Christian Confidence
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30
In contrast to those who rejected Jesus, He says of His disciples, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Christ’s call has brought them into a new relationship with Him (“I know them”), a relationship that leads to a new lifestyle (“they follow me”). The proof of faith is ultimately obedience.
Jesus says, “I give them eternal life” or more literally, ‘the life of the age to come.’ The new life of the kingdom is theirs now. The religious leaders of the day believed God would break into our world at a future time to establish His kingdom. Jesus offered this future life in the here and now for all who would believe on Him.
Those who hear Jesus’ voice and recognise it as the voice of ‘their’ shepherd will be safe forever “and they shall never perish.” He will look after them and not even death itself, the last great enemy, can ultimately harm them.
“No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” The flock has been given to the Son by the Father and He stands behind the Son in guarding them. Forces of opposition and destruction have to confront the awesome and limitless power of the Father, who is “greater than all.”
“I and the Father are one.” Had John used the masculine form of ‘one’ He would be saying the Father and the Son are one person. Instead he uses the neuter form to clarify the oneness of Father and Son; here is a oneness of mission and purpose. Father and Son are one in their commitment to prevent anyone snatching believers from out of their hands. This is a functional oneness.
Jesus is utterly confident about the security of His sheep. The guarantee is His own unbreakable bond of love and unity with the Father and the fact that His ‘sheep’ are the ones the Father has given Him.
Christian confidence about the future after death is built on the firm foundation of the one, single, committed purpose of the Father and the Son. As any student of theology can verify, wherever in the Christian church people have become unclear about Jesus’ close relationship with the Father, they have also become unclear about the security of the believer.
If you have heard Jesus’ call and responded to Him in faith, then you’ve become one of His sheep. You know His voice. Jesus himself holds you secure. And behind Jesus is the Almighty heavenly Father who has utterly committed Himself to protecting you. You are safe and secure.
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