Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ John

[Michelob]

What does Jesus meant by "abundant life" in John 10:10?

Does it mean he takes care of his people so all their need shall be met? And takes care of their desires?

[jimwalton]

John White, in "The Fight," writes, "When we become Christians, the life that enters us is the life of God himself. We become children of God in a literal sense, not just metaphorically. But the life must grow and develop, and as it does, we will reflect, more and more, the likeness of the Father. The life must be fed and exercised, 'eating' the 'food' of the Scriptures. Exercise consists of obedience by faith to the commands of God. We breathe in the Holy Spirit as we pray. All of these factors contribute to our growth and bring us the 'abundant life.' "

My thoughts: Jesus is claiming that He is the way and means in a completely different course to a distinctly fulfilling end. Not 'life as we know it, but happy rather than empty,' but instead a completely different model unlike anything human. In the pursuit of Jesus alone will one find a point of reference that actually leads to completion. It is a relationship with Christ that ultimately provides the breakthrough we truly seek into the sublime and the meaningful. All other roads eventually lead to a sort of prison, whether a loss of reference, regret, a distortion of reality, a life unfulfilled, or a false sense of self. Only by a relationship with Jesus as the reference point of eternity and meaning can one find the true abundance of life.