10:1-9 What does this parable teach?
10:1-9 What does this parable teach?
This is called the parable of the Good Shepherd. It is an extension of Jesus' teaching in Ch 9. Jesus told this parable as a sequel to the behaviour of the chief priests and Pharisees after He opened the eyes of the blind man in Ch 9 (CP 9:1-7, 35-41).
Jesus is illustrating by the parable that the chief priests and Pharisees are false shepherds. They claimed insight but were spiritually blind, missing the point completely in Jesus' healing of the blind man. In their blindness they could not see Jesus as the Lord who is the Shepherd (CP Psa 23).
When Jesus said that all who came before Him were thieves and robbers He was referring to the religious leaders of Israel who had only ever cared about themselves, and not the spiritual good of the people (CP Isa 56:9-12; Jer 23:1-6; Eze 13:22-23; 22:23-29; 34:2-10; Zech 11:15-18 with Mt 23:1-7, 13-33 [also Lu 11:42-52] Jn 10:11-14).
The religious leaders of Israel were hypocrites. They not only rejected God's offer of salvation for themselves, but hindered others from accepting it as well (see also comments on Lu 11:46 and Jn 10:10).