Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
Why Persecution? It is not surprising that the Christian faith gets opposed and Christians persecuted. Rather, it is natural and expected; because the Son of God incarnated to save people from the death of sin. “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21); and salvage them from the grip of the enemy as was accorded in God's economy since the first fall of Adam, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Therefore, since then there has existed a spiritual war between God and believers on one hand and Satan and his kingdom on the other. This situation is explained in the scripture several times. St. Paul addresses it saying, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12). Thus, since the beginning of the New Testament, signs of such confrontation showed up between faith and the world.
Jesus Christ offered Himself as the most unique, exemplary behavior in bearing sufferings to which He invited His disciples and followers to undergo and overcome. “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you...Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also…They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 15:18,20; 16:2). St. Paul (Saul) described himself as, “concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6). At the confrontation with Saul, the church persecutor, Jesus Christ revealed Himself as the head of the church, (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18). Saul “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads….And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’…The commander answered, ‘With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.’ And Paul said, ‘But I was born a citizen.’….And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’” (Acts 9:4-5; 22:7,28; 26:14-15). Glory in Persecution The fact of the matter is that God does not leave us to face pain and suffer alone. On the contrary, in the midst of it we experience His support and the Holy Spirit's consolation. In the end, we will be glorified with Him. As He had said to His disciples, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation” (2 Corinthians 1:5,7). “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:17- 18). “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful; he cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13). “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:43). “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). If glorification is the share of those persecuted, and afflicted with pain for Jesus Christ's sake, punishment is the portion of the persecutors and they will not be able to escape from it. “since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). “But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality” (Colossians 3:25). Boldness in Persecution Basically, Christians are called not to die but to live a sanctified life of witnessing to Jesus Christ on earth to be continued in the Kingdom of heaven. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14,16). “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). “For 'He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.'” (1 Peter 3:10). “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). However, when confronted with the choice between life or death for the sake of the Christian faith, it does not take long to decide and there is no place for mediocrity, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Demanding rights according to the law does not mean escaping from bearing the cross, but testimony for the truth, proclaiming and elevating it is what is asked for. It also means stopping the pervert from his perversion and saving him from his stubbornness that will destroy him. Jesus Christ is our example in forbearance, courage and steadfastness before persecution. While He was being tried before the chief priest, He said to the officer who had slapped him. “And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, 'Do You answer the high priest like that?' Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?'” (John 18:22-23). As a Roman citizen not legal to be flogged, St. Paul adhered to his Roman citizenship. “And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, 'Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?' When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, 'Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.' Then the commander came and said to him, 'Tell me, are you a Roman?' He said, 'Yes.' The commander answered, 'With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.' And Paul said, 'But I was born a citizen.' Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him” (Acts 22:25-29). “'For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.' Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, 'You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!'” (Acts 25:11-12). Thus, God's promise to him that he would preach in Rome had been fulfilled, “But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.'” (Acts 9:15); “But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, 'Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.'” (Acts 23:11). The same thing happened with St. Athanasius. He stood against all those who wanted him to forsake his faith. With absolute courage he said his famous words “and I am against the world.” “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15); “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9). “And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.'” (Genesis 8:21). “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13); “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1). *Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters
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