What does John 10:17 mean?

The comments made here (John 10:18) are controversial to Jesus' audience (John 10:19). Jesus is claiming to be the sole legitimate means of salvation for mankind (John 10:1–13), and even indicating that He will bring "other sheep," meaning Gentiles, into this intimate relationship with God (John 10:14–16). Those remarks, alone, would have been tough to digest.

Here, Jesus again refers to His impending death. This is a point over which even His own disciples argued (Mark 8:31–33). Jesus has already implied that He is willing to die for the sake of His spiritual "sheep," as "the good shepherd" described earlier (John 10:10–14). This statement goes further. God the Father has special affection for Jesus specifically because He is laying down His life for the sake of these people. This is echoed in other New Testament Scriptures (Ephesians 1:19–21; Philippians 2:8–9; Hebrews 2:9).

In the following verse, Jesus will reiterate that this is not a matter of theory: He will truly die. However, Jesus also predicts that He will resurrect from that death based on authority given Him by God.

It's not shocking, then, to see many who were listening to Jesus' words dismiss Him as a raving lunatic. He claims to be the sole example of a "good shepherd," with special favor from God, who will soon rise from the dead. Others, of course, point out that Jesus' miraculous signs make it very awkward to believe He's insane or demonically possessed.