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About Jesus Steve Sweetman John
10:10 And The Abundant Life In John
10:10 Jesus told His
disciples that He’d give them abundant life.
I don’t know what everybody thought about Jesus’ words but
maybe Peter thought, “wow, fishing will be so much easier now.
I’ll catch more fish, work less, and make lots of money”.
If Peter did happen to think along these lines, he’d be soon
disappointed, which might have contributed to him denying Jesus as he
did. I also wonder if Peter
questioned this
interpretation of the
abundant life as he watched Jesus
hang on the cross. In Acts 3
Peter told the lame beggar that he had no money to give him.
Had Peter begun to interpret Jesus’ words differently at this
point? And what about when
Peter himself died on a cross, did he think that real abundance was
finally close at hand? Was Jesus
speaking of abundance in
material terms in John 10:10? If
He was, His words did not come true to those He spoke them directly to.
Those people never had abundance of material possessions.
They had abundance of spiritual ability to do the will of their
Lord that came through the Holy Spirit.
Any material abundance
was a hope for the next life, not this life.
This life was all about introducing Jesus to a world that needed
Him. Like Jesus Himself,
they laid aside present prosperity for the joy that would be set before
them in the next life. And like Paul, it didn’t matter if they were
rich or poor as long as they were involved in the work of the Lord. I think
it’s only our North American culture that interprets abundance in a material
sense. New Testament
thinking explains abundance to be spiritual in this life, spiritual and
material in the next life. I know
there’s more to be said about abundance. I’ve
only commented on one verse. I
also know I’ve speculated greatly concerning Peter and most likely my
speculation is not accurate, but there is Scriptural evidence that shows
many of Jesus’ followers thought Jesus spoke of a material kingdom
with material abundance. Many
of these people forsook Jesus when they discovered that He had something
else in mind. Many of us
fall into the same delusion today when interpreting John 10:10 to mean
material abundance in this life.
We should allow the rest of the New Testament to shed light on
such verses instead of having our culture influence our interpretations.
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