April 29, 2007 Hand of God

Nothing, No one will snatch us from the Hand of God. Thanks be to God. John 10:22-30

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ ²⁵Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.’

This text is a particularly hard one. With so many important issues of Jesus' identity, Jesus' relation to God the Father, the disbelief of those standing in front of Jesus' face, the place of believers, the care Jesus takes when shepherding his flock, these things are huge! However, the image that stuck out to me was the image of God's hand and how we will never be snatched out of his hand. The community of God has hands, hands from which we will also never be snatched. I wanted to record those hands, so that we may all see how many hands are holding us up.