Scripture Story Sketch Notes · John 10:1–18, 27–28
The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
A sheepfold, a door, a thief, a hireling who runs, and a Shepherd who calls each sheep by name and gives His life for them. Walk the fold, look closer, and hear His voice.
In Jerusalem, Jesus taught about a sheepfold. A thief climbs in some other way, but the shepherd comes in by the door. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out, and they follow him because they know his voice. Jesus said, “I am the door,” and whoever enters by Him will be saved and find pasture.
Then He said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” A hireling runs when the wolf comes, because he does not care for the sheep. Jesus knows His sheep, lays down His life for them, and has other sheep, not of this fold, who will also hear His voice.
Who’s who
Jesus: the Good Shepherd
The sheep: who know His voice
A thief and a hireling: who do not care for them
Where and when
Jerusalem, near the temple; the teaching is set in a sheepfold.
Eight stops from the sheepfold to the other sheep across the sea. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
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The teaching, plainly
Four scenes: the fold, the pasture, the danger, and the other sheep. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
John 10:1 “the Meaning: a walled pen that keeps sheep safe.”
John 10:3 “To him the Meaning: the gatekeeper. openeth”
John 10:4 “when he Meaning: leads out. his own sheep”
John 10:12 “he that is an Meaning: a hired worker.”
John 10:10 “more Meaning: fully, overflowing.”
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Look closer
Jesus explained much of this teaching Himself: He is the door, and He is the good shepherd. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from prophets. Each card says which.
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All nine. The fold, the door, the shepherd’s staff, His voice, pasture, the wolf, the hireling, the Lamb and the other sheep. John 10:1–18
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Where are you in the fold?
Sheep in this fold heard many voices, felt scattered, felt outside the fold, or were following Him. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
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Try it
Whose voice is it?
The sheep know their Shepherd’s voice. Read each one and decide: is it the Good Shepherd, or a voice the sheep should not follow?
“For they know his voice.” John 10:4
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Their world, their words
A little background helps us see why shepherds meant so much to the people listening. Outside sources are labeled.
Apostle · Talmage
A shepherd people
Elder Talmage: “Pastoral conditions prevailed in Palestine, and the dignity of the shepherd’s vocation was very generally recognized.”6
Everyone listening knew what a good shepherd was.
Apostle · Talmage
Lead, don’t drive
Elder Talmage: the sheep “know his voice and follow him as he leads from fold to pasture, for he goes before the flock; while the stranger, though he be the herder, they know not; he must needs drive, for he cannot lead.”6
He goes first.
Apostle · Talmage
Known by name
Elder Talmage: the shepherd “knows each sheep by name, the other knows them only as a flock, the value of which is gauged by number.”6
You are not a number to Him.
Apostle · Talmage
The other sheep
Elder Talmage: the “other sheep” “constituted the separated flock or remnant of the house of Joseph,” taken “beyond the great deep to the American continent.”6
He is not just a shepherd who does his job. He is the good, the noble Shepherd who “giveth his life for the sheep.”1
What the text does not say
Jesus explained parts of this teaching Himself: “I am the door” and “I am the good shepherd.”1 He did not explain who the porter is, so this page does not guess.
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Look to Him
He is the door, and He is the Shepherd. He knows you, calls you, and gave His life for you.
Elder Gerrit W. Gong: “Jesus Christ calls us in His voice and His name. He seeks and gathers us. He teaches us how to minister in love.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong, “Good Shepherd, Lamb of God,” April 20195
“What a blessing the Book of Mormon is as another testament witnessing the voice of Jesus Christ!”
“While the shepherd is ready to fight in defense of his own, and if necessary even imperil his life for his sheep, the hireling flees when the wolf approaches.”
“And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” 3 Nephi 15:21
Psalms
My shepherd
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1
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Seek Him today
His promise
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”2 Where will you listen for His voice this week?
Try it today
One way to hear His voice a day. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
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This week:0 of 7 days
Seven days in His fold. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Read John 10:1–16 slowly. Then sit in quiet and ask Heavenly Father to help you recognize His Son’s voice, and listen. John 10:1–16
A verse to hold
Talk about it
How do sheep know which voice to follow?
What does it mean that Jesus calls each of us by name?
What is the difference between a good shepherd and a hireling?
Who are the “other sheep” He visited in the Book of Mormon?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder Gerrit W. Gong, “Good Shepherd, Lamb of God” (2019)
How the Savior calls us in His voice and name, seeks and gathers us into one fold, and teaches us to minister in love.5
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Jesus explained this teaching Himself; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
