The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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In the previous post, we were introduced to Satan as the destroyer. Here, we examine the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John.

John 10:7-10

Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance (emphasis added).

Jesus weaves the language of ancient Near Eastern shepherds into this teaching. In particular, he plies the imagery of the gate, the shepherd, and the sheep to emphasize the security found only in him, and the dangers posed by those who seek to savage the flock. 

Verse 10 is key because Satan often is understood as the thief to whom Jesus refers. While the evil one certainly steals, kills, and destroys, Jesus has set his sights on Israel’s false prophets and religious elites. In John 10:1, for example, he declares, “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.” This likely is a reference to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, for whom the Savior reserves his strongest rebukes in Matthew 23, issuing a string of woes for scribes and Pharisees he calls “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind fools,” “blind people,” “snakes,” and “brood of vipers.” He tells them, “How can you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). 

In John 10:8, Jesus says, “All who came before are thieves and robbers.” He is not referring to faithful Old Testament leaders like Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel. Rather, he hints at despotic leaders throughout Israel’s history, as well as messianic pretenders who promise the people freedom but lead them into war, suffering, and slavery.

Jesus also may be referring to Old Testament passages like Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34, in which the prophets pronounce judgment on Israel’s leaders for their failure to care for the people. In addition, Jesus may have in mind messianic pretenders (cf. Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22), or more likely the Jews who treated the man born blind so callously (John 19:13-14). Sheep don’t listen to shepherds like this because the sheep don’t recognize the corrupt shepherds’ voices.

Jesus follows this by saying, “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:9-10). 

It seems clear that Jesus is setting himself against the corrupt leaders in Israel’s past, and the “blind guides” of his own day. These are thieves and robbers who scale the rock walls and claw through the thorns to get to the sheep. But as the good shepherd, Jesus protects and feeds his sheep, calls them by name, and lays down his life for them. 

While Satan does not appear to be the thief to whom Jesus refers, the evil one no doubt positions himself in the background, inciting rebellion, fostering deception, and scattering the flock that Jesus promises to make as one. Jesus’ reference to “other sheep” (John 10:16) most likely refers to Gentiles, whom God has always planned to be a part of the redemption story. D. A. Carson notes:

Jesus the gate is the sole means by which the sheep may enter the safety of the fold or the luxurious forage of the pasture. The thought is akin to 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” While the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, Jesus comes that they may have life, and have it to the full. This is a proverbial way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life … only one source of knowledge of God, only one fount of spiritual nourishment, only one basis for spiritual security – Jesus alone.

The images of Jesus as the good shepherd, the gate, and the one who knows his sheep are best understood in the context of Middle Eastern shepherding. The sheep pen typically is a round or square enclosure with high stone walls, topped with briars to keep wild animals out. There is a single opening, where the shepherd serves as the “gate” or “door,” even to the point of sleeping in the doorway at night, thus functioning as the only way in or out of the sheep pen.

The Greek word translated “gate” is thyra, meaning “door.” Jesus portrays himself as the shepherd who makes himself the sealer of the sheep pen, the one who provides security for the sheep within and who threatens violence to anyone or anything aiming to harm the flock. 

When Jesus tells his listeners he has come to give them life “in abundance,” the Greek perisson means “that which goes way beyond necessity.” John wants his readers to know that the gift of Jesus, and the eternal life he brings, are beyond our wildest dreams.

But delivering life to the fullest comes at a price, as Jesus explains in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” As Colin Kruse notes: “A shepherd would rarely, if ever, actually die in protection of his sheep (to do so would leave the sheep defenseless). Jesus was extending the imagery beyond its normal limits and pointing forward to the time when he would, in fact, lay down his life for the sake of the people.”

So, John 10:10 almost certainly is not a direct reference to Satan. However, the corrupt leaders of ancient times, and the self-righteous religious leaders of Jesus’ day, act in a manner consistent with the deeds of their father, the devil. They steal, kill, and destroy because they pattern their lives after a supernatural prototype for whom destruction comes naturally.

Next: Satan: The Destroyer (Part 3)