NOTES for Joh 10:27-30
When we read the words, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand,” a reasonable question may arise. What, then, about temptations? Sadly, some people do not remain in the Church, but turn back to the darkness (see John 3:20), yielding to the temptations of this world. How can this be? It would seem that they were with the Father, in His caring hands, and suddenly they were snatched away. Some may explain that those who left had never really been with God. But that is not true. Anyone who has communion with the Lord necessarily has the experience of a personal encounter with Him that once brought that person into the Church (we are not speaking of people who come to church for the sake of ritual rather than for Christ Himself). There is no contradiction here. The fulfilment of God's will for a particular person is bound up with the freedom given to that person for the expression of love. If we use this freedom for co-creation with the Lord, we listen to His Word and thereby entrust our lives to His hands. Then this Word is embodied in our lives, and the Lord's will that no one should snatch us out of His hands (see John 10:28) becomes our truth.