{"id":1255,"date":"2025-04-25T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=1255&2025"},"modified":"2025-04-22T23:43:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T05:43:52","slug":"other-sheep-john-10-1-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 10:1-21 (CEV)<\/div>
\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1<\/sup> Jesus said:<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3<\/sup> But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd\u2019s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4<\/sup> When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5<\/sup> The sheep will not follow strangers. They don\u2019t recognize a stranger\u2019s voice, and they run away.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6<\/sup> Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7<\/sup> Jesus said:<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. 8<\/sup> Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. 9<\/sup> I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10<\/sup> A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. 11<\/sup> I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12<\/sup> Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don\u2019t own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13<\/sup> Hired workers run away because they don\u2019t care about the sheep.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14<\/sup> I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15<\/sup> Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. 16<\/sup> I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17<\/sup> The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. 18<\/sup> No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 19<\/sup> The people took sides because of what Jesus had told them. 20<\/sup> Many of them said, \u201cHe has a demon in him! He is crazy! Why listen to him?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 21<\/sup> But others said, \u201cHow could anyone with a demon in him say these things? No one like that could give sight to a blind person!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Read John 10:1-21<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that \u201cI have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.\u201d<\/strong> (v. 16)<\/p>\r\n

When we look at this verse, we get the picture that Jesus has people who are in God\u2019s family that are not with the group at that point in time. Technically, this includes you and me because we were not alive while Jesus walked the earth, and this literally means that we would have not been a part of God\u2019s family at that point in history.<\/p>\r\n

But since God exists out of time, regardless of when Jesus said these words, I believe God was thinking of everyone who ever lived at any point in the big timeline called history.<\/p>\r\n

A second angle I have heard on this verse is that God has people who are outside of the Christian church that are His. We can see many examples that support Jesus\u2019 words in this verse because anyone living today who has joined a church and accepted Jesus into their hearts supports what Jesus described.<\/p>\r\n

A third angle on this verse focuses on God\u2019s people being united as one group with one Shepherd. This angle says that we must put aside all of our differences and unite as one people. While currently there are more Christian denominations than can be counted well, this third angle suggests we put all the differences aside and simply be one in Christ.<\/p>\r\n

However, part of me wonders if while there is truth to each of these angles, but that Jesus has something else in mind with what He described in this verse. As I read Jesus\u2019 words, the challenge I see for the third angle is that Jesus Himself does the uniting. The only unity that should happen is through hearing Jesus\u2019 voice and coming together. While putting aside our differences and focusing on Jesus are good things to do, our movements must be prompted by Jesus and not by peer or social pressure to conform.<\/p>\r\n

As I read Jesus\u2019 words, I wonder along the lines of the second angle is whether Jesus is describing someone moving between Christian denominations, or if it only means someone placing their trust and belief in Jesus for the first time. Regardless of which way it is, the challenge to this second angle is letting Jesus lead in the person\u2019s life who He is calling. We should not try to rush God. God\u2019s timing and His calling are both much better than we could ever do, and when Jesus has called a person to Him, we should be supportive of this regardless of whether this person comes into 100% of our belief system.<\/p>\r\n

When Jesus says He has sheep in other pastures who He will call together, I believe we should be intentional about being open and willing to accept people who are different, and love them when Jesus brings them our way.<\/strong> While part of love is challenging people regarding sins in their own lives, the much greater part of love includes accepting others without condition and being willing to walk through life together. Jesus left heaven so that He could walk with humanity, and He calls us to walk with those He has called as we prepare for His return.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that \u201cI have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nOther Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that \u201cI have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1092,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/\",\"name\":\"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that \u201cI have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21","datePublished":"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/"},"wordCount":1092,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/","name":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-25T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/other-sheep-john-10-1-21\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Other Sheep: John 10:1-21"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}