TWO FOLDS BECOME ONE FLOCK WITH ONE SHEPHERD
Jesus infuriated the Jewish leaders with His dual claim to be the only “Gate” by which the true sheep of Israel might be saved, and the “Good Shepherd,” whom only the true sheep of Israel would follow. Those who claimed to be shepherds of Israel, Jesus called “hired hands” who only cared for themselves. In contrast, Jesus said, “I AM the Good Shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know Me and I sacrifice My life for the sheep.”
So being born into the Jewish fold wasn’t enough. Jesus was calling out the true sheep from the Jewish fold who would be spiritually born again by believing in Him.
Then, Jesus shocked them further by announcing that He had other sheep not in the Jewish sheepfold. Who are these sheep? They are those who would believe in Jesus among the Gentiles. This is the “mystery” that the apostle Paul described, that “the Gentiles are fellow heirs [with the Jews], members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6).
The mystery called the Church was being revealed by Jesus, namely, that sheep from both the Jewish and the Gentile sheepfolds would become one flock with one Shepherd.
The implications of this were not missed by the Jewish leaders. Being Jewish, having the Torah, the Temple and the traditions was not enough. Even Gentiles who had none of these things would be able to be saved by simply believing in Jesus as the Christ. It was through Jesus that the promise to Abraham would be kept, that “all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his Seed” (Gen.22:18). That Seed, that Shepherd, is Jesus. He is the One who calls His sheep from two folds to become one flock with one Shepherd.