Examining John 10 – ESV
by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
I have been sitting in John 10 for weeks now, listening for the sound of hooves and hinges—the movement of sheep inside a pen, the creak of a gate, the footsteps of a Shepherd who knows every name. However, Jesus does not begin this chapter with comfort; He begins with a warning. Before Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd, He names the danger already inside the pen—the robber who climbs in another way– the voice that imitates belonging while stealing obedience.
The older I get, the more I realize how easy it is to confuse the noise of the flock with the voice of the Shepherd. We learn the language of church, the rhythm of Sundays, the habits of the people around us. Before long, we are moving simply because everyone else is moving. Jesus never said His sheep would follow the flock;
He said they would follow Him.
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow.” — John 10:3–5 (ESV)
The Problem with Flock Mentality
The Lord led me recently to study actual flock behavior. I was surprised to learn that sheep are intelligent animals. They recognize faces, remember voices, and they can learn patterns. On the other hand, their greatest weakness is not ignorance—it is their instinct to move as a mass without discernment.
If one sheep startles, the whole flock runs. If one wanders toward danger, many follow. If the gate is left unguarded, they will press through it simply because the group is pressing. That type of behavior is not obedience; it is merely instinct. Unfortunately, instinct is a poor substitute for relationship.
How the Robber Learns to Sound Like the Flock
Jesus opens John 10 with this sobering picture:
“He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.” — John 10:1 (ESV)
“All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.” — John 10:8 (ESV)
The robber is rarely obvious, and he does not announce himself as an enemy.
Most of the time he borrows the language of the pen. The robber can sound like:
• religious advice without relationship
• comfort that contradicts conviction
• consensus that overrides conscience
• tradition that resists obedience
He does not need to attack the sheep if he can simply redirect them. If he can make the flock louder than the Shepherd, he wins.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10 (ESV)
The robber’s strategy is simple: keep the sheep busy following sheep. When obedience becomes uncomfortable, the robber whispers:
“Everyone else is doing it.”
“No one will understand if you follow that call.”
“Surely God didn’t mean it that seriously.”
The robber doesn’t need to destroy your faith—only your immediate obedience.
A Word I Received — November 25, 2025
On November 25, 2025, I wrote these words after a long time of prayer. The words came as a conversation between my private self and my public self, yet I recognized the weight of the Lord’s correction in them. I share theses words with humility, believing they are especially for believers who have learned to live by flock mentality instead of by the Shepherd’s voice.
The world is out of control—but God isn’t.
We are still moving closer to death and destruction,
yet God promises life and life more abundant.People can argue against Israel all day long,
yet the covenant God walked Himself still stands.
God shows His promise not to destroy the earth with water quite often—however, the fire is coming one way or another.Even on a macro level people hear from the Lord
yet still disobey Him in their everyday lives.
We marvel at the state of things,
yet our own hearts are nothing more than disloyal, disobedient trash heaps.Do you want to change things?
Start with your own convictions inside your own home.
Don’t be surprised when the enemy comes to destroy
what you clearly rolled over and gave him.You’ve been told time and time again,
yet here you are saddling up to the iniquities
He so clearly warned you were wrong.
When I read those lines again, I hear the Shepherd calling His sheep to step out of the crowd and away from the robber’s echo.
Jesus Is the Gate — Not the Crowd
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” — John 10:9 (ESV)
The gate is not culture.
The gate is not a denomination.
The gate is not the majority vote of the flock.
The gate is a Person.
Actually, Jesus refuses to share His voice with the noise of strangers.
The Gate I Had to Walk Through
This month marks an anniversary I did not expect to feel so deeply.
The last weekend in February of 2025 was my first Sunday at FBC with Chris—and my last Sunday at The River Church, the place where I had loved, served, grown, and found family. The Lord told me clearly it was time to go to church with my husband.
Go.
The robber sounded reasonable then:
“You belong here.”
“You’ve built ministry here.”
“No one at the new place even knows you.”
The robber sounded like loyalty, but the Shepherd sounded “Go.‘
So I went, and I have stayed. I have pressed into my new church home not because it has been easy, but because obedience is not measured by comfort.
I do not receive my value from the flock. I follow the Shepherd. However, socially I often feel like a misfit in this new pen. I have prayed in my closet about the cliques, the invisible walls, the sense of being on the outside looking in, and I have explained to the Lord more than once that I can sit in a room full of believers and still feel alone.
Yet in that same place of isolation, I am being fed with the Word of God every week.
I am growing in my small group.
I am serving students at AWANA.
I am learning a different rhythm of faithfulness.
The Shepherd did not promise me a popular seat; He promised me His voice.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” — John 10:27 (ESV)
So I remain.
I push through.
I continue to grow in a field I did not choose—because He chose it for me.
I do not receive my value from the flock.
I follow the Shepherd.
Where He leads, I go.
If I must be the black sheep among the speckled and spotted, then so be it.
A Question for the Bride
Where have we, as His church as the Body of Christ, compromised and kowtowed to social comfort when we should have been obedient to Christ? The robber loves a church ruled by culture. The Shepherd loves a bride ruled by conviction.
A Word to the Woman Who Keeps Running
There is a woman reading this blog post who knows the Shepherd’s voice. Yet as soon as obedience becomes uncomfortable, you bolt in the opposite direction. You reason with your conscience until disobedience feels reasonable. You tell yourself: “It’s okay now… I can do my own thing.” However, disobedience is still rebellion, and the Lord resists a rebellious heart (James 4:6-8).
You are not fighting confusion—you are answering the robber’s echo instead of the Shepherd’s voice. Go back through the Gate now, and do not look back like Lot’s wife.
God never changes. Your whims may change your mind, yet He remains.
The Shepherd Who Laid Down His Life
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” — John 10:11 (ESV)
Jesus is not shouting to shame His sheep. He is calling to save them. He is calling you! The question is simple: Whose voice will you follow today—the Shepherd or the robber?
Invitation to Salvation
Pray with me:
Jesus, I confess that I have followed voices that were not Yours…
Today I turn from the stranger’s voice and choose Yours…
“My sheep hear my voice… I give them eternal life.” — John 10:27–28 (ESV)
I don’t want to live as a comfortable sheep in a noisy flock.
I want to live as one who recognizes the footsteps of her Shepherd.
Challenge: Learning to Live by the Shepherd’s Voice
This week, I want to challenge you to step out of flock instinct and into Shepherd-led obedience.
- Name the loudest voice in your life.
Is it culture, comfort, fear, family expectations, or the Shepherd? - Identify one place you have reasoned yourself out of obedience.
Where have you said, “I’ve thought about it long enough; it’s okay now”? - Close one door the robber has been using.
A habit, relationship, media influence, or attitude that keeps you dull to conviction. - Take one step you’ve been avoiding.
Obedience rarely feels dramatic—it usually feels like a quiet decision to do the next right thing. - Ask the Lord daily:
“Jesus, whose voice am I following today?”
Obedience is not a feeling—it is a direction, and the Gate is still open.
Scripture Study: John 10 – Hearing the Shepherd (ESV)
You may use this as personal reflection or with a small group.
1. The Robber and the Gate – John 10:1–10
- What are the “other ways” a robber climbs into the sheepfold today?
- How can church culture sometimes function like a robber—loud but not life-giving?
- According to verse 10, what are the two competing missions in the pen?
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10
2. Knowing the Voice – John 10:3–5, 27
- How do sheep learn a voice in real life?
- What habits help believers recognize Jesus’ voice over the flock’s noise?
- When have you mistaken comfort for the Shepherd?
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” — John 10:27
3. The Good Shepherd – John 10:11–18
- What does it mean that Jesus laid down His life voluntarily?
- How is the hired hand different from the Shepherd?
- Who are the “hired hands” you’ve trusted more than Christ?
4. Personal Examination
- Where have I followed the flock instead of the Shepherd?
- What “robber echo” have I been answering?
- What would immediate obedience look like this week?
Prayer for Scripture Study
Lord, open my ears to Your voice alone. Expose any robber that has learned to sound spiritual in my life. Teach me to love Your commands more than the approval of the flock. Lead me through the Gate again and again. Amen.
— Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
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