In John 10, Jesus speaks of himself as the “good shepherd” and mentions “other sheep, which are not of this fold.” Mormons often appeal to this passage, claiming that this is a reference to the people of the Book of Mormon (an alleged group of Israelites that supposedly sailed to America during the Old Testament time period and founded new civilizations here). Reading Jesus’ words in their own context, however, as well as the wider context of the New Testament as a whole, shows that this argument is untenable. Jesus was referring to believers of other nations, i.e., the Gentiles.
“Other Sheep” in the Bible and the Book of Mormon
As noted above, the reference to the “other sheep” comes from Jesus’ discourse in John 10, where He says:
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16).
The Book of Mormon itself applies this passage specifically to the people of the Book of Mormon, having Jesus Himself say to them:
“And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching. And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 15:21-23).
While some street level Mormons attempt to hedge their bets, claiming that the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon are only some of the “Other Sheep,” and that believers of other nations are also included, the Book of Mormon itself does not leave that option. It does not say that the Book of Mormon peoples are among the “other sheep.” It plainly says that they are the other sheep, and further argues that Gentiles cannot possibly be included in the meaning of Jesus’ words here.
Gentiles and the literal voice of Jesus
The Book of Mormon argument, which is the argument most often repeated by Mormons today, is that the “other sheep” cannot be Gentiles because the Gentiles never heard Jesus’ literal voice. He never came to them in human form and physically spoke to them from his actual mouth. To repeat the exact words of the Book of Mormon, “And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice.” Before we get into the more important question about what Jesus actually meant by “hear my voice,” we should first ask if the Book of Mormon’s claim here is even true on its own terms. Is it true that the Gentiles would never hear the literal voice of Jesus? “Not at any time?” Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus says:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment o not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:25-29).
Christ plainly and repeatedly says here that all who are in their graves will hear His voice. Everyone. That certainly includes the Gentiles. So then, is it true that the Gentiles will never hear Jesus’ voice at any time, as the Book of Mormon says? Obviously not. If the Mormon says “come on, you’re taking the words of 3 Nephi far too literally,” we can rightly point out, “well, that’s what you (and 3 Nephi) are doing with Jesus’ words!”
But, even if we cut them some slack and assume that the Book of Mormon doesn’t mean “at any time at all” but rather “at any time before the future resurrection of the dead,” there is still a problem. What about the Gentiles that demonstrably did hear Jesus and believe? What about the Syrophoenician woman, (Mark 7:24-30), or the man from the pig-farming community in the Gerasenes whom Jesus healed from the legion of demons (Luke 8:26-39)? What about the centurion and his fellow Roman soldiers who oversaw the crucifixion, (Matthew 27:54)? They heard Jesus say a number of things, saw how He died, and afterward declared “truly this was the son of God!”
The simple fact is that, contrary to the claims in the Book of Mormon, some Gentiles did hear Jesus’ literal human voice and also came to believe in Him through Jesus’ own words and work rather than through the preaching of His followers. The Mormon might push back, “well, most Gentiles never heard Jesus’ literal voice.” But if it comes to that, most Jews never heard His literal voice either. Only a tiny fraction of either group ever heard the physical sounds coming from Jesus’ human throat, so the argument can’t depend on any entire ethnic group having heard. None did. Even on this literal level, the Book of Mormon is flat wrong.
The truth is, however, that we have no reason to be overly literal about what Jesus meant by His “voice” in this context. Just think about it. “Sheep” are figurative here. “Shepherd” is figurative. “Fold” and “flock” are figurative. Why should the “voice” be the one thing literal? If the passage must mean that these other sheep have to hear the literal, audible voice from Jesus’ physical, human vocal chords, then those hearing that voice must be literal, four-legged farm animals and not human beings. Since the Nephites and Lamanites are supposed to be humans and not actual sheep, Jesus can’t possibly be talking about them, right? Obviously, everyone agrees that Jesus is using a metaphor here. The question is, what does the metaphor mean, and how does the “voice” fit in?
What Jesus really meant about the “other sheep” hearing his voice
John 10:16 doesn’t suddenly introduce the idea of the sheep and the shepherd’s voice out of nowhere. The chapter opens with Jesus teaching this parable:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:1-5).
Jesus goes on to immediately explain:
“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.’” (John 10:7-8).
Notice, Jesus says that the sheep “did not hear” those thieves and robbers. This parallels His earlier words “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers” In context, Jesus is not saying that those pictured as the “sheep” literally never heard the physical voices of those pictured as strangers, thieves, and robbers. The picture here is of sheep who will not listen to, believe, or follow these false shepherds. So, who are these sheep? Jesus explains:
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:9-11).
The sheep are all who enter in through Christ. They are those rescued by the death of the good shepherd. Jesus repeats again:
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” (John 10:14-16).
Now we see our verse in context. The sheep are those Jesus saves through His death. Sure, Jesus came to save the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” (Matthew 15:24), and that is to whom He devoted His earthly ministry, but He reveals here that there are other sheep outside Israel’s fold for whom Jesus also died. They, too, will receive eternal life in Him. All who enter through the door will be saved, even those outside of Israel! This is the point. Indeed, John introduces it in the very first chapter:
“He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13).
He came to His own people, to Israel, but they rejected Him. Yet, to everyone who does receive Him, regardless of birth, He gives them the right to become God’s children! These are the other sheep. But what, then, of the voice? Again, Jesus uses it as a figure for believing and following Him. As John later reports during Jesus’ trial before Pilate (another Gentile who heard Jesus’ literal voice, by the way):
“Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'” (John 18:37).
Who is it that hears Jesus’ voice? Those who stand next to his human body and hear the sounds from his lungs? No. Everyone who is of the truth. If you hear the truth of the gospel and surrender to that truth, you have heard the voice of Jesus. As Jesus says earlier:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24).
It is hearing and believing Jesus’ words that matters. His message, the gospel, is His “voice.” This is how Jesus brings many millions to God, through the proclamation of His word, the message of His sacrificial death and resurrection:
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18).
The New Testament and Gentiles
It is worth very briefly noting that this theme is not unique to the gospel of John. The whole of the New Testament speaks of God’s work in bringing Jew and Gentile together into one people through Christ. For example, Paul writes:
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. ” (Ephesians 2:13-16).
He elsewhere elaborates:
“And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” (Romans 9:23-34).
He further explains throughout Romans 11 how God broke off the unbelieving branches of Israel and grafted in the branches of wild olive trees (the Gentiles) to make one tree, one people. Over and over again, the New Testament comes back to this great revelation: God’s plan was always to redeem the Gentiles alongside the Jews as one holy people. Israel was His precious flock, but He also had other sheep outside of Israel whom He planned to bring in. These are Jesus’ precious “other sheep.”
