In John 10:14-16 in the New Testament, Jesus told the Jews:
“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep… And 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.”
Jesus tells the people in the Americas that they are the
“other sheep” he was speaking about! He says the Father never commanded Him to
tell the Jews about the Nephites/Lamanites in the Americas… except for this
small phrase. He also says that other believers exist in other lands, too, who
we don’t have a knowledge of, and Jesus is going to visit them as well!
15:21 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.22 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.23 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.
When the Book of Mormon talks about Gentiles, it basically
means anyone who is not a Jew. So in vs. 22 Jesus says that the Jews in
Jerusalem thought he was talking about the Gentiles when he said other sheep
would hear his voice. But Jesus didn’t appear to a large group of Gentiles (or
non-Jews) to convert them. After Jesus’ mortal ministry, he gave that
responsibility to his apostles and disciples to spread Christianity to the
Gentiles (see Acts 10).
I love these verses because they show us that Jesus Christ
speaks to anyone who will hear and follow Him, anywhere in the world—not just
the Jews, as recorded in the Bible…and not just the Nephites, as recorded in
the Book of Mormon. Apparently there were even more that we don’t have records
about. That’s pretty cool! – and makes sense to me.
