Jesus said to the crowd:
"They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
Jesus came to set fire on the earth. The initial ramification of this fire was not peace but division (see Luke 12:49, 51). Those who did choose to follow him would find the fire of which he spoke to be the purifying power of the Holy Spirit. But although he came to what was his own, his own people did not receive him (see John 1:11). These would be impacted by the fire which Jesus came to bring as well. But they would be set on fire in their opposition to both him and those who followed him. For those who did not follow Jesus his fire would eventually prove to be one of judgment. But his opponents were first motivated to do all the could to resist confronting that reality.
A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (see John 15:20).
Encountering opposition because we are followers is Jesus is not a sign that something has gone wrong, at least, not necessarily. True fidelity to the King of kings is going to of necessity make those still in the power of sin uncomfortable. Even in we who follow Jesus to some degree it is still possible to experience this discomfort in the presence of saints who follow him without reserve. But this means that we ought not to calculate how we will live our lives as disciples in order to avoid conflict. Of course, we aren't to seek conflict for conflict's sake either. What we are meant to do is to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit without trying to map out everything we might say and every possible response and counter response in advance.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
Without the help of the Spirit we will tend to give in to the extremes of merely human motivation. We will either conceal the fact of our love for Jesus or we will wield our faith like a bludgeon against imagined opponents rather than presenting it as the life raft on which we ourselves first found safety.
You will even be handed over by parents,
brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
We should learn to take Jesus at his word when he says that opposition and even persecution is normal for Christians. Even if we are blessed such that we do not encounter such active hostility in our lives we should still be ready for it, mentally resolved to remain faithful if it comes. We should believe Jesus when he says, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (see Matthew 5:11-12).
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.
Just as Jesus himself was not ultimately overcome by his opponents but was raised in glory so too will our perseverance secure, first our souls, and then our lives at the resurrection of the body, when every last hair of our head will be restored (from when we still had all of them, for those of us for whom that is no longer the case). This loving attention to detail on the part of Jesus should give us great confidence and help us to trust him no matter what we might face. It is this sort of confidence in God that made Daniel bold in the face of a corrupt king.
But the God in whose hand is your life breath
and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify.
By him were the wrist and hand sent, and the writing set down.
No comments:
Post a Comment