Who Are 'The Other Sheep' of John 10:16?
At John 10:16, it is recorded that Jesus said: 'I also have other sheep that aren't in this pen, and I must also lead them and they will listen to my voice, and they will [all] become one flock under one shepherd.'
Who are these 'other sheep?' For most religions, the answer is simpleÉ they say that Jesus was foretelling the time when gentiles would be joined to Jews in the faith.
However, there are problems with this theory, for the Jews who Jesus was speaking to at the time were under the Law of Moses and the Old Sacred Agreement. So, if the 'pen' that the Jews were then in was the Old Sacred Agreement, gentile Christians would appear to join the Jews under the Old Law arrangement. And if you read the words of Paul, you'll see that throughout his epistles he told gentile Christians that they are no longer under the old Law (see Romans 6:14).
Also, notice that the crowd Jesus was talking to at the time did not represent his faithful followers, for most who heard him say these words didn't believe in him. According to John 10:20, they said, 'He's demonized and crazy. Why do you listen to him?'
As the result, it becomes obvious that the 'pen' which Jesus was talking about wasn't the existing Jewish arrangement or their old Sacred Agreement.
Heavenly and Earthly Hopes?
For the reasons shown above, other Christian groups have continued to search for answers to who and what are represented by 'this pen,' and who 'the other sheep' that joins with them will be.
At least one group has concluded that Jesus was talking about two hopes hereÉ one 'pen' (they say) is 'anointed' Christians who have been chosen to serve as kings and priests in the heavens with Jesus, and the other 'pen' is faithful Christians who will live on the earth (as subjects of the heavenly group).
However, there are also problems with this theory, for (as we pointed out earlier), few in the crowd that Jesus was speaking to were his faithful followers, so they certainly didn't qualify as chosen for life in heaven. In fact (going back to John 9:40), the context shows that his discussion of the sheep started with a question that was asked by the Pharisees ('But when some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this, they asked, We aren't blind also, are we?').
Also, at the time that Jesus spoke those words, there was no 'this pen,' since Jesus hadn't given his 'promise of a Kingdom' (see Luke 22:28-30) to his faithful Apostles yet. In other words; there was no one at that point who had been promised life in heaven.
So, just what was the sheep pen that Jesus was talking about, which he implied the unfaithful Jews and even the Pharisees were in, and into which 'other sheep' would come?
The Jews and Gentiles
The answer to this can be found in the words of Paul at Ephesians the Second Chapter, where he clearly identified two groups as becoming 'one flock under one shepherd.' And here, the two groups are in fact seen to be Jewish and gentile Christians. For he wrote (at Ephesians 2:11-22):
'So, don't forget that you were once people of the nations (gentiles) in the flesh, and you were called the uncircumcised by those who were circumcised by hand in the flesh. And at that time, you were without the Anointed OneÉ aliens to the citizens of Israel and strangers to the Sacred Agreements of the promise. You were godless and without hope in this world. But now (in the Anointed Jesus), you who were once far away have come to be near by means of the blood of the Anointed One, for he is our peace.
'He's the one who made [Jews and Gentiles] one, and tore down the wall that fenced them off from each other. Through his flesh, he destroyed the hatred [that was caused by] the Law of Commandments and rules, so he could make the two people a new man and bring peace through himself. He brought both [types of] people back to God in one body with the impaling pole, so he used himself to destroy the hatred. Then, when he came, he preached the good news of peace both to you who were far away and to those [of us] who were nearby. So, because of him we can all approach the Father together now, through the same Spirit.
'As the result, you are no longer strangers and aliens; you are fellow citizens among the Holy Ones and fellow members of the house of God. You've been erected on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, whose cornerstone is the Anointed Jesus. And through him, the whole building is coming together and growing into a Holy Temple for Jehovah. Through him, you're being assembled into a place for God to live, through [His] Breath.'
So from the above, we can see that:
á Jewish and Gentile Christians would become one flock under Jesus
á They would not become one flock under the Old Law
á They would become one group and 'fellow members of the House (or Temple) of God.'
Then, What is 'This Pen?'
At Galatians 3:6-9, 17, 26-29 we read: 'Remember that Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and that's why he was considered righteous. So, don't you know that those who have faith are the sons of Abraham? Why, God gave the good news to Abraham because He saw ahead of time that He would be calling people of the nations righteous due to their faith. For He said, All the nations will be blest because of you. So, those who have faith are being blest along with faithful Abraham!
'Therefore, let me also say this about that Sacred Agreement which God agreed to: The Law (that came some four hundred and thirty years later) didn't destroy [the Agreement with Abraham], so its promise hasn't been done away with.
'The fact is; you're all sons of God because of your faith in the Anointed Jesus. And all who were baptized into the Anointed One have put on the Anointed One. So, there aren't any Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, males or females; because you're all one in the Anointed Jesus. And if you're [part] of the Anointed One, you're really the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promise!'
As we can see from the words of Paul, the 'pen' that the Jews were in was the promise to (or the sacred agreement with) Abraham, not the Old Law. This can be clearly shown in Paul's explanation of the two women and the two seeds that Paul spoke of at Galatians 4:22-25, where he wrote: 'Abraham had two sons, one by the servant girl and the other by the free woman. The one who came through the servant girl was born in the flesh, but the other [who came] through the free woman, [was born] because of a promise. Now, this story is symbolic. The two [women] meant two Sacred Agreements. And one came from Mount Sinai, which bears children into slavery (like Hagar); so this Hagar means Sinai (a mountain in Arabia); and she symbolizes Jerusalem today, who is in slavery with her children.'
Unfortunately, many think that 'this pen,' which Jesus spoke of at John 10:16, was the New
Sacred Agreement (Covenant), and they pay little attention to the Agreement that
God made with AbraHam. However, that first Agreement precedes and is greater than
all other Covenants, for both the New and Old Sacred Agreements are based on
the AbraHamic Covenant. Notice what was written concerning this at Psalm 105:8-11:
'He's remembered His Agreement through agesÉ
His promise through a thousand generationsÉ
The Agreement He made with AbraHam,
And the oath that He spoke of to IsaAc.
It was with Jacob that He set the rules,
For IsraEl [to follow] through the ages, saying;
To you will I give CanaAn's landÉ
Your inheritance is a measured piece of ground.'
So, the confusion is created by a lack of understanding of, and a lack of appreciation of God's Agreement with AbraHam.
One Flock Under One Shepherd
Therefore, it strongly appears as though Jesus, when speaking of 'this pen' at John 10:16, was referring to the promise that God gave to Abraham of 'a seed.' That promised seed was thereafter brought through natural Israel and the Old Sacred Agreement by the coming of Jesus (who was the primary seed).
However, Jesus himself brought about a secondary seed of AbraHam via the New Sacred Agreement, under which both faithful Jews and gentiles could become 'one flock' (as the seed of Abraham) under 'one Shepherd' (Jesus).
So, Jesus does not appear to have been speaking of those with two different hopes (a heavenly one and an earthly one) being brought together under the New Sacred Agreement. But rather; he was telling the Jews that soon many non-IsraElite peoples ('other sheep') would be offered a chance to join with them and come under the Abrahamic CovenantÉ the 'this pen' into which they all will be gathered. Therefore, he could make such a promise to everyone in that mixed group, whether righteous or unrighteous, because all the Jews were already under the Covenant with AbraHam (that 'pen'). But, like the Jews, each one must thereafter prove to be 'a sheep,' not 'a goat,' in order to receive the promised 'inheritance,' and to have Jehovah as their God.