“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” –John 10:10

Ask 10 people who the thief in John 10:10 is and I bet you get at least nine of them telling you it is Satan. Pick up any modern devotional on this text and they will identify the thief as that treacherous arch-enemy of the faith, Satan. But is that really what the text says?

I watched a documentary awhile back on a master pick-pocket. You know how he did it? He focused all of your attention on one hand or object whilst using the other hand to rob you blind. I wonder if Satan might be doing the same thing with our text in John 10:10. He’s getting all the attention meanwhile he’s using his free hand to rob us blind.

What is that free hand? Consider the context of John 10:10. Jesus has just healed a man blind from birth. And what was the Pharisees response to this? They treated the guy terribly. Rather than celebrate the work of God in his life they cast him out of their presence because he testified of the work of Jesus in his life. As chapter 9 closes, Jesus says it was “for judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” The calloused and arrogant Pharisees mocked this saying. John 10 is a response to them. There is no break in the action it’s a direct response to them.

Ezekiel 34 is the background to John 10. In Ezekiel 34 the religious leaders of the day were like shepherds getting fat on sheep. John 10 serves as a contrast between Jesus and the Ezekiel 34-like Pharisees. His first parable has a direction connection to John 9. That blind man was one of His sheep and Jesus brought him into the fold. The Pharisees, however, shut him out instead of bringing him in. They weren’t faithful gatekeepers.

The second parable, where John 10:10 is found, is a contrast between those who bring death and those who bring life. The third is similar in that the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, while the hired hand bolts as soon as the sheep are no longer of benefit to him. So clearly the thief that John has in mind is not specifically Satan. There has been no mention of Satan as the thief in these parable. His points are directed at the religious leaders of the day.

And this is why our interpretation of the passage matters. We’re so busy looking for the work of Satan to kill and destroy that we play right into the hands of false teachers who merely peddle the word. When I was first a believer, and being ‘discipled’ by the prosperity peddlers at TBN, this was one of the favorite verses used. They likened poverty, sickness, and such as the work of the enemy. They were the ones, though, who would through Jesus give their hearers abundant life. All you had to do was plant your seeds of faith. Fatten up the shepherd and he’ll be sure to bless you.

Undoubtedly, Satan is the arch-thief. I’ll happily admit that. John 8 helps us see these false teachers are only doing what their father the devil has taught them to do. But what he is doing is drawing our attention to himself while using his false teachers to rob us blind.

Poverty stricken people focus on Satan as the great destroyer of their lives while cutting checks to the Benny Hinn’s and John Hagee’s of the world. Listen to these words of Hagee:

God Almighty controls the economy of America, and God controls your income! Your source is God, not the United States government.  … When you give to God, He controls your income. There is no such thing as fixed income in the Kingdom of God. Your income is controlled by your giving.”

Or again:

The difference between living a life of prosperity and a life of poverty is a matter of choice.  … Tithing is a choice. If you choose to not tithe, you will be living under a financial curse.”

Those tithes certainly go towards funding Hagee’s $300,000 salary. If you want abundant life then give to the under-shepherd and the Chief Shepherd will surely bless you. Friends, this is the exact opposite of what Jesus spoke of the good shepherd in John 10. He lays down His life for us because that is who He is. That is what a shepherd does. He doesn’t lay down His life in response to our giving. He doesn’t bless because of us. He tenderly cares for us because He is good.

Yes, Satan kills and destroys. And uses false teachers of all stripes to do it. Those who distract from the gospel. Those who shut out the kingdom to the broken and battered. Those who have a ministry of taking instead of giving. Those who are about personal prosperity and comfort and safety instead of gospel advancement. These are the thieves. These are the robbers of our day. And they parade around with words of being blessed by God.

If you want to find those following the Jesus way. Look to the back of the line. There you will find those “like men sentenced to death”. Those who are “the spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men”.  Those who are labeled as “fools for Christ’s sake” and as “weak” and nothing much better than the refuse of the world. Gum on the shoe. And that’s what Jesus meant by the abundant life. Word peddlers would have us robbed of this joy, to sell our birthright for a pot of stew called the American dream. 

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