John 10: “And Other Sheep I have”
How blessed are we to be in the fold of God with Jesus the Good Shepherd! We have abundant life because He gave His life for us (Jn 10:10-11).
Speaking to the children of Abraham in His time, Jesus said, “other sheep I have that are not of this fold”; was He speaking about us, non-Jews? Contextually, Jesus was talking to Jews who had always been God’s fold, telling them He was the fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophesy of good shepherding and abundance (Jer 23:1-6). Ezekiel years later spoke among the captives in Babylon, that the LORD will end the captivity by making Israel and Judah one nation, under one King and one Shepherd (Eze 37:15-24). Undoubtedly, the Samaritans, descended from the northern Israelite tribes were Jesus’ direct reference here. They were a separate community, having their own Torah, rituals, and centre of worship on Mt Gerizim (see Jn 4:20)
In getting the disciples to anticipate the Holy Spirit’s downpour on Pentecost, Jesus declared that they will be empowered to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. Hence, we see that the reconciliation of Samaritans and Jews in the Messiah (cf. Jn 4:39-42; Acts 8:4-13) was a milestone in the path of evangelising all other nations on earth.
The Samaritans represent practitioners of an eclectic religion, mixing Hebraic faith with the paganism of multiple nations from Assyrian empire onwards (2 Kgs 17:5-41; 2 Chron30:6-11; Ezra 4), right up to the Greco-Roman times in which the apostolic church was established. Subsequently, the syncretism of the post-apostolic church, with its varied doctrines and practices as well as cultural-religious adaptations bear uncanny resemblance to this. Thus, Jesus and Philip preaching to the Samarians are meaningful examples for us in the True Jesus Church.
We who are ethnically non-Jewish are now grafted into the Messiah and recognised as true Israel (Rom 2:26-29; 9:6-8; 11:14-17; Gal 3:26-29; 4:22-28; 6:16). Should we not then have a heart and feel for other Christians those who have been trying to follow Christ for so many years and have Him “so near and yet so far”?
We must expect initial resistance like the case of the woman at Jacob’s well and emulate the patience of Jesus who gradually opened her eyes (Jn 4:29). Far be it that we should judge them as too corrupt to receive mercy, like the sons of thunder did when a Samaritan village did not receive the Lord who was on His way to Jerusalem (Lk 9:52-56).
