The Dispensational Place of John
Part 4


No.4 Three relationships in which believers who are not members of the One Body stand today.

Let us look at some of the figures that are used in John's Gospel to indicate the relationship that exists between the believer and His Lord. We know that in the dispensation of the mystery, the believer forms part of the church which is the Body of Christ, the fuIness of Him that filleth all in all. No such figure of course occurs in John, but there are in it certain symbols of relationship indicative of the calling of those to whom it ministers.

Bridal relationships. - It must not be inferred that we deny the occurrence of bridal relationships in the other Gospels; they are here, and we recognize them, but what we wish to draw attention to is that bridal relationships are perpetuated now among that great company of believers outside the Body at the present time: "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled" (John 3:29).

Now it is nowhere said, either in the synoptic Gospels, or in John, that those addressed actually formed part of the bride; neither, therefore, do we. John the Baptist makes it clear that he formed no part of the bride, his being a special relationship as, "the friend of the bridegroom." In Matthew, Mark and Luke the disciples are spoken of as "children of the bride-chamber," who, of course, are not the bride, and in Matt. 25 virgins go out to meet the approaching bride-groom, not as brides, but to be present at the marriage feast.

The bride is distinguished from those blessed ones who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Rev. 19:7,9, as also in Matt.22, so that all we can say here is, that while the bride herself may not be in process of formation during this present period, the great company who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb are being gathered out.

Light on the subject may be obtained from the parable of Matt.22. We have first of all the invitation to the wedding of those "who had been bidden." Following their refusal the invitation is repeated, with the urgent addition, "All things are ready." This they made light of The word translated "made light" here is rendered "neglect" in Heb. 2:3. As a consequence these refusers are destroyed and their city burned. This clearly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

But after this date, and consequently after the ministry of Peter and Paul in the Acts, a further invitation is sent out, this time into the highways, with the result that the wedding is furnished with guests. This exactly corresponds with the subsequent ministry of John in his Gospel, which extends the marriage feast invitation to believers now.

Again, the first of the eight signs of John's Gospel is that given at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. There the water was turned into wine, and there the Lord manifested forth His glory. At this feast Christ is not the bridegroom, both He and His disciples being present as "guests." This first sign therefore suggests that those who came under John's ministry here form the great company who shall be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The other sheep. - The Lord's people are never called sheep in the epistles of the mystery, neither is the Lord called their Shepherd. It is Israel who say: "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture" (Psa. 100:3). During our Lord's earthly ministry He said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). John's Gospel, however, contains a revelation concerning "other sheep" which the Lord had and which He would gather: -

'And other sheep I have which are, not of this fold; them also I will bring, and they will hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd" (John 10: 16).

Who are those other sheep? The answer that comes most readily and acceptably is, "Israel of the Dispersion," but is this the right answer? The other sheep are declared to be "not out of (ek) this fold."

We must distinguish between the two words translated "fold" in the A.V. of verse 16. Aule is "fold" poinme ohel, tent or tabernacle. Primarily it means an open courtyard, and John himself uses the word in 18:15, where it is translated "palace." Oniginally sheepfolds were in the open court of the house, and the word is so used in 2 Chron. 4:9; Psa.64:4; 135: 1; Isa. 1:12, and many other passages. There, other sheep were not "of this fold," were not connected with those courts of the Lord into which it was the peculiar prerogative of Israel to enter. The dispersion could hardly be so designated.

The word poimne, flock, is intimately associated with poimen, shepherd, the flock being viewed not so much as so many sheep, but as so many sheep under one shepherd. Poimnion, the diminutive, is found in Acts 20:28,29 where it most certainly is used of the church of God: "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. "

If Paul could use the word "flock" in its diminutive sense for the church as constituted in Acts 20, the Lord could use the words, "one flock" of a company composed of the gathered sheep of the house of Israel, and of the "other sheep" who, though not of Israel's fold, would, nevertheless, under the one great Shepherd, constitute one flock. While this is far removed from the unity expressed by the One Body, with the Lord as Head, it nevertheless is in consonance with that blessing which must necessarily take its character from the present position of the ascended Lord, and while not being in the full blaze of that central glory, nevertheless basks, as it were, in its penumbra.

Peter was definitely commissioned to feed the Lord's sheep and lambs, but his curiosity was not satisfied when, concerning John, he asked: "And what shall this man do?" Peter and John are associated very closely in their early ministry with the Lord and the twelve, and it looks as though both were to be under-shepherds, though tending different folds. Galatians 2:9 'indicates that John, like Peter, had a ministry to the circumcision, but we are not thereby justified in concluding that God could not send John to another company - such a conjecture is beyond our right or ken.

We know that Paul had a twofold ministry. Why, then, should not John be similarly commissioned? In the same way there is no more difficulty in believing that Gentile believers may be called "other sheep" than that they are likened to a "wild olive." And if Gentiles could be grafted on to the stock of Israel, there is nothing to render it impossible that they should form part of that great "flock," though never of the "fold of Israel."

Partakers of the true bread. - None but those who came out of Egypt ate the manna in the wilderness: "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat" (John 6:31).

The Lord, when replying to this, and declaring Himself to be the true bread that came down from heaven, speaks of the world as recipients: -

"For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world

"The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. "
Here then are three relationships in which, we hold, believing Gentiles stand today who are outside the sphere of the dispensation of the mystery. They are associated with the Bride, they are associated with the Flock, and they partake of the Living Bread, and so of a common life.

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