Our Lives Are Not About Us
Early this week during my morning quiet time over a cup of fresh coffee I was particularly drawn to the passage John 10:10 as the basis for the message to prepare for today. As I pondered, prayed and prepared writing this devotion, however, I found it going in an unexpected direction.
Over the years I have come to believe that Satan’s objective is to steal from us, kill us, and destroy us. This idea comes from John 10:10 when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. Reading this passage, it says, “A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!”
In preparing this message I have realised that my simplistic understanding of John 10:10 is actually not correct. If we think this verse is about Satan stealing, slaughtering, and destroying us we are taking the focus away from what Jesus actually said, and placing our attention in this passage on us, instead of on Jesus, where it belongs. Let me explain.
If I posed the question, “what is it that Satan wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy?”, I suspect the majority of us would respond with comments like, he wants to steal my joy, he wants to rob me of my family, he wants to destroy the church, he wants to destroy my faith, he wants to kill me so I can’t serve God, he wants to rob me of my money or blessings, and so on. Notice there is a common thread running through all these answers - the focus is..…”me.”
It is human nature for us to always think in terms of ourselves. “Me” is our central focus, so when we read a passage like John 10:10 our tendency is to apply it to me. Yet, this is the remotest thing from what the text actually says.
Satan’s objectives are not to steal, slaughter, or destroy. The reality is that these three things are not objectives. Stealing, slaughtering, and destroying are tactics. Quite frankly, Satan is perfectly happy to let you live, and prosper, and remain whole and in good health, so long as you give him what he wants. What does Satan want? What is his objective as opposed to his tactics? We can read Satan’s objective in Isaiah 14:13-14, ‘You said to yourself: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will set up my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly, in the remotest parts of the North. I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”’
Satan’s primary objective is to become like God; to literally replace God on his throne. To confirm this, recall what Satan said to Jesus in Matthew 4:9, “All these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me.” Here is Satan commanding God to worship him.
In order to accomplish his objective Satan employs many strategies and tactics. For example, have you ever wondered why Satan has created so many false religious systems in the world that believe so many different and contradictory things? Quite simply, so long as people stay away from Jesus, ignoring His word, they effectively enthrone Satan. In 1 John 5:19 we read, “The whole world lies under the power of the Evil One.” When we disobey God, we essentially obey Satan, just as Eve did when she took her first bite.
So, who was Jesus talking about in John 10:10? Looking at the context of the passage, it really begins in John 9 when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. Jesus had just finished healing a blind man who gave himself to Jesus. The Pharisees had been questioning Jesus at length about the healing, trying to prove He was a false teacher.
Reading the whole passage John 10:1-13 in its context,
1Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Listen to this eternal truth: The person who sneaks over the wall to enter into the sheep pen, rather than coming through the gate, reveals himself as a thief coming to steal. 2 But the true Shepherd walks right up to the gate, 3 and because the gatekeeper knows who he is, he opens the gate to let him in. And the sheep recognise the voice of the true Shepherd, for he calls his own by name and leads them out, for they belong to him. 4 And when he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them and they will follow him, for they are familiar with his voice. 5 But they will run away from strangers and never follow them because they know it’s the voice of a stranger.” 6 Jesus told the Pharisees this parable even though they didn’t understand a word of what he meant. 7 So Jesus went over it again, “I speak eternal truth to you: I am the Gate for the flock. 8 All those who broke in before me are thieves who came to steal, but the sheep never listened to them. 9 I am the Gateway. To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction. 10 A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow! 11I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep. 12–13 But the worker who serves only for wages is not a real shepherd. Because he has no heart for the sheep he will run away and abandon them when he sees the wolf coming. And then the wolf mauls the sheep, drags them off, and scatters them.”
John 10:1-13
In this passage Jesus calls himself the Shepherd of the sheep and the Gate. He is the one keeping the sheep. Who comes to attack? The wolf. If Jesus is the shepherd, then who is the wolf? The wolf is Satan. For what purpose does the wolf attack? Jesus said he attacks to “steal, slaughter, and destroy.” The obvious questions become:
• Who does Satan want to steal from?
• Who does Satan want to slaughter?
• What does Satan want to destroy?
This is where many readers get into trouble. Reading the context of the passage and it is clear that Jesus is referring to Himself, but suddenly we get to verse 10 and we think the passage is about what Satan wants to do to us. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Jesus is telling us what Satan wants to do to Him, and to his disciples. Recall the story of Jesus suffering. Can you think of a time in Jesus’ life when Satan came to steal, slaughter, and destroy?
Satan wants to steal something or someone from Jesus. Since Jesus is the shepherd and the sheep belong to him, He is the one Satan comes to steal from; not us. Satan wants to steal a sheep.
Who does Satan want to slaughter? He comes to attack the shepherd in hopes of getting a sheep. Who is the shepherd? Jesus! In this passage, Satan comes to slaughter Jesus.
What does Satan want to destroy? Look carefully at passage. “The wolf mauls the flock, drags them off, and scatters them.” Who is the flock? The flock is made up of sheep belonging to Jesus. The ‘sheep’ of this flock are the disciples.
Thinking of a time in the scriptures when this happened, my mind turns immediately to the night of Jesus’ arrest. Satan possessed Judas Iscariot, effectively stealing a disciple from Jesus. Jesus acknowledged this in John 17:12 when he prayed, “Not one of them is lost, except the one that was destined to be lost, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” When Judas lead the authorities to Jesus, what happened to the disciples? “At that point all of his disciples ran away and abandoned him.” (Matthew 26:56). Just as Jesus predicted, the sheep were scattered. The end result was Jesus arrest, crucifixion, and death – His slaughter. In other words, John 10:10 and its context is not about what Satan wants to do to us. It was Jesus foretelling the Jews what they were going to do to Him. It was a prophecy in picture of Jesus surrendering his life for His church. Jesus confirmed this by saying, “I alone am the Good Shepherd…. I am ready to give my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14,15).
Satan’s objective is to reign. His strategies include getting people to disobey God or ignore him. His tactics include stealing, slaughtering, and destroying. All his focus is on defeating Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus has already defeated Satan through the very act of Satan having him steal from Him, slaughter Him, and scatter His flock.
In conclusion, remember Job. Satan’s attack was actually on God. Job was the instrument Satan used to try and tempt God and to ruin His reputation. Yet it failed. Our lives are not about us. In all things it is always about Jesus - He is our life.
Questions for reflection:
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you any particular strategies or tactics that Satan employs in your life to draw your attention away from Jesus?
2. At the time Jesus spoke these words shepherding truly was a life of hardship and even danger. The shepherd was exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, and his food frequently consisted of that which he could forage. Many times he would have to fight off attacks of wild animals; and face the threat of being robbed or attacked by predatory hordes. How prepared are each of us to follow in Jesus’ example of being a shepherd to his flock?
