No one will snatch you
We often use the traits of animals as similes for the traits of human beings. Strong as an ox. Sly as a fox. Busy as a bee. Wise as an owl. Gentle as a kitten. Faithful as a dog. I have never heard these similes, though: Smart as a sheep. Strong like a sheep. Courageous as a sheep.
I grew up on a farm raising sheep.
Sheep are dumb.
They are notorious for getting themselves into trouble, for straying, for searching out greener pastures, for ending up lost, and for being easy prey for predators.
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We are easy prey for the devil and his minions.
Like dumb sheep, we graze in discontentment of where we are and what we are doing – always looking for greener pastures. Foolishly wandering away from the promise to our spouse, the security God provides through our job, the pure doctrine God teaches in our church.
We have no way of fighting our enemies in the spiritual realm.
We are sheep. We have no speed. We have no camouflage. We have no fangs, claws or venom. We are easy prey for the enemies of God.
There was another school shooting in Denver recently.
Christians were targeted for death on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.
Politicians belittle and berate Christians for speaking out on the horrors of abortion.
Jesus gives us a wonderful promise that no one can snatch us out of his hand … as long as we stay in Jesus’ hand. But we are easy prey when we jump out of Jesus’ hand, run away from him, in search of greener pastures, sweeter waters, and more pleasures. Then we will be attacked, torn up, and dragged into hell.
We were lost, alone, vulnerable, in grave danger.
Then the Good Shepherd called us to us. He called us by name in our baptism. Then he wrote God’s Triune name on us. He marked us with the cross on the head and on the heart. We now belong to God’s flock. We are Jesus’ lambs and sheep. Jesus is our Good Shepherd.
Jesus promises, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.”
John 10:28
Greg
had been introduced to me through my oldest daughter. His father died of cancer. I met with Greg the next day in an empty classroom at Shoreland Lutheran High School. As I worked to comfort and console Greg, I asked him if he believed everything he was being taught at Shoreland. He immediately buried his head in hands on the table. He didn’t answer for a full 30 seconds. Finally, he answered, “I want to.”
I learned that Greg had been baptized as an infant. But since then, he and his family had fallen far away from God. Greg’s parents had divorced years ago. His father was an atheist. Despite his baptism and attending Shoreland for the past four years, Greg was also an atheist. In a later conversation, Greg told me that he did not want to believe in Christianity because that meant his father was in hell.
After his father’s death, Greg could not go live with his mother. His father’s girlfriend would not let him live in her house. So, Greg came to live with us. Two of the rules we gave him were that he had to attend church with our family and he also had to attend my adult confirmation classes.
Early on, it was obvious that Greg wasn’t very interested in the classes since he would often drift off to sleep. But the Holy Spirit kept working on Greg through the various ways he was hearing God’s Word – church, high school, confirmation classes. By the last few lessons, Greg was awake and alert. He was the first to answer my questions with everything he had learned in Shoreland’s religion classes. After the last lesson, Greg and I were sitting in my kitchen while I made dinner for us. I asked him again, “Do you believe everything you are being taught at Shoreland and Epiphany (my church).” This time, by the grace of God, he answered, “Yes!”
Greg was confirmed a few weeks later. Sadly, his family did not come to his confirmation. His Shoreland family of teachers and friends came, though. They rejoiced with the angels over a soul that had been lost but then had been found.
Cordale Jr.
is a little baby who was born three months prematurely. I baptized him in his incubator. He is still in Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee months later. But he and his parents have this confidence – no one can snatch Cordale Jr. from Jesus’ hands.
Paige
is a tough little girl in our church and school. Her mom noticed that something wasn’t right with Paige and took her to the doctor’s office. The doctor pushed on Paige’s stomach and asked how bad the pain was from 1 to 10. She said, “5” while at the same time wincing in pain. She had her appendix removed that day. Her parents were comforted during the surgery – no one can snatch Paige from Jesus’ hands.
Seven confirmands
made their vows last Sunday to suffer all – even death – rather than fall away from their Christian faith. They will be tempted by their sinful nature to break the 3rd Commandment and stop worshiping the Lord on the Sabbath. They will be tempted by their fiancé some day to break the 6th Commandment and move in together. They will be tempted by their liberal professors and unbelieving coworkers to break the 1st Commandment and give up their faith in Jesus. But they are promised through it all – no one can snatch these confirmands from Jesus’ hands.
Spouses
who left for greener pastures, leaving behind the other spouse and children. Through the single-parenting, rushing to practices, tears while doing homework, trips through the drive-thru, etc., that remaining spouse and children have this assurance – no one can snatch them out of Jesus’ hands.
Terry
has been battling cancer for the past few years. He has recently been placed in home hospice care. The doctors have given him two months to live. Yet Terry and his wife are not afraid. They are not depressed. They are not blaming God. They are living with this tenacity – no one can snatch Terry from Jesus’ hands.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:27-28
There is no one … no thing … not at any time … that can snatch you out of Jesus’ hands, either!
Oh, the devil and his demons will try! The devil is a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). His demons, false preachers and other enemies of the gospel are wolves, looking to tear apart the sheep (Matthew 10:16). But Jesus stands between us and the lion and his wolves.
The wolves attacked Jesus
sinking their teeth into him, dragging him to the cross. They howled in pleasure, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” There on the cross, the lion sank his fangs into Jesus’ flesh, tearing apart his head, hands, side, back and feet with his claws. Jesus’ bloody corpse was testament to the lion’s brutality.
Then, on Easter dawn, the Good Shepherd rose from the dead. He marched straight into hell, threw open the lion’s cage and walloped him with his Shepherd’s staff. The Shepherd knocked out the lion’s fangs and pulled out his claws. Then Jesus went after the wolves and did the same thing to them.
by willustration
This imagery is why I love this illustration of Don’t be Afraid by willustration. Four snarling wolves surround Jesus. They are ready to tear into Jesus to get at the helpless lamb in his arm.
But Jesus is having none of it.
Jesus is tenacious.
He is going to defend that lamb with his very life.
He swings his Shepherd’s staff. He will not let the wolves get close to the lamb. Despite the snarling wolves, there is no safer place that lamb could be then in the arms of his Good Shepherd.
So many illustrations, paintings, and stained glass windows beautifully portray Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The scene is calm, peaceful and idyllic. There are green pastures and quiet waters. The lambs and sheep are in the pasture. Jesus is holding a lamb in his arms or carrying a sheep over his shoulders.
None of those pictures portray the ferocity of our spiritual predators like this illustration of Don’t be Afraid.
This is what the artist wrote about his artwork: “Jesus is my Savior! ‘Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves,’ Matthew 10:16. ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ The Book of Hebrews 13:5. If you really think that you don’t need Him, you think you can survive this world by yourself … well, think again!”
Our Good Shepherd
laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:11). He walked through the dark valley of death (Psalm 23:4). He stands between his lambs and sheep and the lion and his wolves. He has silenced the lion’s roar. He has muted the wolves’ howl. Our enemies are out there ready to attack us. But with our Good Shepherd between us and them – they are nothing more than a kitten and his puppies. They are nothing to be afraid of!
Jesus is our guarding and guiding Good Shepherd. He is committed to getting us safely home. This is what that will look like:
Revelation 7:14-17
These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again. The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Hold onto this promise: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will 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).
Those nail-scarred hands of Jesus hold your life in a way that you cannot. Your hold on this life is tenuous. A doctor’s visit, divorce papers, car accident, school shooting, flood, fire, disease – there are so many things that can cause us to break our grip so easily. One day, you will lose your grip on your home, your family, on your very life.
But Jesus does not.
Jesus holds your life wholly and entirely. You are a sheep in his hands. He will not let you go. Not until he is ready to set you down gently and safely in the green pastures of his heavenly paradise (Psalm 23:2).
You see, it’s not your grip on Jesus that is important. It is his grip on you. Jesus gripped you in his arms at your baptism. He places his divine food right into your mouth with his sacramental meal of body and blood. He speaks into your ear in his holy Word. He has made you a sheep in his flock.
You see, sheep don’t make the flock. Shepherds do. Sheep are in a flock, but it is the shepherd who gathers them. And you have all been gathered together by the Good Shepherd. You have been gathered forever.
By the grace of God, your Good Shepherd has placed his nail-scarred hands around you. No trial or temptation, no cancer or car accident, no divorce or demon can harm you. Your Good Shepherd stands between you and your enemies. Nothing can snatch you out of Jesus’ hands.
Michael Zarling
For the first 8 years of my ministry, I served at Faith Lutheran Church, an exploratory congregation in Radcliff, KY. I presently serve at Epiphany Lutheran Church and Wisconsin Lutheran School (WLS) in Racine, WI. I am also very involved with our youth as the WLS head soccer coach and the head counselor for WELS Training Camp, a youth camp for 3rd – 9th graders. I have been married to Shelley for 20 years. Together we have 4 beautiful daughters – Abigail, Miriam, Lydia and Gabrielle. We also have 2 dogs – Messi and Mia – named after Lionel Messi and Mia Hamm (the Zarling family really likes soccer!)
3 Comments
Matthew
Are we comfortable saying that everyone who is baptized will ultimately be welcomed into glory? That’s what seems to be suggested here.
Isn’t there a category for those who have experienced baptismal regeneration but indeed have fallen away? In what sense then is it “…not your grip on Jesus that is important. It is his grip on you. Jesus gripped you in his arms at your baptism.”
I’m in full agreement that “Jesus is our guarding and guiding Good Shepherd. He is committed to getting us safely home.” I don’t think it’s helpful to define the “us” as “people who have been baptized” though.
The way the NT talks about the “us” is “those who are being sanctified.” Those who will not be snatched from His hand are the same folks who by God’s grace and mercy are being transformed into Christ’s image from one degree of glory to the next.
I know this is likely to be received as me saying that we look to ourselves for our sense of assurance — so please don’t hear that. I’m saying, when the NT authors reference assurance, they overwhelmingly talk about fullness of what God is monergistically up to in the lives of His people. The faith He grants to guard them for the day of redemption is a fruitful faith, so it is good and right to understand His faithfulness to His people in the fruit that He blesses His people to walk in.
In my opinion, that’s the more biblically consistent way to understand the subject of assurance. It comes closer to avoiding giving someone who shows no regard for the Lord assurance because they were once baptized—especially if you have a legitimate category for those who were once baptized but now have fallen away.
How can you be sure that God is guarding you through faith? In conjunction with James 2 and 2 Peter 1 and Romans 8, you can be sure because there is no other faith given by God than that which is a living faith.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
The giving of all things includes faith, and what is the type of faith God gives? Living, fruitful faith.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?… In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14, 17)
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:3-10)
How can you be sure that God is guarding you through faith, Christian? Because He has ordained to give you gifts that indicate your faith is the type of faith He grants to guard His people for the day of redemption. Those gifts are the gifts of fruitful obedience.
(Again, because I fear this will be misunderstood, that’s not with an eye toward ourselves but with an eye toward God and His expression of faithfulness to us in time to give us evidence of his faithfulness to us in eternity. And that evidence is our sanctification.)
Michael Zarling
Matthew,
Thank you for the comment. I wrote at the end of the article: “You see, it’s not your grip on Jesus that is important. It is his grip on you. Jesus gripped you in his arms at your baptism. He places his divine food right into your mouth with his sacramental meal of body and blood. He speaks into your ear in his holy Word. He has made you a sheep in his flock.”
In response this this paragraph you ask: “Are we comfortable saying that everyone who is baptized will ultimately be welcomed into glory?” No, I’m not comfortable saying that everyone who is baptized will be welcomed into glory. I am comfortable saying what Luther said in his Catechism on the blessings of baptism: “Baptism works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”
Luther himself stated that baptism gives eternal salvation. For those who have been baptized and believe in the promises of baptism, they will ultimately be welcomed into glory. I understand that the primary audience for these art posts are Christians. They need to hear again and again the assurance that their baptism gives them.
Jesus made us Christians as he gripped us in his Shepherd’s arms at our baptism. He feeds us with His body and blood by placing that sacramental meal right into our mouths. He whispers his love directly in our ears through his Word. It is the Means of Grace of the Gospel in Word and Sacraments that calls us out of unbelief, creates faith in our hearts and keeps us in the one true faith.
Sanctification is important as fruits of our faith (Galatians 5:22,23). However, our faith is created and nourished through our connection to Jesus – his death and resurrection and his Word and Sacraments – as we are branches connected to the Vine (John 15:5).
Matthew
I think we’re in agreement that salvation is by faith alone — as it is faith which unites the Christian to Christ.
Where I think we do a disservice to folks, both practically and biblically, is to place the locus of assurance on that which is further downstream from the root.
Baptism saves insomuch as it creates faith which unites the believer to Christ. Yet we know full-well that there are folks who have been baptized who do not/no longer have a faith which unites them to Christ. So in the matter of assurance, my position is that we are on surer, more biblical grounds to tie that assurance to the faith itself and not to a downstream event that may or may not be an indication of present union to Christ.
Per the apostles, how can we be sure that we stand justified? Genuine justification produces Christ-conforming sanctification. (And again, this work is all of God in His gracious faithfulness to His people.)
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6)
“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)
How can you be sure you’ve been united to Christ by faith? Because the faith God grants to unite His people to Christ is a faith which conforms them in the Spirit’s gracious power to Christ’s image.