One flock
by Faye Schmidt
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I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16).
Read John 10:11–18
The image of Jesus as the good shepherd is a beloved image that demonstrates the love, care and gentleness of God to his people. It is a very personal image, with the shepherd declaring that he knows us, and we know him. Psalm 23 also supports this thinking when we say with the psalmist, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’.
But the text shows us that we are not just a scattering of individuals but part of a flock, a community, a family. The dangers are to the flock, not just the individual sheep. In verse 12, we read, ‘… the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it’. Division and disharmony result.
In Isaiah 53:6, we read, ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all’.
So, what does it mean to be a sheep of Jesus’ flock? It means that we enter through his gate. Jesus is the way to salvation. We know his voice and follow him. He cares for us, keeping us safe. And when we wander away, which we know we do all too often, he comes and searches for us.
These are wonderful, comforting images, but this passage includes another challenging thought. The good shepherd decides who is in the sheepfold; we do not. ‘I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold’ (John 10:16). The Pharisees and disciples thought they knew who God’s chosen ones were. But this shepherd is telling them, and telling us, that there will be ‘one flock, one shepherd’, and it is God, in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit – not us – who brings together that flock.
Dear Heavenly Father, we pray you will send your Holy Spirit to those who do not know you and that they may hear your voice, come to know you and be welcomed in the fold as members of your flock. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations within Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
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