John 10:22-33 : It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. 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. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Even Jesus’ enemies helped Him. Jesus claimed He and the Father were one and His enemies certified it, saying: “you, being a man, make yourself God.” If Jesus really claimed to be God, we must consider it. Was He lying, was He crazy, or was He God? I discussed more about this in the post “No Mr. Nice Guy,” but here is another grand example of the dilemma that Jesus puts mankind into. He isn’t a nice guy if He is a liar or a crazy man seeking to be worshiped. We chose to believe Him, so we worship Him.
In choosing to believe Him, we were exposed as Jesus’ “sheep,” because we were able to hear his voice, but the most amazing thing to me is what Jesus says next. He says, “I know them.” God, the One who made all things, the One who saves us also knows us. If God who has the power to feed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, knows us, we don’t have anything to worry about. He knows what He’s doing with us. Sometimes we don’t have any idea what He is trying to do, but we can be assured that He knows what He is doing.
Jesus picture us as being in His hand. He said, “no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus will keep us until we are presented to God as He mentioned earlier. He will keep us from wandering off and keep others from taking us away. We don’t have to fear an end to this relationship if Jesus wants to maintain it. He the one who can lay down his life and take it up again. He powerful enough to keep our relationship secure. We know that this security relates to our eternal life. We don’t have to worry about losing our eternal life. Jesus is committed to giving us this life. What good would the promise of eternal life be if it could suddenly be taken away? We have a commitment from God that we will have eternal life if we believe. One thing is very clear to me, God loves us with an unreasonable love and has made us, as small as we are, to be very valuable to Him.
As if that isn’t enough, Jesus makes it clear that we are also in the Father’s hand. Again, this implies that Jesus’ hand and the Father’s hand are really one and the same. It is clear that this is a secure relationship.