ezekiel 34:14).
4. Fourth, there is an explanation found in the work, On the Spirit and the Soul, which has been incorrectly attributed to Augustine. Here it is said that such a one will go in, that is, the saints will go in to contemplate the divinity of Christ, and out, to consider his humanity; and they will find pasture in both, because in both they will taste the joys of contemplation: your eyes will see the king in his beauty (Isaiah 33:17).

Now he considers the thief. First, he mentions the mark of the thief; second, he says that he himself has the opposite characteristic, at I have come that they may have life.

He says that those who do not enter by the door—that is, those who have come apart from me—are thieves and robbers; and they are evil. For in the first place, the thief comes only to steal, that is, to usurp what is not his; these are the agitators and heretics, who prey on those who belong to Christ: he lies in ambush to catch the ones who are poor (Psalms 9:4). Second, the thief comes to kill, and he kills by bringing in perverse teachings and evil practices: as robbers lie in wait for a man... they murder on the way (Hosea 6:9). Third, the thief comes to destroy, by casting into everlasting destruction: My people have been lost sheep (Jeremiah 50:6). But these traits are not in me.

I have come that they may have life. This is like saying: The people mentioned above have not come in by me; otherwise, they would do as I do. But they do the contrary, because they steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, that is, the life of righteousness, by entering into the Church militant through faith: my righteous one will live by faith (Hebrews 10:38). We read of this life that we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren (1 John 3:14). And have it abundantly, that is, have eternal life, when they leave the body. We read of this life below: this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God (John 17:3).