John 10: 29--33 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?" "We are not stoning You for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be God." --NIV
In the name of the One Who claims to be God, amen.
>From this passage there can be no doubt that Jesus was claiming to be God. The Jews who heard what He had to say understood it very well. When they stated it plainly to Jesus, He did not deny it. If He were not God, He would have to deny it, or suffer great and swift punishment for it. But He does not deny it because He is most certainly God.
Yet we can often be troubled in life when we see all the godless people who deny that Jesus is God. We see that they attack our faith, and we may wonder if we will remain strong in the Faith when we see it attached from every direction. If we attend school our faith may be attacked there. It is attacked on the radio and TV. Books, magazines, and newspapers all attack it. Friends and coworkers may attack our faith too. So we stand, feeling alone against the world.
But we are not alone. We have the One Who claims to be God standing with us. The fact that Jesus is truly God should be frightening to unbelievers, but comforting to believers. It is comforting because Jesus connects it with His ability to protect us, "No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." It is not just that the Father alone protects our faith, Jesus is also active in this role. Truly nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Dear Lord Jesus, You truly are God. Thank you for telling us this fact so that we me be certain that You will protect our faith, and not let anyone pluck us out of Your hand, amen.