Joh 10:16 | KingComments | STEP | So far the Lord Jesus has spoken about sheep from Israel with a split between sheep who have no relationship with Him, who reject Him, and sheep He calls His own, the believing remnant from Israel. He has spoken about laying down His life for the sheep of Israel who belong to Him being the foundation of the mutual knowledge. Following this, He speaks about “other sheep”, a third group of sheep. With these other sheep He means the sheep from the nations. His death cannot be limited to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The great appreciation of His death by the Father is the reason for the formation of a special flock, of which He is the Shepherd. That flock will consist of ‘His own sheep’ that He has led out of the fold of Israel and sheep that are not from that fold. He is about to add sheep that have been outside Israel’s fold until now. These are, as said, the sheep from the nations. Herewith the Lord indicates the calling of a group from the Gentiles. We see the beginning of this in the book of Acts with examples like the eunuch from Ethiopia ( ) and the Roman centurion Cornelius and his friends ( ). The Lord does not bring all those sheep as one flock into a new fold with Him as the one Shepherd. Nor does He make one flock of them, while He places them in several folds. In the latter case it would seem as if the division would be a good thing, possibly even meant. Unfortunately, this is what we see in professing Christianity in the countless groups and denominations. No, there is no fold anymore. The characteristic of the church, seen as one flock with one Shepherd, is unity in freedom. Judaism kept the sheep together by physical restrictions, by laws and commandments. The new unity is held together by the personal appearance and attraction of the Shepherd. This is the essence of Christendom. This required not only the death, but also the resurrection, as the following verse shows.

‏ John 10:16

One flock, One Shepherd

So far the Lord Jesus has spoken about sheep from Israel with a split between sheep who have no relationship with Him, who reject Him, and sheep He calls His own, the believing remnant from Israel. He has spoken about laying down His life for the sheep of Israel who belong to Him being the foundation of the mutual knowledge. Following this, He speaks about “other sheep”, a third group of sheep. With these other sheep He means the sheep from the nations.

His death cannot be limited to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The great appreciation of His death by the Father is the reason for the formation of a special flock, of which He is the Shepherd. That flock will consist of ‘His own sheep’ that He has led out of the fold of Israel and sheep that are not from that fold. He is about to add sheep that have been outside Israel’s fold until now. These are, as said, the sheep from the nations. Herewith the Lord indicates the calling of a group from the Gentiles. We see the beginning of this in the book of Acts with examples like the eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8:27-39) and the Roman centurion Cornelius and his friends (Acts 10:24 ; 44-48).

The Lord does not bring all those sheep as one flock into a new fold with Him as the one Shepherd. Nor does He make one flock of them, while He places them in several folds. In the latter case it would seem as if the division would be a good thing, possibly even meant. Unfortunately, this is what we see in professing Christianity in the countless groups and denominations. No, there is no fold anymore.

The characteristic of the church, seen as one flock with one Shepherd, is unity in freedom. Judaism kept the sheep together by physical restrictions, by laws and commandments. The new unity is held together by the personal appearance and attraction of the Shepherd. This is the essence of Christendom. This required not only the death, but also the resurrection, as the following verse shows.