June 7: Enjoying His Peace.
HIS HOLD.
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand."--John 10:28, NIV
On June 7, 2016, a woman and her thirteen-year-old daughter were shopping at a dollar store when a man tried to abduct the girl. As the man was dragging the girl toward the exit her mother did everything she could to save her. Finally, the woman threw herself on top of the child, and the abductor was not able to drag them both. Having let go of the girl, he headed for the exit. He was apprehended in the parking lot by a police deputy. The whole frightening incident was caught on the surveillance camera.
The image of this mother, doing whatever it took to fight off the kidnapper, is the visualization I get when I read today's text. Jesus says with confidence: "no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28, NIV). This sentence is repeated by Jesus twice in two verses. Having confronted those who didn't believe in Him (verses 24, 25), Jesus explains how secure His sheep really are in His hand, and the Father's hand: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one' " (verses 27-30). Whoever believes and follows Jesus is eternally secure, just as a sheep is secure in the good Shepherd's hands; just as a child can rest in the arms of a loving Parent. This brings such profound peace to my mind and dissipates my anxiety about the future, the end of the world, eternal life, et cetera. You can rest in the most capable hands in the universe. Even if God's adversary tries to snatch us out of His hand, Jesus and the Father will not let it happen, for they are greater than any power that might threaten God's children. Jesus offers us certainty. In the words of Leon Morris: "No one will snatch them from Christ. It is one of the precious things about Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on his firm grip on us." *
My Response:___________________________________________________________
* Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, rev, ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: 1995, Eerdmans), 463.
HIS HOLD.
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand."--John 10:28, NIV
On June 7, 2016, a woman and her thirteen-year-old daughter were shopping at a dollar store when a man tried to abduct the girl. As the man was dragging the girl toward the exit her mother did everything she could to save her. Finally, the woman threw herself on top of the child, and the abductor was not able to drag them both. Having let go of the girl, he headed for the exit. He was apprehended in the parking lot by a police deputy. The whole frightening incident was caught on the surveillance camera.
The image of this mother, doing whatever it took to fight off the kidnapper, is the visualization I get when I read today's text. Jesus says with confidence: "no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28, NIV). This sentence is repeated by Jesus twice in two verses. Having confronted those who didn't believe in Him (verses 24, 25), Jesus explains how secure His sheep really are in His hand, and the Father's hand: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one' " (verses 27-30). Whoever believes and follows Jesus is eternally secure, just as a sheep is secure in the good Shepherd's hands; just as a child can rest in the arms of a loving Parent. This brings such profound peace to my mind and dissipates my anxiety about the future, the end of the world, eternal life, et cetera. You can rest in the most capable hands in the universe. Even if God's adversary tries to snatch us out of His hand, Jesus and the Father will not let it happen, for they are greater than any power that might threaten God's children. Jesus offers us certainty. In the words of Leon Morris: "No one will snatch them from Christ. It is one of the precious things about Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on his firm grip on us." *
My Response:___________________________________________________________
* Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, rev, ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: 1995, Eerdmans), 463.
RSS Feed
