Message Twelve

The Apostolic Ministry in Cooperation with Christ's Heavenly Ministry

1. The Gospel of John has twenty-one chapters, but it actually ends with chapter 20. The entire book covers the earthly ministry of Christ, beginning with His incarnation as the Word of God to become a man in the flesh (1:1-14) and ending with His resurrection as the last Adam to become the life-giving Spirit (ch. 20); hence, chapter 21 should be an appendix.
2. In 10:10, 11, and 16 the Lord unveiled to the disciples that He was the good Shepherd who came that the sheep might have life abundantly and that He had other sheep (the Gentiles) which He must lead to join with them (the Jewish believers) to be one flock (one church) under one Shepherd:
1. The Lord's shepherding was firstly in His earthly ministry—Matt. 9:36.
2. The Lord's shepherding was secondly in His heavenly ministry (1 Pet. 5:4) to take care of the church of God, issuing in His Body.
3. In this appendix, when the Lord stayed with His disciples after His resurrection and before His ascension, in one of His appearings, He commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep in His absence, while He is in the heavens—21:15-17.
1. This is to incorporate the apostolic ministry with Christ's heavenly ministry to take care of God's flock, which is the church that issues in the Body of Christ.
2. The following words of the apostle Paul confirm this:
1. "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood"—Acts 20:28.
2. "...fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock"—Acts 20:29.
3. "God...brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant"—Heb. 13:20.
4. Peter was so impressed with this commission of the Lord that:
1. In his first book he told the believers that they were like sheep being led astray, but they had now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer (Christ) of their souls—1 Pet. 2:25.
2. He exhorted the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them so that when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, they will receive the unfading crown of glory—1 Pet. 5:1-4.
3. Peter's word indicates that the heavenly ministry of Christ is mainly to shepherd the church of God as His flock which issues in His Body.
5. The main purpose and goal of the apostolic ministry incorporated with Christ's heavenly ministry are to build up the Body of Christ which will consummate the New Jerusalem for the accomplishment of the eternal economy of God.
6. This matter of shepherding God's flock for the main purpose and ultimate consummation of the eternal economy of God is even referred to in Song of Songs:
1. "Tell me, you whom my soul loves, / Where do you pasture your flock [for satisfaction]? / Where do you make it lie down at noon [for rest]?"—1:7a.
2. "Go forth on the footsteps of the flock, / And pasture your young goats / By the shepherds' tents"—1:8b.
3. "My beloved is mine, and I am his; / He pastures his flock among the lilies [the seekers of Christ who live a life of trusting in God with a single heart]"—2:16.
4. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; / He pastures his flock among the lilies"—6:3.
7. Without such an appendix, the Gospel of John does not have an adequate and complete ending.

A Concluding Note:

In view of the eternal economy of God, there is the tendency through the whole writing of John to have the church of God issuing in the Body of Christ for the accomplishment of God's eternal economy. Its judicial section qualifies and positions the believers to carry out its organic section by the divine life of the processed and consummated Triune God. But today most Christians are just lingering in its judicial section and are satisfied with it, paying very little attention to its organic section and missing the critical point of the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God. The critical need of the Lord's recovery today is not to be held back by the satisfaction of its judicial section but to press forward to carry out its organic section so that there may be the possibility of accomplishing the eternal economy of God.