“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). In these words the Lord Jesus is speaking of His sheep, of those who, from amongst men, know His voice and are known of Him. He laid down His life for the sheep. He came that they might have life. He died that they might live. And, whoever the sheep may be, and in whatever age of the world’s history they may live, they owe the life everlasting which they possess to Jesus. This all believe and rejoice in.
But to whom, or to what time, does the Lord refer when He says that they might have this life “more abundantly”?
To His sheep, without doubt—to such as have the life.
But do the words relate to all sheep?
To all who receive Him, and thus the life He gives; since He came, as He says, that they might have life, and have it abundantly. There is a fullness of blessing for the sheep, declared in John 10, which neither the law nor the prophets ever breathed, and that this should be so is but in consonance with the Lord’s own mission and dignity. He had come, of whom the prophets spake, and being come, He had words to utter that none of His messengers had ever spoken. He is the Life, and the record of Him on earth is, “the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us” (1 John 1:2). When reading the Lord’s own words, we ought to expect things more wonderful than those brought to us by the servants of God, who preceded His steps. The “more abundantly” refers, without doubt, to all the sheep who know Him, since He came to this earth that His sheep might have life.
But to what time do the words refer? Do they look on to the future state when the believer, having left this world, shall in paradise abide in Christ’s presence, or to that day when, after the resurrection, he shall be clothed in Christ’s glory and shall dwell in heaven with Him?
No doubt it will be then life, and life more abundantly for all. Life and glory will then be bound together. Eternal life, in its full marvel, will then be rejoiced in.
Does, then, “more abundantly” refer only to a day not yet present?
Surely it speaks of our own day, of this very present time, when the body is weak, when the world is strong, when temptations surround the children of God, and when their hearts sink oftentimes within them. Yes, even now, this day, in this lifetime, since He who is the Life has come, it is we who are to possess the life He gives, and to have it, as He says, even “more abundantly.”
The chapter wherein the words occur helps us to lay hold of the “abundantly” Jesus connects with the life. In the words recorded in the fourth verse there is an abundance mentioned in the life before unknown. “He,” the good Shepherd Himself, “goeth before them.” Not prophets, priests, or kings, but Jesus is the leader and the guide, and in the presence of the life He gives, “the sheep follow Him.” This joyful nearness, this positive peace, this personal love, were never known till He came. Here, in its enjoyment, is life “more abundantly” than was known by His flock till He, the good Shepherd, came.
They “shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Were these gifts of liberty, and of food, known to the sheep till the good Shepherd came? No, they could not be, but they are ours now! He has led His sheep out of the legal fold, and brought them into the liberty of grace, and into pasture of His own providing. Life “more abundantly” is thus seen as the portion of the sheep. And such as these have languished for years in the barren places of legality, and know in their souls, when brought out of that barrenness into the green pastures of His grace, the meaning of a past life of spiritual distress, and a present one of spiritual abundance.
One further fruit of the life more abundantly we note, as taught in His words, “I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father” (John 10:14-15), for so these wonderful words of life should be read. Never, until they fell from His own lips, were such words heard upon this earth! They teach the perfect intimacy which exists between the Lord and His own. No distance whatever abides between the good Shepherd and the flock, and, though experimentally, we may say, we know too little of the intimacy, yet none the less it does exist.
Life, and life more abundantly, is our portion, and ours today. As we draw near to Jesus our Lord, we shall hear with quickened ears His words, and so discover what is the abundance of the life.