Life that the thief can't take

The Thief

John 10: 9-10 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

How often does it feel like or do you think that the devil has stolen something from you

“The thief does not come except that he might steal and slaughter and destroy,”

Michaels, J. R. (2010). The Gospel of John (p. 584). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

The stark contrast between “the thief” and Jesus is striking, as if to guard against any misunderstanding of certain traditional sayings attributed to Jesus in which his “coming” is actually compared to the coming of a thief (see Mt 24:43–44; Lk 12:39–40; Rev 3:3; 16:15; also 1 Thess 5:2, 4). That a thief “steals” is a truism, but “slaughter” and “destroy” are more surprising. These words are part of the metaphor, because “slaughter” has to do with the killing of animals (in this instance, sheep). The supposition is that sheep are stolen not in order to be added to someone else’s flock, but to be slaughtered for food, and thus “destroyed.” The accent is on “destroy,” for being “destroyed” or “lost” is in this Gospel the very opposite of gaining “eternal life” (see 3:16; 6:39–40). Here the thief comes to “destroy,” while Jesus comes “that they might have life.”

Michaels, J. R. (2010). The Gospel of John (pp. 584–585). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Matt. 24:43-44 “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Rev 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

Rev 16:15 “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

1 Thess 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

1 Thess 5:4 “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

Life

Here the thief comes to “destroy,” while Jesus comes “that they might have life.” “Life” corresponds to “pasture” within the metaphor, except that the “life” Jesus gives is “in abundance,” that is, more than mere survival or safety (v. 9), more than “pasture” (v. 9) in the sense of basic sustenance for a sheep or a human. “Life” is nothing less than “eternal life” with God (just as in 3:16 and 6:40, and frequently throughout the Gospel).

Michaels, J. R. (2010). The Gospel of John (p. 585). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 6:40 “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Eph 3:18-21 “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Paul reassures them: it is impossible to ask God for too much. His capacity for giving far exceeds his people’s capacity for asking—or even imagining.

Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (p. 330). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

1 sam. 30:18-191 sam. 30:18-19 “And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”