To him the porter openeth - Sir Isaac Newton observes that our Lord being near the temple, where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for sacrifices, spoke many things parabolically of sheep, of their shepherds, and of the door to the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened to the shepherd. In the porter opening the door to the true shepherd, we may discover the second mark of a true minister - his labor is crowned with success. The Holy Spirit opens his way into the hearts of his hearers, and he becomes the instrument of their salvation. See Colossians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Revelation 3:8.

The sheep hear his voice - A third mark of a good shepherd is that he speaks so as to instruct the people - the sheep hear His voice; he does not take the fat and the fleece, and leave another hireling on less pay to do the work of the pastoral office. No: himself preaches Christ Jesus the Lord, and in that simplicity too, that is best calculated to instruct the common people. A man who preaches in such a language as the people cannot comprehend may do for a stage-player or a mountebank, but not for a minister of Christ.

He calleth his own sheep by name - A fourth mark of a good pastor is that he is well acquainted with his flock; he knows them by name - he takes care to acquaint himself with the spiritual states of all those that are entrusted to him. He speaks to them concerning their souls, and thus getting a thorough knowledge of their state he is the better qualified to profit them by his public ministrations. He who has not a proper acquaintance with the Church of Christ, can never by his preaching build it up in its most holy faith.

And leadeth them out - A fifth mark of a good shepherd is, he leads the flock, does not lord it over God's heritage; nor attempts by any rigorous discipline not founded on the Gospel of Christ, to drive men into the way of life; nor drive them out of it, which many do, by a severity which is a disgrace to the mild Gospel of the God of peace and love.

He leads them out of themselves to Christ, out of the follies, diversions, and amusements of the world, into the path of Christian holiness: in a word, he leads them, by those gentle yet powerful persuasions that flow from a heart full of the word and love of Christ, into the kingdom and glory of his God.

the porter.

Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed...

1 Corinthians 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Colossians 4:3 With praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

1 Peter 1:12 To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they did minister the things...

Revelation 3:7,8,20 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David...

the sheep.

John 10:4,16,26,27 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice...

John 6:37,45 All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out...

Songs 8:13 You that dwell in the gardens, the companions listen to your voice: cause me to hear it.

and he.

John 10:14,27 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine...

Exodus 33:17 And the LORD said to Moses, I will do this thing also that you have spoken: for you have found grace in my sight...

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified...

Philippians 4:3 And I entreat you also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also...

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. And...

Revelation 20:15 And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

and leadeth.

Psalm 23:2,3 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters...

Psalm 78:52,53 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock...

Psalm 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth.

Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom...

Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known...

Isaiah 49:9,10 That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways...

Jeremiah 31:8,9 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame...

Jeremiah 50:4-6 In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together...

Ezekiel 34:11-16 For thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out...

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the middle of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters...

December 10 Morning
No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.--JOHN 10:29. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.--The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.--We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

On the Words of the Gospel, John x. 14, "I am the Good Shepherd," Etc. Against the Donatists.
1. We have heard the Lord Jesus setting forth to us the office of a good shepherd. And herein He hath doubtless given us to know, as we may understand it, that there are good shepherds. And yet that the multitude of shepherds might not be understood in a wrong sense; He saith, "I am the good Shepherd." [4124] And wherein He is the good Shepherd, He showeth in the words following; "The good Shepherd," saith He, "layeth down His life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament