John 10:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In the person of the first, He indicates Theudas and those like him. In the person of the second, He sets forth the Jewish teachers, who did not tend or care for the sheep entrusted to them.

Ezekiel once rebuked them for this, saying: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?" Ezek 34:3. But they acted in the opposite way. This is the greatest degree of impiety and the cause of all other evils.

Therefore the prophet says that they did not turn back the straying sheep, nor seek the lost. They did not bind up the one whose legs were broken, nor heal the sick. They fed themselves and not the sheep; Ezek 34:4, 8.

Paul indicated the same thing in other words, saying: "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's"; Phil 2:21. And elsewhere: "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's good"; 1 Cor 10:24.

He defines how the good shepherd must be recognized. Fighting for the salvation of the flock, he must give even his own life without hesitation. This was fulfilled by Christ.

The father of sin, according to what is said in the Psalms, set us to be shepherded "like sheep in Hades," Ps 48:15, by handing us over to death. But the truly good Shepherd died for us, so that, drawing us out of the dark abysses of death, He might make it possible for us to be numbered among the heavenly choirs. Instead of folds in the abysses of the deep and depths of the sea, He granted us the dwellings above with the Father.

Therefore He says to us in one place: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom," Lk 12:32.

But this concerns Christ. Now let us consider them. To everyone who judges them with a faithful eye, they will in fact appear to be nothing other than hirelings, false shepherds, cowards, traitors, and idlers. They pay no attention at all to the benefit of the sheep, but strive only to obtain from every side what is pleasant and agreeable to each.

Yes, they were "hirelings," according to the Savior's word, and the sheep were "not their own." They belonged to Christ, who purchased them from the beginning and ordained hierarchs over the Jewish people for heavenly honors.

But they neglected such great honors and did not value the fold of the flock at all. They handed the sheep over to the wolf. We shall say briefly how this happened.

In ancient times the numerous Jewish people acknowledged only God as king. To Him they gave didrachmas and sacrifices. As though offering a kind of tribute, they brought a life in accordance with the law.

But a foreign man, or people, came upon this people like a wild "wolf." He imposed both the name and the reality of slavery, placed upon them the yoke of human kingship, compelled them to pass into a lawless and immoral life, demanded tribute, and tore them away from the Kingdom of God. Those who fell into such calamities were compelled to submit to the laws of their masters.

The foreigner came, thrusting aside the authority of God, that is, the tribe which had received the sacred ministry, to which judgment and law had been entrusted by God. He distorted everything, imposed constraint, compelled his own image to be struck on the coins, and carried out every kind of violence.

Yet against such unbearable oppression the shepherds did not keep watch. They saw "the wolf coming" and, leaving the flock, fled, because the sheep were not "their own." They did not call upon Him who could help, who had saved them from the Babylonians, turned away the Assyrian, and slain by the hand of an Angel "one hundred eighty-five thousand" foreigners, Is 37:36.

That subjection to the authority of foreigners brought no small harm to Israel and weakened piety, you can learn from the facts themselves. When Pilate once rebuked the incredible insolence of the Jews, who demanded that he crucify the Lord, and said plainly, "Shall I crucify your King?" Jn 19:15, they then cast off slavery to God and broke the bonds of the original dominion. They subjected themselves to a new yoke and shamelessly cried out: "We have no king but Caesar," Jn 19:15.

The rulers of the Jews thought it just to do and proclaim this. Therefore the blame for all the calamities must be placed upon them. With every justice they are condemned as traitors of the flock, as cowards deprived of courage, and as foolish men who utterly refused to defend and fight for the flock subject to them.

Therefore God accuses them in these words: "The shepherds have become senseless and have not sought the Lord. Therefore the whole flock did not understand and was scattered," Jer 10:21.

Thus the facts themselves prove that Christ is the truly good Shepherd of the sheep. They, however, are destructive rather than good, and altogether alien to true praise.

Man fell away from the love of God, turned aside into sin, and for this was removed from the holy and divine court, that is, from the enclosure of Paradise. Having suffered such calamity, he became the prey of the devil, who enticed him to sin and to death born from sin, those fierce and untamed wolves.

But when Christ, the good Shepherd over all, appeared, He laid down His life for us, fighting against this pack of fierce beasts. He endured the Cross for us, so that by death He might put death to death. He underwent condemnation for our sake, to free all from condemnation for transgression. By faith He abolished the sin that held dominion, "nailing to His Cross the handwriting that was against us," as it is written, Col 2:14.

Then were they shepherds? Certainly, they were shepherds. How, then, is there one Shepherd? I have already said that they are shepherds because they are members of the Shepherd. In the Head they had joy. By one spirit they lived in the bond of one body, and through this they all belonged to the one Shepherd.

If, then, they are shepherds and not hirelings, why did they flee when persecutions fell to their lot? Explain this to us, Lord. Reading the Epistle, I saw Paul fleeing. He was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall, to escape the hands of his persecutor, cf. 2 Cor 11:32.

Did he therefore not care for the sheep whom he abandoned when the wolf approached? Clearly he did this. Yet by his prayers he entrusted them to the Shepherd who sits in heaven. For their own benefit he preserved himself by flight, as he says in one place: "To remain in the flesh is more necessary for you," Phil 1:24.

For all of them heard the Shepherd Himself: "When they persecute you in one city, flee to another," Mt 10:23. Let the Lord deign to disclose this question to us.

Lord, You said to those whom You wished to have as faithful shepherds, and whom You made Your members: "When they persecute you, flee." Yet, reproving hirelings, You blamed those who see the wolf coming and flee. We ask You to reveal to us the deep meaning of this question.

Let us knock, and the Porter of the door, who is Himself the Door, will be with us to open.

Who is the hireling who sees the wolf coming and flees? He is the man who seeks his own things and not the things of Jesus Christ, Phil 2:21, and who does not dare openly to rebuke a sinner, cf. 1 Tim 5:20.

Look, someone has sinned, and sinned gravely. He deserves rebuke, he deserves excommunication. But if he is excommunicated, he will become an enemy, plot against you, and inflict harm whenever he can.

Then the man who seeks his own things and not the things of Jesus Christ keeps silent and does not condemn the sinner. He does this so that he may not lose what he has pursued, namely the benefits of human friendship, and so that he may not suffer the burdens of human enmity.

Look, the wolf has seized a sheep by the throat. The devil has cast a believer into adultery, and you are silent and do not rebuke him. O hireling, you saw the wolf coming and fled.

Perhaps he will answer and say: "Here I am, I am present, I have not fled." You fled because you were silent. You were silent because you were afraid. For fear is the flight of the spirit.

In body you remained standing in place, but in your spirit you fled. This was not done by him who said: "Though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit," Col 2:5. For how did he flee in spirit who, though absent in body, reproved the dissolute in his letters?

Our emotions are movements of our souls. Joy is the movement of the soul spreading wide. Sorrow is the constriction of the soul. Desire is the movement of the soul forward. Fear is the flight of the soul.

You become wider in soul when you rejoice. You are pressed in spirit when you are troubled. You rush forward in soul when you desire something, and you flee in soul when you are afraid.

Therefore it is said that the hireling, seeing the wolf, flees. Why? Because he does not care for the sheep, Jn 10:11-12. Why does he not care for the sheep? Because he is a hireling.

What does it mean that he is a hireling? It means that he seeks a passing wage and will not abide in the house forever, Jn 8:35.

There is still something here that should be asked and discussed with you, but I do not wish to burden you. We serve the Lord's food to our brethren in faith. We feed as sheep in the Lord's pastures, and we feed one another.

Just as we must not withhold what is necessary, so we must not overload the weak heart with an abundance of food. Therefore, beloved, let it not offend you that today I have not interpreted everything that seemed to me to require interpretation. In the name of the Lord, the same passage will be read to us again on preaching days, and with His help it will be considered more thoroughly.

The Lord called hireling shepherds those to whom He was then speaking. Even now there are such men, though it would be better if they did not exist. There are men who appropriate to themselves the name of hirelings.

At that time the high priests, the Pharisees, and that whole Jewish schism were meant. He called them hireling shepherds. They had taken upon themselves the authority of shepherding not for the sake of truth, but for their own gain.

Out of vain hypocrisy they pray so that they may devour the bread of widows and orphans; Mt 23:14. These are hirelings, who serve necessity, chase the present, and do not keep the future in view. They are hirelings, not shepherds.

Further on, the prophet lists the duties of a shepherd which the shepherds of Israel did not fulfill. They did not seek the lost sheep. They did not bring back the driven-away. They did not bind up the wounded. They did not heal the sick.

They did this because they fed themselves and not the flock. From the dangerous men mentioned above, Jesus Christ distinguished Himself. From the first, He differs because He came "that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

From the second, He differs because He lays down His life for the sheep. By this last fact, that He lays down His life for the sheep, Jesus Christ confirmed that He came "that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

The Apostle Paul also says: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved"; Rom 5:10.

And again: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom 8:32.

To go up against him means to oppose with the free voice of reason any powers acting unlawfully. In the day of the Lord we stand in battle for the house of Israel and build a wall if, on the foundation of righteousness, we defend innocent believers against the injustice of the corrupt.

Because the hireling does not do this, he flees when he sees the wolf coming. But there is another wolf who every day continually tears not bodies but souls. This is the evil spirit, who besieges the courts of believers and seeks the deaths of souls.

About this wolf He immediately adds: "And the wolf snatches them and scatters the sheep." The wolf comes and the hireling flees, because the evil spirit tears the souls of believers through temptation, while the one who held the place of shepherd has no care to preserve them.

Souls perish, while he delights in earthly advantages. The wolf snatches the sheep when he drags one into lust, inflames another with greed, stirs a third to pride, disposes one to anger, strikes another with hatred, and casts another down by deception.

Thus the wolf, as it were, scatters the flock when the devil strikes the people of believers with temptations. But against this the hireling is inflamed by no zeal and stirred by no ardor of love. Since he seeks only outward advantages, he carelessly looks upon the inward harm of the flock.

Therefore it is immediately added: "The hireling flees, because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep." There is only one reason why the hireling flees: he is a hireling.

It is as if it were plainly said: he cannot stand in danger for the sheep who, in leading the sheep, loves not the sheep, but seeks earthly advantage. When he loves honor and delights in temporal advantages, he fears to set himself against danger, lest he lose what he loves.

When the necessary occasion is absent, it is impossible to know certainly whether he is a shepherd or a hireling. In peaceful times the hireling usually guards the flock just as the true shepherd does. But the coming of the wolf shows with what soul each one guarded the flock.

The wolf comes against the sheep like every evildoer and thief, and seizes all the faithful and obedient. But he who seemed to be a shepherd, though in truth he was not, leaves the sheep and flees, because, fearing trouble for himself from the wolf, he does not try to resist his injustice.

He flees, not by changing place, but by drawing profit. He flees because he hides behind silence. But the hireling is kindled by no zeal against this. The only reason the hireling flees is that he is a hireling.

It is as though it were said openly: "He cannot defend the sheep from danger who, in what concerns the sheep, loves not the sheep, but seeks earthly gain. While he thinks of honors and rejoices in temporal comforts, he fears to oppose dangers, lest he lose what he loves."

Perhaps so. But would it not be more accurate to suppose that, presenting Himself under the new image of the shepherd, in this allegory the Lord changes the images also when He designates His enemies more decisively?

The image of the hireling for the Pharisees, after the image of thief and robber, is less strong and expressive, while the Lord's discourse grows stronger. In this allegory the image of the wolf suits them better. He is the complete enemy of the sheep, still more dangerous to them than the thief and robber.

Should we not understand by the hireling another kind of untrue shepherd of the flock in the time of Christ? This would be the Jewish hierarchy of that time, degenerate, deprived of the spirit of Christ, and together with the Pharisees also an unwearied enemy of Christ. Its representatives, together with the Pharisees, condemned the Lord, the true Shepherd, to death; cf. Basil the Great, 4, 372.

The hierarchy of that time fulfilled the law through service in the temple, the offering of sacrifices, rites, feasts, and in general all the ordinances of the God-given law. It did God's work, but because of its degenerate spirit, degenerate to the point that it rose up against Christ, it did it as a hireling does, not as a true Shepherd. It cared more for itself than for the sheep and looked more to its own interests than to the spiritual benefit of those it shepherded.

Self-interest, faintheartedness, and spiritual estrangement from those shepherded are the features by which the hireling is designated in this allegory. How well these features fit the Jewish hierarchy of that time, at least in its representatives. From the representatives this spirit undoubtedly passed to the whole body, at least in its mass, even if there were exceptions; cf. Lk 10:1-32.

Thus it seems more in keeping with the meaning of the allegory to understand the good Shepherd as the Lord Jesus, the hireling as the hierarchy of that time, and the wolf as the Pharisees.

"Not a shepherd": shepherd is taken here as an owner, who shepherds his own sheep belonging to him. Opposed to him is the hired shepherd, for whom the sheep are not his own. These sheep are the Lord Jesus' own partly because He is Lord of all, and partly because He has redeemed all, Acts 20:28; Titus 2:14.

"He sees the wolf coming": as soon as he sees the wolf running from afar, he runs away from the sheep, caring only for his own safety. This feature indicates self-interest, self-love, and faintheartedness in the hireling.

"The wolf scatters the sheep": the expression refers to the wolf's action toward individual sheep. He snatches those upon whom he falls, kills them, and then carries them away. The following expression, "scatters them," that is, frightens the sheep away, refers to the whole flock. From fear the whole flock runs in every direction.

Such too are the hostile actions of the Pharisees toward the flock of God, or the members of the Church. By their false teachings and deeds they destroyed their souls and scattered the whole flock. The fear of the hostile power was such that men were afraid openly to confess faith in the Lord Jesus, Jn 12:42-43; Jn 9:22, and elsewhere.

Rather, they are false and self-appointed teachers who corrupted the people, and especially the Pharisees. "This was said," observes Saint Isidore of Pelusium, "not of the prophets and not of the Law, but of the false prophets."

The rational sheep of God's flock, the true Israelites who awaited Christ in faith and received Him, did not listen to their voice. Strengthening His word by repetition, the Lord continued: "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture."

In the grace-filled Kingdom of Christ, the believer receives satisfaction for all the higher needs of the spirit. On the rich pasture of the word of God and the holy mysteries of the faith, he finds true spiritual food and true drink. By them he is strengthened and attains eternal life.

Applying to Himself the image of the shepherd, the Lord contrasted Himself, in Basil the Great's expression, with "those to whom He was then speaking, the hireling shepherds, who took upon themselves the authority of shepherding not for the truth, but for their own gain."

"The hireling, occupying the place of the shepherd, does not seek the benefit of souls. He thirsts for earthly gains, delights in the honors of high rank, enjoys temporal profits, and consoles himself with human esteem"; Saint Gregory the Dialogist.

Making undeserved use of his position, he is the same as a thief, destructive in his actions. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

This is so that, as the holy Evangelist says elsewhere, they may receive "grace upon grace"; Jn 1:16.

"I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. But a hireling, who is not the shepherd and whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees. The wolf catches them and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care for the sheep."

The true shepherd, the model of shepherds, is not like the hireling. When the hireling sees danger threatening the sheep, he calculates his own advantage and his own life. If personal danger comes, he leaves the flock as prey for the ravening beast.

Would that shepherds, who are bound to imitate the model of shepherds, considered their own advantage as little as possible in fulfilling their office. Would that they firmly and fearlessly drove wolves and other ravening beasts from the flock. Would that they spoke aloud against seducers, who destroy hundreds of souls by their example and their thoughts.

A sorrowful sight: hirelings in the place of shepherds. But earthly life is altogether sorrowful. Blessed Jerome wrote: "Hirelings too are needed. Many, though they seek their own advantage in the Church, preach Christ alone. From them the voice of Christ is heard, and the sheep follow not the hireling, but the voice sounding through the hireling.

"Hear how the Lord sends us to hirelings. The scribes and Pharisees, He says, sit on Moses' seat. Do what they say, but do not do what they do. This means: obey the voice of the Lord sounding through hirelings.

"They seek their own advantage, not the profit of Christ. Yet no hireling will dare say to the Christian people: seek your own advantage, and not the glory of Christ. He acts wickedly, but from the chair of Christ he does not preach wickedness."

But there is also a third meaning of the wolf: the heretics who, from the second century, troubled the Church of God and tore sheep away from her, destroying them by their teachings. Concerning this passage, Chrysostom says in Homily 59 that one may also understand the spiritual wolf, that is, the devil.

In this sense the wolf is also the devil, who "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour"; 1 Pet 5:8. His instruments were the heresiarchs, the preachers of false doctrines, and those who produced destructive schisms in the Church.

From all these assaults upon Christ's sheep, only the one Shepherd can preserve them. Yet He entrusts this preservation also to men appointed by Him. But among these servants appointed by the Shepherd, the Lord distinguishes faithful servants from hirelings.

He says nothing about the faithful servants. Remaining one with the Shepherd in faith and love, they fulfill His will. When necessary, they lay down their life for the sheep, following the example of their Chief Shepherd and receiving the martyr's crown in the Shepherd's name.

Such were the martyrs and confessors, and the whole holy assembly of those who loved the Lord and laid down their life for the truth. A significant number of them were primates of Christ's Churches in various lands. They were the first summoned to answer and suffer for their flock.

There is hardly need to mention the great names of the protomartyr Stephen, the holy Apostles, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Irenaeus, and other bishops of the first and second centuries, who laid down their lives in the name of Christ.

These holy martyrs receive their reward from the Lord. But the Lord, preparing the future of His Church, foretells those whom He calls hirelings. They give their life neither to the Church, nor to the flock of Christ, nor to the Lord and His work.

Rather, they give it to their own vanity, or love of power, or even greed. Thus they are not members of the Lord's household, loving His house. They are hirelings, who have their own aims in view.

According to the Lord's words, they are not shown as doing evil directly to the flock. Yet they flee at the first danger, because they have no higher demand of the soul binding them to eternal goods. They have only a striving after earthly goods.

Therefore they are hirelings and care nothing for the sheep. The wolf, in all its meanings, snatches and destroys the sheep whom the Lord entrusted to these negligent and self-loving shepherds.