No one can snatch them away from Me

John 10:24-30 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me.  The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.  But you don’t believe me because you are not My sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else.  No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.  The Father and I are one.” 

The Jews asked Jesus if He was the Christ (the Messiah) and this was His answer.  He said that they did not believe Him, not only what He said, but also what He did.  He also said that their unbelief was because of their refusal to become like sheep (see below).  They had too much pride, too much tradition, too much hard-heartedness (and hard-headedness) to believe and follow Jesus.  That is the same problem for so many people today and throughout history. 

One of Jesus’ seven “I am” claims in John’s Gospel was that “I am the good shepherd who gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).  You’ve probably heard before that sheep in the Bible are representative of human beings.  If you have a strong ego and are easily insulted, you won’t like the comparison, but it’s true.

Sheep are described as dumb, not because of lack of intelligence, but because of a much stronger herd instinct.  If one sheep goes over a cliff, the rest will follow.  Humans are the same way.  We all have intelligence, but there’s a tendency to follow a leader and if this leader is not Christ, terrible things can happen.  How many intelligent people throughout history have blindly followed some evil leader?

Sheep are described as defenseless.  Unlike other animals with teeth, claws, fangs, etc, sheep have no natural defense mechanism to protect themselves.  People are the same way.  You are vulnerable to what someone called the “wolves of life”, e.g. disease, disasters, criminals, countless daily threats to your physical and spiritual lives, and the reality of death.  Without Christ in your life, you have no one to protect you against the schemes and the wiles of the evil one. 

Sheep are described as directionless.  Sheep tend to wander off and get lost.  So it is with those outside of the Lordship of Christ, there is no spiritual direction and so you are always searching for whatever is missing in your life.

Isaiah 59:2 states that “all of us like sheep have gone astray”.  The greatest need of human beings is to have a shepherd.  God provided that shepherd.  Note what Jesus claims in this passage---His sheep listen to Him, follow Him, they are given eternal life, and no one can take them away.  Now if you have any kind of pride and self-reliance, you will cringe at the thought of being like a sheep.  However, what peace of mind and heart it is to realize that once you have humbled yourself and given your life over the lordship—the shepherding—of Christ, you have present and eternal security that can never be taken away from you.  Why is Psalm 23 so beloved by people everywhere?  Because the Lord is proclaimed as “my  shepherd”.  He provides and protects and leads His people.

Jesus says that His sheep listen to His voice.  Do you hear His voice in your life?  If not, you are not studying your Bible.  You are not experiencing His presence through study and prayer and fellowship.  But, if you are practicing these things, your life is being touched by Christ every day and you know it.  This is the greatest blessing you can ever have in your life.