The "sheep" referred to are the anointed ones, the "other sheep" refers to the non-anointed, those who will be resurrected in the Kingdom, the world of mankind who will hear the Lord's voice and come forth from their graves.
Who are the 'other sheep?'
by White Dove 22 Replies latest jw friends
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AuldSoul
Jesus was not referring to two classes of Christians. He said, "I have other sheep ..." He said this in the 1st Century. He did not say, "I will have other sheep 2,000 years from now."
He was speaking to the Pharisees in John 9:41-10:18, not to his disciples. He had just called to be his follower someone the Pharisees had expelled from the synagogue (h. shammatta). Most JWs think Jesus spoke the words of John 10:16 to his disciples. They are wrong.
At the time Jesus spoke the words he was only calling Jews, but he had other sheep (even then) who were of the Samaritans and the Gentiles who would also be called. He did not specify only one other source of sheep; he only said that the other sheep would not be "of this fold" (or "out of the fold this" as the Kingdom Interlinear puts it). They all go into the same flock.
Most importantly: If there is only one flock that all the sheep will eventually be in, then the "little flock" is it. There is no "big flock" of sheep, by contrast. There aren't two flocks that the sheep will be called into; the text specifies one flock under one shepherd.
The JW teaching is a perversion of Scripture and is unchristian. The other sheep are the Gentiles and the Samaritans.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul -
AGuest
Dearest Rub... May you have peace! I cannot tell if you are serious or not. If you are... you are mistaken and have been misled, unfortunately.
Dearest Auld... May you, too, have peace! Samaritans are "Gentiles," dear one, for anyone who is not a JEW... is a Gentile. Samaritans... were/are not Jews. Thus, the other sheep are ALL Gentiles.
May you both have peace!
A slave of Christ,
SJ