=40, 41. Some of the Pharisees which were with him.= That is, who happened to be present. But their presence as auditors, coupled with their question, perhaps implies that they were of that class which were inclined to regard Jesus as a prophet (ver. 17; ch. 10:21).--=Are we blind also?= The form of the original implies a strong expectation of a negative reply. It might be rendered, _Surely we are not blind also_.--=If ye were blind ye should have no sin.= This is not to be interpreted away, as equivalent to, Your sin would be less. It is literally true, that sin is in the proportion of knowledge, so that one who is, by no fault of his own, absolutely ignorant of moral distinctions, is absolutely free from moral responsibility.--=Ye say, We see; therefore your sin remains.= They had the law and the prophets which foretold the Messiah (ch. 5:39), and they had the knowledge of his works and the moral capacity to judge them, and did adjudge that God was with him (ch. 3:2), and that he could not be a sinner (ch. 9:16). This was enough to render them guilty in not following out their convictions by a public confession of Christ as a prophet, which they really saw him to be. Comp. ch. 15:24; and with the entire passage (vers. 39-41), Rom. 2:17-24. CHAPTER X. Ch. 10:1-21. THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEPFOLD AND THE SHEPHERD.--THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AS ONE FLOCK.--TO THIS FLOCK THERE IS BUT ONE DOOR, JESUS CHRIST.--THIS DOOR IS OPENED TO THE SOUL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.--EVERY ONE WHO ENTERS IN BY THIS DOOR IS SAVED.--AND BECOMES A MINISTER OF GRACE (A SHEPHERD) TO OTHERS.--THE PATTERN IS JESUS CHRIST, THE GOOD SHEPHERD.--EVERY TRUE SHEPHERD LIVES FOR THE FLOCK.--HE WHO DOES NOT IS A HIRELING, AND IS RECREANT IN TIME OF DANGER.--THE LIFE OF THE FLOCK IS ASSURED BY THE DEATH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD.--THAT DEATH WAS NOT COMPELLED; IT WAS VOLUNTARY. This parable was probably uttered in Judea, and in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem. The figure is drawn from the spectacle, likely at any evening to be witnessed on the hillsides of Judea, a flock of sheep gathered from the different fields in which they had been wandering, and _following_ their shepherd, who conducts them to the sheepfold, which they enter, one by one, for protection, the shepherd going before and leading them in. To understand aright its meaning, two facts, often forgotten, must be borne in mind: (1) that the metaphor is used in the O. T., and for a double purpose; sometimes the shepherd is the religious teacher of Israel, whose unfaithfulness is rebuked in the prophets (Jer. 23:1-4; Ezek., ch. 34); sometimes the shepherd is the Lord, who leads, defends, and feeds the soul which trusts in him (Ps. 23; Isaiah 40:11); (2) the parable is closely connected with the discourse concerning blindness, growing out of the cure of the blind man, and is given for the purpose of emphasizing and carrying out the warnings therein contained against the Pharisees