There's Safety In Numbers

The maternal instinct is one of the most intense protective traits in the world. Whether it’s a momma bear with cubs, or a guppy with hundreds of eggs in her mouth, this instinct is one of the most primal and ferocious known in the animal kingdom, and the human kingdom. The instinct to protect is epic.

Mention the Lord’s Prayer and people automatically think of the prayer that Jesus taught to his disciples mentioned in Mathew 5:9-13. This is not a mistake it is merely a misconception. The Messiah who came as a priest, prophet, and king left us with another prayer. Christ’s high priestly intercessory prayer is actually uncovered in the Gospel of John. Chapter seventeen constitutes the Lord’s Prayer to His Father. It’s only here that the reader may look deeply into the heart of the Son of God. This is Christ’s high priestly prayer, and the petitions are personal and intercessory.

The astute reader may notice several distinct petitions in this epic prayer. The first petition is that Jesus may be glorified as the Son who has glorified the Father, for restoration to the eternal glory, for the safety of believers from the world and the evil one, for the sanctification of believers and for the spiritual unity of believers. That the world may believe. That believers may be with Him in heaven to behold and share His glory.

Maternal instinct, paternal instinct, heavenly instinct; whatever name we attach to it, nothing really has changed. God’s gift to the world is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s gift to these whom the Father gave him are; eternal life, the Father’s name, the Father’s words, His own joy, and His own glory. It is Jesus Christ who commits the Christian to the Father for safekeeping. And now the good news, for those who believe in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial work on the cross, the believer’s security rests upon the Father’s faithfulness to His son Jesus Christ. Safety in numbers works out just fine if the numbers consist of a Trinity. Jesus says it clearly in John 10:27-29, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.”