John 10:1-18 the good shepherd (versus hired one) who loves and cares for his sheep; his flock is the Christian believers of the world. His sheep hears his love and follow him.
His love for the world is so great that he laid down his life for them. He has authority to lay down his life voluntarily at great cost including sufferings, insults, and pain. He also has authority to take it up again.
John 10:1-14,16-18
[1]Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
[2]The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
[3]The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.
[4]When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
[5]They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice.”
[6]Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.
[7]So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.
[8]All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
[9]I am the gate. Whoever comes in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture.
[10]The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life — life in all its fullness.
[11]“I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.
[12]When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
[13]The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them.
[16]There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
[17]“The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.
[18]No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”