Wherever sheep roam they are at risk of being stolen. Grazing for most of the daylight hours and covering as much ground as is needed to supply the food, sheep can wander a long way out of sight of the shepherd. But the risk increases when the flock is together in the sheep pen. The thief has a much easier target. In this chapter, Jesus introduces Himself as the Good Shepherd: but He starts by speaking about false shepherds who are really thieves. They have no right to put a sheep under their arm and carry it away; they have no care for the sheep, only what they can get out of the sheep.
 
Jesus saw the priests, rabbis and religious lawyers as sheep stealers. Although they pretended to guard God's people, their real interest was to advance themselves. They enjoyed the honour people gave them; their proud hearts were pleased when people depended on them, giving them the power to control people. They were worse than wolves because they pretended to be godly while they were being selfish hypocrites. They refused to honour Jesus because they envied the way the people responded to Him, and resented His power to meet so many human needs.
 
Religion which does not allow Christ to have first place, however moral and virtuous it may appear to be, will always provide an opportunity for so-called 'spiritual people' to steal the hearts of God's people. Instead of leading them to Christ so that they may find Father God, they pretend to be the way to God. Spiritually hungry people are easily trapped and those who are desperate for an encounter with the living God can easily be seduced. Sometimes these sheep stealers disguise themselves as spiritually hungry people. But as Jesus said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15)