Persevere And Live

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟓:𝟏-𝟔, 𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟒, 𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟑:𝟔𝟐-𝟔𝟕 “𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟐𝟏:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉.” (𝒗.18) 

          Again, this passage has an eschatological twist in it although Luke speaks of the end times as an event that is yet to come even as he takes note of the seeming delay in the Parousia or the coming of the Messiah.

         And in the interregnum between now and the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ we all are reminded of the need to stand firm in our faith for us to reclaim our life (v.19). And as Jesus endured the sufferings, he went through that ended up at the cross, we too are being called to a life of martyrdom as Christianity is a religion reserved only for martyrs.

         True Christians will wade through persecution not only from their previous peer group from whom they have separated once they decided to follow Jesus but such is the only way by which authentic Christians can show their solidarity with Our Lord who “𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅” (𝑹𝒆𝒗. 1:5).        

        This reminds us of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who preached and joined the resistance against Adolf Hitler and Nazism who was later arrested, jailed and hanged just two days before the Americans liberated Germany.

         In one of his memorable quotes while serving time in prison, Bonhoeffer said:     

         “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐎𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.         

          𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝: “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 – 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.”          

          The martyrdom that Bonhoeffer displayed was no different from the Christians in the second century who sang as they went out to die, a scenario that so affected and touched Tertullian, a lawyer at the time who would later convert to Christianity and become one of the Early Fathers of our Church.

         There will be terrible times ahead for Christians or those who will elect to follow Christ as he warned of persecution, but which will bring out an opportunity for us to stand as a witness to our faith. In so doing, Our Lord even encourages us not to fear because he himself will provide us the wisdom necessary that will stand out amidst the decay permeating in the world around us.

         There is an ocean of difference between Christianity which calls us to a life of martyrdom and the devil that attracts us with the disguised comfort and glitter of the material world around us. The devil will destroy our faith through the fear of death and will distract us from pursuing a life of spiritual poverty.

         Christ, on the other hand, will offer us eternal life but which is founded on a life of struggle, trials and tribulations and at times there are those who are not prone to living the life of a martyr which is taboo for them. Live and enjoy life while there is still time. Life is short – others will tell you. Some would do that, oblivious of the fact that they have cast judgment when they do.

         As opposed to the easy life that the world offers, Christ is calling us to be martyrs who will bear testimony to the joy of the Gospel that exists side by side with the trials, temptations and adversities in life. And the joy that is in those who are in the world but are not of the world is what will attract others to live a life in Christ, with Christ and for Christ.

         To love our enemies, joyful in suffering, overcoming adversity in peace, forgiving those who wronged us, giving comfort to the downtrodden, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, feeding the hungry and giving drink to those who are thirsty – these are the antidotes to the temptation of the devil.  

         And at the end of the day, Our Lord Jesus Christ who endured his suffering on the way to Calvary and shed his blood on the cross itself will give us sufficient Grace and wisdom to overcome any type of adversity that will come our way.

         As Christians we need not fear persecution and death because Christ has not only ransomed us from the clutches of the evil one, but he purchased us at such a high price and now it is his own blood that flows through us and runs in our veins.

         To live life as a Christian won’t be easy but we have Christ’s assurance that for anyone who will walk with him “𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉” (𝒗.18) and “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅.” (𝑹𝒐𝒎 6:23𝒃) (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 26, 2025)