They will seize and persecute you
We give thanks that violent persecution is not currently our lot. But at the same time we recognize that there are places in the world where it is normal, and we pray for the Christians living in such situations and undergoing such struggles. May they be open to Jesus working through them even in the most difficult of moments. May they deliver the testimony Jesus gives them to deliver, with the wisdom in speaking that is his gift to them. He has done so beginning with Saint Stephen and onward throughout the ages, confounding persecutors with the testimony of the martyrs.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
We may, if the Lord wills, not undergo persecution, not have our families divided by faith, not be led before kings and governors. But we are still called to give testimony. This was the call of the first apostles and it is still our call today.
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all (see Acts 4:33).
If we are permitted to escape the worst of these trials, should we then be afraid to elicit mild displeasure in those who hear our message? Of course it is naturally that we want to please others insofar as we are able. But we must not subvert the truth of our testimony to make a message that is pleasing to others but deprived of its depth and power. We are not to cater to itching ears and curiosity at the expense of the good of immortal souls.
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.
Jesus calls us to be more concerned with what he wants to say than how we want to say it. It is his wisdom that confounds adversaries. It often happens in ways that are surprising. It is not always possible to trace a conversion to this or that specific argument that a hearer found persuasive. Often it is something more like the presence of Christ in the evangelist, and the cruciform shape of her testimony, that eventually renders all of the arguments of the adversary powerless. We think here of Saul before Saint Stephen. Was it finally a specific point from Stephen's scriptural exegesis that opened Saul to conversion? More likely it was the presence of Jesus himself within Stephen. And this did not immediately enchant or gratify Paul. He was still violently opposed to Christians until his encounter on the road to Damascus. But we can hardly doubt that a seed was planted by Stephen that made it make sense to Paul when Jesus introduced himself as "Jesus, who you are persecuting" (see Acts 9:5). He may well have felt as though he had seem him somewhere before.
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.
The promise of Jesus to give us wisdom in speaking is not to be measured by immediate visible success. The conversion of Saul was not immediate after his encounter with Stephen. The promise does not necessarily mean that our arguments will be obviously decisively victorious. It may well seem from a human vantage point as though we have failed to make much sense at all and done little but anger our adversary. But if it is the concern of Jesus himself for those to whom we witness that we desire above all to manifest. It is this, the logic of love, that is the most likely to yield lasting results of true conversion. At core, our testimony is the willingness to give and expend ourselves for the sake of others, just as Jesus did for us.
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (see Revelation 12:11).
If we are hated because we won't hold back from sharing the full counsel of God (see Acts 20:27) with others this does not mean that we failing. It may well mean that we are finally loving at a level that is more like Jesus himself. And it is love like that which is most able to change the world. Hatred cannot conquer such love, and may eventually exhaust itself and sputter out, leaving an openness for the Gospel.
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.
If we do not turn aside from Jesus and his testimony we may face the emotional distress of having others with whom we do not agree, or who are even quite hostile to our message. But we can trust in God. Even if our egos die a little, or even if we are called to be martyrs, such suffering is only for a moment. The life to come never ends, and it is to that Kingdom we are called. We are called to be ready to trade this finite world to join in a chorus of praise that will never end. Perhaps the small ego deaths that might result from sharing the Gospel are preparation by which we make the choice of that eternal destiny our own even here and now.
Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.
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