The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 NIV
Who is the thief in this scripture? The answer may surprise you. When I began to understand this scripture in its context, my mind was blown. I realized by only ever hearing and using this verse in isolation, I had missed out on something crucial. The thief here is not Satan, but the Pharisees or what we would today call false teachers. Now, don’t hear me say that the devil isn’t a thief out to kill, steal, and destroy. He absolutely is. But the passage this scripture is part of warns us about false teachers which are more prevalent than you might think.
To fully understand this verse, you have to go back to chapter 9, where Jesus heals a blind man who had been blind from birth. The Pharisees didn’t like Jesus because he didn’t follow their man-made rules. Specifically, in this text they were accusing him of not keeping the Sabbath. When the Pharisees found out that it was Jesus who had healed the blind man, and the blind man said that Jesus was from God, they threw him out of the temple. When Jesus found out about this, he found the man and revealed to him that he was the Son of Man (the Messiah).
“Jesus said, ‘For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind, too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
John 9:39-41 NIV
The Pharisees thought they knew what was right. But they didn’t even recognize their own Messiah. They were blind. They were false teachers who had made up their own rules, adding to the law of Moses, and they wanted the rest of the Jews to follow them. Jesus goes on to speak to the Pharisees in metaphor, telling them that anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, or door, but climbs in by some other means is a thief. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd and follow his voice.
The Pharisees did not understand the metaphor Jesus was using, so he told them plainly that he was the gate for the sheep, and that all who have come before him are thieves and robbers, but the sheep had not listened to them. He continues, saying that all who enter through him will be saved. Then he says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” So in this context, the thief is the false teacher. Now, as I mentioned before, this does not mean Satan is not a thief. He is. But I think what we miss by not seeing the Pharisee as the thief in this picture is the very real danger of false teachers.
The problem with false teachers is that they are hard to recognize because they often speak some or a lot of truth. But they twist the scriptures to mean something God never intended for them to mean. This is why it’s so important to know what God’s Word says and to cross-check any teaching you hear with scripture. And always, always, always be sure to read the scripture in context.
Unfortunately, there are many more scriptures I have found that are regularly used out of context. It’s not always misinterpreted, but often we miss important details by not knowing the context. I invite you to follow along with me as I continue to share these scriptures and help you learn to understand all scripture in its original context. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook where I will be sharing these weekly. Sign up below to get a free study guide template to help you study any passage of scripture in its context!