This passage is read on "Good Shepherd Sunday", the fourth Sunday in Easter, most recently April 26, 2026. In the Revised Common Lectionary, chapter 10 is broken up over three weeks and paired with Psalm 23 (link to commentary).
Summary: I do not think this is a passage where one needs to analyze metaphors to the point of deconstruction! A possible direction for preaching might be to think about "abundance" in light of "sheep."
Key words:
θυρα (meaning "gate", 10:1,10:7 and 10:9). This has always been a puzzling metaphor for me. Jesus comparing himself to a gate, which divides and keeps out, seems contrary to some of my basic notions of Jesus. What amplifies this is that in John's Gospel, the disciples lock the gate/door (same word; 20:19, 26), showing that yes, indeed, this word is associated with fear and protection.
In terms of Old Testament references, the word "gate" or "door" appears just about everywhere, so it would be hard to make a compelling case that Jesus is clearly referencing something in the Old Testament.
Amplifying the challenge is that Jesus employs two of his εγω ειμι ("I am", 10:7,9) statements here. To review, Jesus uses "I am" statements throughout the Gospel of John, such as "I am the resurrection" or "I am the way." In Greek (and Hebrew) these have a particular force because verbs already include the subject in their conjugation, meaning the inclusion of "I" or "You" is unnecessary and done for emphasis. In short, the could be translated, "I, I am." In this case, it is often left as "I am" because the "I am" harkens back to the name of God in the Old Testament, in which God declares the name of God to be "I am who I am."
All this to say, Jesus is trying to say something important here, but I am not sure if I fully understand. Perhaps I can offer this: Jesus does not say he is the fence or the wall. He says he is the gate, the entrance. He is the one who intends to make a way for us into the pasture.
κλεπτης ("thief", 10:1,10:8,10:10) I do not offer any big Greek insight here, other than to say that this is used three times. There are thieves who come into the pasture. This might be the Pharisees (with whom Jesus is speaking); it might be Judas (who is referred to as a κλεπτης). Regardless, it is clear that there are thieves in the pasture. Just because we have Jesus, doesn't mean we don't face opposition, even in the holy spaces.
In some ways, the use of the word "λῃστής" is simply the typical John pattern of having two similar words by each other... but the word has a different connotation. It means one who steals by force - plunderer! This will be the word used to describe Barabbas in John 18:40.
περισσον ("abundant", 10:10) I am not sure if Greek parsing of this word is particularly helpful, other than to say: When 21st century Americans read the word "abundant" they most likely associate this with individual wealth and prosperity. Furthermore, this "abundance" likely means that they are independent of others, in that they no longer need to borrow a neighbor's egg. For most of human history, each person lacked all the resources they needed for the day, but with the help of their neighbors (child care, food, water, protection), they have found and continued to find their way through the day. If abundance means financial independence from others, then basically, we had to wait until the industrial revolution for more than 1 percent of the population to reach this point.
My sense is that the metaphor of the sheep (προβατα) suggests some directions for interpreting "περισσον", that is abundant living
- Dependent on God
- Needing the whole herd
- Purpose of life is to always give away what we have, especially our excess (wool, warmth, milk and ultimately life)
Therefore, I would offer that for Jesus, the abundant life is one of deep connection to him and others, in lives of service and mutuality. In short, the very opposite of what our culture teaches as abundance.
θυρωρος ("gatekeeper", 10:3) While this may also sound like a terrible metaphor for the 1st or 3rd person of the trinity or even a leader in a religious community, I did find that Trayer's Lexicon offered the translation of "janitor." I found this kind of cool to think that God is portrayed as a blue collar worker.
Reminds me of a Martin Luther King Jr quote that may speak to what abundant life means:
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
νομνη ("pasture", 10:9) Just a reminder - in the best pastures there are both weeds and piles of poop. The good life still has bad guys, bad grass and poop.
Grammar note: Without an article
When the word "ποιμήν" is used in verse 2, it is without an article. Thus, it does not need to be translated "the shepherd" but simply can be "a shepherd." One could argue that in semitic languages (Hebrew, Aramaic) when you have a phrase like "shepherd of sheep" you automatically need to translate this as "the shepherd of the sheep" but John does not include the word "the" here. In fact, some manuscripts include the whole phrase "he is the shepherd of the sheep." But I think John's exclusion of the article here suggests that he is not pointing to Jesus here and rather acknowledging that other shepherds work in the field.
