John 10:10

“The thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

The context of this verse is Jesus referring to himself as the good shepherd of his sheep. All of the shepherds before him were robbers and thieves to whom the sheep did not listen. He says he is also the gate through whom his sheep will find pasture (life) and will be saved. Life and safety are entered into by following the caring shepherd through the gate.

The Greek word translated steal, in this verse literally means to remove secretly which implies stealth. The word for slaughter (kill in many translations) refers to the slaughter of animals for food. The word translated destroy means to lay waste.

A good paraphrase of the Greek text might then read; The thief slaughters to devour what he has secretly stolen, totally annihilating it. Wow!

You can see, then, that this is a graphic, grizzly description of what results from the enemy’s deceptive power. Completely unaware, his prey are led into the slaughter-house of sin where they are finally slaughtered, consumed, and utterly destroyed. This is the death that is the penalty of sin.

The life that Jesus offers (zoe), is the spiritual life of deliverance from the proper penalty of sin, the final life of the redeemed. And he promises that you will have exceedingly more of this life than you need. This is the love of Christ, from which you cannot be separated, and is more than you can ask or imagine.

Amen.