“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!” John 10:10 TPT
Every Christian has a verse or passage that resonates with them. Personally, I have several that hit me between the eyes on a regular basis, but John 10:10 hits a little differently. You know those times when things don’t really go the way we were hoping or anticipating… or maybe it feels as though you got stuck upside-down on a loop-de-loop roller coaster. It’s times like those that I have to stop and simply marinate in this verse.
This verse has helped me through some painful seasons… and I find that I still come back to it when things fall apart in some form or fashion. For anyone who knows me, I tend to look deeper into words, their meanings, and their origins (yes, I’m also guilty of overthinking too many things). Well, I just can’t seem to help myself, so I’ve been digging more into this verse. Take a look at some typical translations of John 10:10:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV)
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV)
“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” (NASB77)
On my reading this verse most recently (from The Passion Translation) the word slaughter stood out to me. I get a very different picture in my head with the word slaughter than with the word kill. So of course I had to look it up. And I’m so glad that I did.
Both of those words come from the Greek word thuó. As I read through the definitions we get from this word, I found a new appreciation for John 10:10. This word means kill, sacrifice, immolate (to kill or offer as a sacrifice, especially by burning), and even to tear into pieces. It even is a word used when talking about the Passover Lamb.
I’ve felt torn into pieces. Losing my virginity in a date rape at the age of 17 stole my innocence, killed my faith in God and people for a very long time, and destroyed the vision I had for my life. That one moment sparked a series of poor choices – my choices – that I’m still emotionally sifting through today. And for a very long time, I absolutely blamed God. He was the thief.
A part of me died that night when I was 17. But God is in the business of raising the dead to life again, isn’t He? And I’ve learned – as a part of maturing in my relationship with God – that He is not the author of evil that comes my way. He does not kill my babies (multiple miscarriages) or loved ones, He does not steal job opportunities, and He does not destroy our health. And He didn’t author my innocence being torn to pieces. There is a big difference between authoring and allowing.
Slaughter… Kill… Sacrifice… Tear to pieces… Our Passover Lamb… Jesus didn’t simply die on the cross. He endured so much more than that. So much more! Scripture tells us that His face was so disfigured that He didn’t even look human (Isaiah 52:14). And that was just His face! He was also beaten, whipped, had a crown made out of thorns shoved on His head, and nails driven into His hands and feet. That was just the physical part.
How many times have you felt that God didn’t care about or understand your pain? How many times did you blame God for a deep sorrow you were experiencing? God knows, cares, and understands… I know this because Jesus experienced pain that we can scarcely imagine. He was betrayed in word and deed. He was welcomed with fanfare and those same people called for His crucifixion.
And Jesus is God.
When Jesus tells us that it’s the thief – the enemy – that steals, kills (all the manners of death), and destroys but He has come to bring us life in abundance, He follows it up with a beautiful reality.
He explains that He and the Father are one (John 10:30). That makes God so much more relatable to us. And it tells us that God is not the enemy.
This truth found in the book of John has completely shifted how I see the events of my life. The enemy saw a crack in my foundation and decided to exploit it. But looking back on those years, I can still see God’s grace protecting me (and I certainly didn’t make it easy for Him).
Are you struggling with something that the thief stole, killed, slaughtered, or destroyed? Maybe it happened today… maybe yesterday… maybe years ago. None of it is beyond God’s power to redeem.
Maybe you’ve heard of Lauren Daigle’s song Come Alive. It’s a beautifully written song based on the passage in Ezekiel 37 and the valley filled with dried up bones. The bones were scattered – this expresses that there was not a single skeleton intact. They were scattered everywhere and completely dried out (Ezekiel 37:2). They had been there for a very long time.
God told Ezekiel to speak to the scattered bones, telling them that God was going to put them back together, would put flesh and muscle on them, cover them with skin, and would put the breath of life back into their lungs (Ezekiel 37:4-6). Ezekiel spoke the message and witnessed a great cacophony of rattling noise as the bones of each body was put back together (Ezekiel 37:7-8). Can you imagine seeing muscles and flesh form over the skeletons before skin formed to cover them?
They were put back together, but there was no life in them. That was my life for two decades. I had put myself back together, but I was still dead. I knew what I believed to be true about God, but it wasn’t real to me. I was still holding onto some bitterness that kept me from breathing.
After the great reassembly of a valley full of bones – flesh included – God instructed Ezekiel to call the breath of life back into the bodies. Ezekiel obeyed and watched as life filled the lungs of every single body in the valley that had previously been a scattering of bones. And they rose up on their feet as a great army (Ezekiel 37:9-10).
Perhaps you have been blaming God for some hardships, things or people that have been taken from your life, or maybe you’ve experienced a more significant or sudden loss that has left you feeling that God has betrayed you. It might even be a dream or passion that died a long time ago that you can’t seem to shake its grip. God didn’t steal it, kill it, or destroy it. That was the work of the enemy.
Just like God put the bones back together, formed flesh and muscle, and covered them with skin, He can put your heart back together, too. And He won’t stop there. He’ll breathe new life into what was once a valley of dry bones.