Jesus’ statement in John 10:10 is well-known: “The thief does not come but to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly.”
Unfortunately, this verse is frequently misapplied, with “the thief” assumed to be the devil. Yet in this passage, Jesus never mentions the devil. He is talking about someone else. If you’ve been wounded by people who claimed to represent God, understanding whom Jesus is addressing may open your eyes to one of the most encouraging passages in Scripture.
The Man They Threw Out
To understand John 10, we need to begin in John 9. Jesus heals a man who had been blind from birth. Instead of celebrating his healing, the religious leaders interrogate him and demand that he distance himself from Jesus. When he refuses, they cast him out of the faith community (John 9:34).
Think about that. A man who had just experienced an extraordinary act of God’s mercy was expelled by the very people who should have been celebrating with him.
But the story doesn’t end there. When Jesus hears that they have cast him out, He finds him (John 9:35). The religious leaders had rejected him, but Jesus sought him out.
And this is where the narrative takes a remarkable turn.
The Door They Could Not Close
In John 10:9, Jesus declares, “I Myself am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (emphasis in the Greek).
Consider Jesus’ statement in light of what has just happened. The religious leaders had thrown a man out of their synagogue, effectively closing the door on him. But now Jesus declares, “I Myself am the door.”
Jesus is not disparaging the faith community of His day. He is instead emphasizing that fellowship with God ultimately depends upon Him, rather than upon acceptance by religious authorities. The connection between the man’s expulsion and Jesus’ subsequent declaration is striking. The very leaders who presumed to determine who belonged among God’s people had rejected someone whom Jesus Himself received.
And the Door Jesus describes leads somewhere. He promises salvation, freedom to go in and out, and pasture. The imagery communicates the security and provision available through Him. Access to this life is found in Christ Himself, rather than in the approval of religious authorities. This is extraordinarily good news for believers who have been rejected, mistreated, or driven away by those who were supposed to care for them.
The Shepherd Who Receives Them
But Jesus doesn’t stop with the Door. Two verses later, He makes another declaration: “I Myself am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). The One who provides access to life is also the Shepherd who receives and cares for those who enter.
To appreciate the significance of this claim, we need to return to the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 34, God condemns Israel’s shepherds because they feed themselves instead of the sheep, neglect the weak, rule harshly, and scatter the flock. Then God makes an extraordinary promise: “I Myself will shepherd My sheep” (Ezekiel 34:15, emphasis in the Hebrew).
The parallels between the two Testaments are striking. Jesus’ declaration in John 10 announces the fulfillment of the earlier promise. God has come to shepherd His people in the form of His Son.
Against this background, Jesus contrasts three kinds of leaders:
· The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), much like the corrupt shepherds condemned in Ezekiel 34.
· The hired hand abandons the sheep when danger approaches (John 10:12–13).
· The Good Shepherd willingly lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
This contrast exposes the corruption of false spiritual leadership while revealing the extraordinary character of Jesus. False shepherds exploit the sheep. Hired hands abandon them. The Good Shepherd gives His life for them.
And there is something else about this Shepherd that wounded believers especially need to understand.
A Shepherd Who Bears Wounds
Long before Jesus came, Zechariah spoke of a shepherd who would be rejected and ultimately struck (Zechariah 11:4–17; 13:7). In Zechariah 13:7, God declares, “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd.” Jesus Himself applies this prophecy to His approaching suffering (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27). Wounded sheep need to know:
The Good Shepherd bears wounds of His own.
His wounds were not accidental. He willingly laid down His life for His sheep. The One who invites wounded people into His care knows what it means to suffer, and His wounds testify to the extraordinary lengths He was willing to go to rescue them.
This is what makes His invitation so remarkable. He knows His sheep, even when they are isolated, rejected, or alone with their pain. And He invites them into the protective care of a Shepherd who has already demonstrated His love at the greatest possible cost.
When the Tragic Pattern Repeats
Unfortunately, the kind of spiritual abuse condemned in Ezekiel 34 and exposed in John 9 has not disappeared.
Many people today distrust the church and its leaders. In some cases, that distrust has been earned. People have been neglected, manipulated, and spiritually abused by those entrusted with their care. The misuse of religious authority can leave wounds that extend far beyond the immediate experience, affecting a person’s relationship with God and willingness to trust other believers. I too have experienced church wounds, and I can testify that they run very deep.
But here is one of the most important distinctions wounded believers must make: Jesus is not like the shepherds who wounded them. In fact, Jesus Himself condemned false shepherds. He stands against their exploitation and neglect. Yet many wounded people transfer their aversion to false shepherds onto the Good Shepherd Himself. The result can be tragic. In fleeing those who wounded them, they sometimes flee the very One who offers them life.
Running from the source of life only leaves us alone with an open wound.
Not All Undershepherds Are False Shepherds
We must be careful, however, not to conclude that all spiritual leaders are untrustworthy. Scripture does not solve the problem of false shepherds by eliminating shepherds altogether. After His resurrection, Jesus instructs Peter to care for His flock (John 21:15–19). Later, Peter urges church leaders to shepherd God’s people willingly and humbly (1 Peter 5:1–4; see also Acts 20:28).
God’s answer to bad shepherds is not the absence of shepherds, but faithful ones.
That doesn’t mean wounded believers should ignore warning signs or place themselves back under abusive leadership. Accountability is a biblical principle, even for spiritual leaders—perhaps especially for them. Spiritual leaders who misuse their authority must answer for their conduct—either in this life or the next—and those who have been harmed should not be pressured into returning to unsafe circumstances.
But neither should we allow the failures of some shepherds to define our understanding of every shepherd—or of the Good Shepherd Himself.
The Humility That Makes Forgiveness Possible
There is another dimension to healing that we must not overlook. Even when we have been genuinely wronged, we can become so focused on what others have done to us that we lose sight of our own need for God’s forgiveness.
We all hurt others. As someone who has served in church leadership, I know that I myself have hurt people while holding a shepherding role, and I will one day give an account for that (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1–2). Significantly, Ezekiel points out that members of the flock sometimes abuse one another (Ezekiel 34:17–22). Ultimately, we are allaccountable.
Recognizing our own capacity to wound others can help us begin to forgive those who have wounded us. We rarely make progress toward forgiveness while focusing exclusively on what others owe us. Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the unforgiving servant. The master declares, “I forgave you all that debt” (Matthew 18:32, emphasis in the Greek). The servant had received extraordinary mercy, yet he refused to extend mercy to someone else. That is the key: to remember our own debt, and how much God has forgiven us, even as we acknowledge the wrong done to us.
Forgiveness does not require denying the harm, excusing abusive behavior, or abandoning appropriate boundaries. But remembering God’s mercy toward us can begin to loosen the grip of resentment and open the way toward healing.
The Invitation Goes Deeper
If you’ve been wounded by spiritual leaders, where do you go from here? You may feel pressure to “get your life together,” return to church, or resume a list of religious duties. But that is not where healing begins. The starting place is the relationship between the sheep and the Good Shepherd—entering through the Door into the embrace of the Good Shepherd. The God who promised, “I Myself will shepherd My sheep,” has now come in the person of Jesus, who declares, “I Myself am the Good Shepherd.”
Jesus’ invitation goes deeper than entering through the Door. In John 15, He describes the ongoing relationship He desires with His people: “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). He also says, “Abide in My love” (John 15:9), and speaks of His words abiding in us (John 15:7). Abiding in Him involves remaining with Him, lingering with Him, listening to Him, and allowing His words to shape our lives.
This is where the significance of the Shepherd’s wounds becomes even more profound. Here in John 15, Jesus compares our relationship with Him to a branch drawing life from the vine. The branch receives its life through its connection to the vine. And perhaps this gives us another way to picture what happens when we bring our wounds into abiding fellowship with Christ: As wound meets wound, His life flows into ours. The very places where we have been hurt can become places where His life brings healing.
For those of us who have been wounded by spiritual leaders, the source of this healing is especially important. Our healing does not begin with finding the perfect church or the perfect pastor. It begins with returning to the One whose goodness is beyond question. Prayer, Scripture, and fellowship with other believers find their proper place within the context of that deeper relationship.
Beginning Again
If you’ve been wounded by those who were charged with caring for you, begin by telling Jesus exactly where you are. Bring your hurt to Him, along with your disappointment, even your anger.
Spend some time with Him as you review John 9–10. Consider the man whom the religious leaders rejected, and the Savior who went looking for him. Remember that the people who closed a door on him could not cancel the invitation extended by the One who is the Door.
You may not yet be able to trust another pastor, another church, or another spiritual leader. Healing may take time. But do not confuse those realities with the character of Jesus. The Shepherd who still bears scars has not abandoned His sheep, and He has not abandoned you.
Tell Us What Helped
What truth about the Good Shepherd do you find most helpful?