“They will expel you from the synagogues.” Here, Jesus made a prediction about the future to his disciples. He told them what was to come and what to expect. He wants to prepare them beforehand so that they “will not fall away.” He says, “I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.” Expulsion from the synagogues should not be a devastating blow, the end of the road, to the disciples. Rather in the face of this tragedy, they should remain calm and collected.
Jesus went on to make more predictions “… the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” The “hour,” what “hour”? “The devil may have his hour, but God will have his day,” says Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
During that “hour,” the disciples will be expelled or killed because murderers “have not known either the Father or me.”
As we know quite well, rejection and persecution have been part of our portion as Christians. Isn’t it?
Tertullian (c. 155 AD – c. 220 AD) says, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Tertullian drives the point home hard in his Apologeticus, directly addressing the Roman Empire:
“We are not a new philosophy but a divine revelation. That’s why you can’t just exterminate us; the more you kill, the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You praise those who endured pain and death – so long as they aren’t Christians! Your cruelties merely prove our innocence of the crimes you charge against us…”
Persecution and martyrdom have always been with the Church, and they always will be, for as our Lord said:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:18-20).
We who live in the 21st century may not need to be led to the Roman Colosseum, but our Colosseum is now localized. You can find your “Colosseum” wherever you are, in your family, neighborhood, country, or continent.
You and I may not be persecuted physically for our faith, but many of our Christian brothers and sisters are suffering for their faith. They are dying for their faith, just like the early martyrs. Recently we heard the story that came out of Oklahoma, USA., where the federal government told a Catholic hospital to either blowout tabernacle candle flames in its chapels or lose accreditation for Medicaid and Medicare and its ability to serve needy patients. What business has the federal government done with the chapel tabernacle lights? Serving those in need and worshiping God in the chapel go hand in hand. “We must obey God rather than man,” says the Apostles. Anyway, with a threat of a lawsuit from the Catholic hospitals, citing their First Amendment rights and religious beliefs, Uncle Sam backed off.
The fruit of the kicking out of the synagogues that Jesus talked about led to the separation of the church from the Jewish Synagogues. This turned out to be a good thing for the young church. Sometimes blessings come in disguise. We only need to wait for God’s time, God’s day.
Have a wonderful Week!
