Author: Gary Witcher

Other Sheep

	All too often we hear biblical passages used...or abused...in ways that lead to confusion and misunderstanding.  One such passage is the comment of Jesus about other sheep.
	"And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold," Jesus observes in John 10:16, "I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock {with} one shepherd."
	The Lord talks here of other sheep.  He is addressing a group of Jews, and He tells them that there are other sheep to be brought into the fold.  Is it really all that difficult to understand what Jesus is saying?
	"But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year," John 11:49-52 records, "said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.'  Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."
	This passage notes that Jesus dies not only for the Jews, but also for God's followers outside their nation.  Quite simply, Jesus dies for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews.  The Gentiles are the "other sheep."  Jesus is not planning a trip to a distant continent when He speaks of gathering other sheep into the flock.  He is simply explaining that all people will have an equal opportunity to be Christians, regardless of race.
	In Romans 11:16-21, Paul does not use the metaphor of sheep.  Instead, he writes that the natural branches, the Jews, have been broken off the vine to make room for the grafting in of wild branches, the Gentiles.  The picture is different, but the point is the same.
	"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ," Paul states in Ephesians 2:13-19. "For He Himself is our peace, who made both {groups into} one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.  And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household."
	By the way, the concept of God including the Gentiles among His people is nothing new when Jesus makes His comment about other sheep.  The Old Testament book of Isaiah contains many prophecies about the coming Messiah.  And some of these mention the fact that He will draw people from all nations.
	"The Lord God," we read in Isaiah 56:8, "who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, 'Yet {others} I will gather to them, to those {already} gathered.'"
	"And nations will come to your light," Isaiah 60:3-10 foretells, "and kings to the brightness of your rising.  Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms.  Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.  A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.  All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious house.  Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like the doves to their lattices?  Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish {will come} first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.  And foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you; for in My wrath I struck you, and in My favor I have had compassion on you.  And your gates will be open continually; they will not be closed day or night, so that {men} may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession." 
	"'For I know their works and their thoughts,'" we find in Isaiah 66:18-21, "'the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. And I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.  Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,' says the Lord, 'just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.  I will also take some of them for priests {and} for Levites,' says the Lord."
	The "other sheep" of John 10:16 are the Gentiles. 

	Jesus' statement in John 10:16 about bringing other sheep into the flock refers simply to God's plan of making salvation available to people of all nations.  This is not difficult to understand if we really look with open minds and open eyes.  We should note, though, that this is not the only verse in this chapter in which Jesus makes reference to "others."  Perhaps we should be more concerned about these other statements than about the identity of the sheep.  For one thing, Jesus instructs that we must be careful to follow the only true shepherd and not the other false shepherds.
	"The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy," Jesus observes in John 10:10-15, "I came that they might have life, and might have {it} abundantly.  I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters {them.}  {He flees} because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
	Notice what Jesus has to say about the true shepherd as compared with the others.  The motivation of the good shepherd is not the same as that of the other would-be shepherds.  The good shepherd wants to give abundant life to the sheep.  The false shepherds, on the other hand, come in only to steal, kill and destroy.  
	There is also a difference between the actions of the good shepherd and the actions of the false ones.  The true shepherd is willing to lay down his life for the sheep. The others flee as soon as there is any danger.
	There is one true shepherd, and then there are all the other ones.  Jesus also points out the existence of other would-be doors to the sheepfold.
	"Truly, truly, I say to you," the Master instructs in John 10:1, "he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber."
	"Truly, truly, I say to you," the Lord explains in verses 7-9, "I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." 
	There is only one true door.  There is only one true way.
	"But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed," Paul warns in Galatians 1:8-9.  "As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."
	John chapter 10 is not the only place where Jesus talks about different flocks.
	"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him," Jesus promises in Matthew 25:31-34, "then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'"
	"Then," verse 41 adds, "He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels."
	"And these will go away into eternal punishment," verse 46 notes, "but the righteous into eternal life."
	If we want to be concerned with "other sheep," these are the ones that should attract our attention.  These "other sheep" are not really sheep at all.  They're goats.  And we don't want to be in this group on judgment day.
	The Gentiles are the "other sheep" of John 10:16.  But we should be even more concerned about understanding other instructions in this passage.  We must be on the alert for other shepherds.  We must be careful to not try to enter through other doors.
	Let's not follow the others.  Let's make up our minds to follow the only true shepherd through the only true door so that we can be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."