“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, 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.” (John 10:27-29)
Throughout John 10 Jesus spoke of His role as shepherd of the flock of God. The Lord as Shepherd was a familiar image to the Jews one which gave them great comfort. It should comfort us as well. The image reminds us that He knows each of us personally and we know Him and follow His voice. Like sheep we trust our shepherd to lead and guide us. He will keep us safe and nourished.
Such a Good Shepherd as we have in Jesus should draw many people to Him in these chaotic days of strife and turmoil. We need a strong hand to guide us, and a strong voice to give us wisdom. Yet, often, the most many think about the Lord as Shepherd is when the 23rd Psalm is read at a funeral or memorial service. The Words are meant to provide sweet comfort to the grieving and the frightened, but without faith in the Shepherd as Savior and Lord, that comfort is inadequate and short-lived.
What turns millions away from the true shepherd and the comfort and love He provides is what Jesus states openly about His divinity. He is God incarnate. Many are unwillingly to believe this. They cannot or will not believe in a God who saves, especially one who died on a cross in humility and shame. The reason that they will not believe His Word is that the millions who reject Jesus think very highly of themselves. They refuse to admit and confess their sins and so repent, or else prefer to save themselves by their own works. However, those who have faith know, as Jesus says, that nothing can snatch us out of the Father’s hand for, if we are in Jesus, we are safe.