“In one of those sermons that bring the biblical world “down to earth,” the preacher talked about his life in Africa. He told us how the people of a village knew each other’s sheep the way we might know one another’s children. As he sat in a group in the village, a person would stop by, “Have you seen my sheep so-and-so,” identifying his own sheep by name. Through the dark night he heard villagers calling out names. “They are calling their sheep,” one of the locals told him. “They will all find each other.””
–Sarah Henrich, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, “Commentary on John 10:1-10“
