John 10:15

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father.—Better, . . . and I know the Father. Our version, by its rendering, and by the division of verses, fails to give the full meaning, and there is thus, indeed, no reason for the assertion of the mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son. But connecting the words with those of the previous verse, we have, “I am the Good Shepherd, and know those who are Mine, and those who are Mine know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.” This deeper sense of union between the human spirit and Himself, and the wondrous likening of it to the union of Himself and the Father, is present to His mind as the close of His work on earth draws near. We find it again in John 14:20; John 15:10; John 17:8; John 17:21. It is bound up with the thought of the love which lays down His own life for them. This is repeated here and again in John 10:17-18.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:10-18 Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case calling for it, he offered himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set free from the punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for his sheep.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As the Father knoweth me ... - See the Matthew 11:27 note; also Luke 10:22 note.

I lay down my life for the sheep - That is, I give my life as an atoning sacrifice for their sins. I die in their place, to redeem them from sin, and danger, and death. See John 10:17-18.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15-18. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father—What claim to absolute equality with the Father could exceed this? (See on [1819]Mt 11:27).

and I lay down my life for the sheep—How sublime this, immediately following the lofty claim of the preceding clause! It is the riches and the poverty of "the Word made flesh"—one glorious Person reaching at once up to the Throne and down even to the dust of death, "that we might live through Him." A candid interpretation of the words, "for the sheep," ought to go far to establish the special relation of the vicarious death of Christ to the Church.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By these words our Saviour openeth how he knew his sheep, and should be again known of them, even as the Father knoweth him, and he knows his Father: this mutual knowledge between the Father and Christ was joined with perfect love and delight. Thus our Saviour knoweth those that are his sheep, not only fully and distinctly, so as to call them all by their names; but so as to love them, delight in them; so as to be ready to lay down his life for their good, and eternal salvation. Christ, to show not only the sincerity, but the degrees, of his love to his people, doth often compare it to the love wherewith his Father loved him, John 15:9 17:23,26. So that if we can believe that God the Father loved Christ his only begotten Son, we may also believe that both the Father and Christ love those that are truly the sheep of Christ. The love that Christ hath to his people is as true and as certain as the Father’s love to Christ, or Christ’s love to his Father; and this could be showed by no higher act than that of laying down his life, John 15:13. Now, saith he,

I lay down, that is, I am ready to lay down, or I shall shortly lay down, my life for the sheep: whether sheep can signify all and every person born into the world, is their concern more strictly to inquire, who are so tenacious of that point. That Christ died equally for all and every man: as also, whether upon that principle that absurdity must not follow. That Christ loved those who shall yet perish eternally, with such a love as the Father loved him, and he loved the Father.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

As the Father knoweth me,.... These words, with what follow, are in connection with John 10:14; and the sense is, that the mutual knowledge of Christ, and his sheep, is like that which his Father and he have of each other. The Father knows Christ as his own Son, and loves him as such, in the most strong and affectionate manner; and has entrusted him with the persons, grace, and glory, of all his people:

even so know I the Father; or rather, "and I know the Father"; as he needs must, since he lay in his bosom, and still does, and knows his nature, perfections, purposes, and his whole mind and will; and loves him most ardently, which he has shown by his coming down from heaven, to do his will; and trusts in him for the accomplishment of everything he promised unto him:

and I lay down my life for the sheep; which proves him to be the good shepherd, John 10:11. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "for my sheep"; which were his, by the Father's gift, and for no other has he laid down his life. The Ethiopic version, as before, renders it, or rather explains it, "I lay down my life for the redemption of my sheep".

Geneva Study Bible

As the Father {e} knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

(e) Loves me, allows me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 10:15. This reciprocal knowledge is so sure and profound that it can only be compared to the mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son: καθὼς … πατέρα. He then applies to Himself what had been stated in general of all good shepherds in John 10:11; and John 10:16 might suitably have begun with the words “And my life I lay down for the sheep”. This statement is, however, prompted by His reference to His knowledge of the Father. He knows it is the Father’s will that He should lay down His life. See John 10:17-18.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. As the Father knoweth me, even so, &c.] This rendering entirely obscures the true meaning. There should be no full stop at the end of John 10:14, and the sentence should run; I know Mine, and Mine know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me and I know the Father. So intimate is the relation between the Good Shepherd and His sheep that it may be compared to the relation between the Father and the Son. The same thought runs through the discourses in the latter half of the Gospel: John 14:20, John 15:10, John 17:8; John 17:10; John 17:18; John 17:21.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 10:15. Καθώς, as) This is connected with the preceding verse. Often the relation of believers towards Christ is derived from the peculiar relation of Christ towards the Father: ch. John 14:20, “I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you;” John 15:10, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love; John 17:8; John 17:21, “I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me;—That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us;” Matthew 11:27, “Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him;” Luke 22:29, “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me;” 1 Corinthians 11:3, “The Head of every man is Christ,—and the Head of Christ is God;” 1 Corinthians 15:28, “The Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all;” Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father on His throne.”—καί) and for that reason [viz. because I am the Good Shepherd]. Hence [from this act of love] it is that the sheep know the ‘goodness’ of the Shepherd.—τίθημι, I lay down) Present. The whole life of Christ was a going to death.

John 10:15

Vincent's Word Studies

As the Father knoweth me

Connect these words with the previous sentence: mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me, etc.