He’s Got You and Me in His Hands
John 10:28

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The text for this morning’s sermon is John 10:28: Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The movie “Fireproof” has a rather suspenseful scene in which the main character, Caleb, leads his fire battalion to the scene of a house fire. As the men stretch out the hoses and put on their gear, Caleb talks to the homeowners, who assure him that everyone is out of the house. Just then, a young lady comes up screaming that she just got off the phone with the daughter, and the daughter is actually still in there. Caleb tells his men, crawls into the smoke and flames, and makes his way to the bedroom, where he finds the young woman passed out on the floor. The whole house is fully engulfed in flames, so he can’t go back the way he came. He takes his axe to the window in the bedroom, only to find that his way is blocked by bars on the outside of the house. He goes back to the young woman and finds that she is not breathing, so he puts his air mask on her face and starts looking around for a way out. Finally he takes his axe and begins to chop through the floor. He makes a hole just big enough for them to slip through, lowers her into the crawl space, and then goes down there himself. By now the fire has gotten so bad that pieces of flooring are falling into the crawl space from above, but in that narrow space he half carries, half drags her to the opening, kicks it out, and manages to hand her up to his second in command. He is a firefighter, and he is absolutely focused on bringing that girl to safety, and he’s willing to lay down his life for her, if that is what it takes. He had her life in his hands. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our gracious Father has done the same for us. He sent his son Jesus Christ into this world to lay down his life for us, and through Jesus Christ God has you and me in his hands. As Jesus said in today’s Gospel lesson, “I give [my sheep] 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 10:28-29 ESV).

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication—in other words, for Hanukkah. He is preaching in the colonnade of Solomon, an area on the east side of the temple that had some shelter from the December winds. It was a popular place for teachers to meet with their disciples. As he was preaching, the Jewish leaders came and asked him, “So, are you the Christ or not?” “Are you the Messiah, the Savior promised in the Old Testament, or are you not?” We do not know whether they were asking in good faith or not, but we do know that Jesus was encountering great opposition to his ministry. In chapter 9 of John, Jesus gave sight to a man who had been born blind. The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders took exception to Jesus’ action, because he healed the man on the Sabbath, and when they asked the man about Jesus, and the man said Jesus must be from God, they threw him out of the synagogue. In the first part of chapter 10, we hear the beloved passage in which Jesus tells us that he is the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. Again, many people took exception with Jesus’ sermon. “Many of them said, ‘He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?’ Others said, ‘These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’” (John 10:20-21 ESV). From the opposition, you almost get the impression that the people who corner him in Solomon’s Colonnade during Hanukkah want to catch him in his words. Jesus does not disappoint them.

“I told you,” he says, “and you do not believe” (John 10:25 ESV). The problem is not that Jesus is unclear. The problem is that the people who want to corner him will not believe in him. They are not part of his flock. They are not followers. They do not have faith. And without faith, we cannot know whether Jesus is the Messiah or not. Without faith, we cannot know whether Jesus is our Savior or not. Without faith, we cannot follow him and we cannot hear his voice and we have no security from the promise that we are safe in his hands. However, faith comes only through hearing God’s promises to us, and so Jesus takes this opportunity to proclaim his promise: “I give [my sheep] 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 10:28-29 ESV). No matter how much opposition there is to Jesus, no matter how great the fires we face because we are Christians, no one can take Jesus’ little sheep away from him. In the words of that wonderful song, “He’s got you and me in his hands.”

After all, Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down his life for us sheep. Because we have wandered away from him and followed other so-called shepherds, he was “delivered into the hands of sinful men” (Luke 24:7 ESV). Because we listened to the voices of other so-called teachers in our search for wisdom, he was delivered into the hands of sinful men. Because we have trusted other gods for our daily bread—money and work and whatever else—he was delivered into the hands of sinful men. Yet he was handed over for you, to take away the sin of your heart and the sin of your hands. He died in order to give you the eternal life he promised during Hanukkah while he was preaching in the temple. He died in order to make you one of his dear little sheep who hears his voice and follows him. And as he died, he showed the perfect trust that you and I lack—the trust that whoever is in the Father’s hands in completely safe and nothing can snatch him away from the Father. There on the cross, as he died, he said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46 ESV).

Now he is risen from the dead, and he “is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV), because he and the Father are one with the Holy Spirit in glory—one God in three persons. He has you in his hands, and nothing—not even death—can take you out of his hands. After all, who is stronger than God? No one. Who is stronger than our heavenly Father, who raised his Son Jesus Christ from the dead? No one. “My Father . . . is greater than all,” Jesus said (John 10:29 ESV)—greater than all the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus, greater than the devil who tempted Jesus, greater than the sin which Jesus washed away by his blood, and greater even than death, which Jesus destroyed when he rose from the tomb on Easter day. He sits in the position of power and authority and glory, and one day the end will come, “when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24 ESV). Yet because the nails pierced his hands for you, my dear friends, you will be safe in his hands. Because the nails pierced his hands for you, you will have a place in his kingdom. Because the nails pierced his hands for you, you will rise from the dead in perfect righteousness and glory, and the resurrection which he accomplished on Easter day will be your resurrection as well. Nothing—nothing I say—will be able to snatch you out of the Father’s hands.

And that is true today as well. Nothing is able to snatch you out of the Father’s hands, because Jesus Christ’s hands were pierced to purchase and win you for his kingdom, to make you one of his precious little sheep, who hear his voice and follow him. Really, what is the worst that can happen? Unbelievers can make fun of you, but you have a loving heavenly Father who has made you glorious through the resurrection of Jesus, and you are safe in his hands. Unbelievers can take away your job or property, but your heavenly Father, who gave his Son into death for you, has promised to give you all you need for this body and life, and you are safe in his hands. Unbelievers might even torture and kill you—although I doubt that here in our country, but even then, our Savior has gone before you in suffering, and through his suffering he won your salvation, and through his resurrection he won eternal life for you, so that you will never perish, even if you die, and so you are safe in his hands. “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

No matter what the fire you face in your life as a Christian, no matter what the opposition you experience as a Christian, no matter what suffering you experience, you are safe in the hands of our Savior. Jesus promised, “I give [you] eternal life, and [you] will never perish, and no one will snatch [you] out of my hand” (ESV). He’s got you and me in his hands. Amen.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.