Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 11: 39-12: 2, NRSV.
Gracious God, today as we continue with our study of Your Word, our sincere prayer is that we will run faithfully, until, by Your saving grace, we make it over to the other side. In the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, we give You thanks. Amen.
Today we are going to continue to look at some of the difficulties that many Christians face as they travel along the road to eternal life. Yesterday, we received joyfully, the assurance from the Savior, that we need not fear the snares along our path, because He cares for us. The reason I consider this topic so important is because many people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, with the understanding, that things would automatically, get better. If they were sick, they would be healed. If they did not have a job, they would get one. If the relationship between them and their spouse, or them and their children, or them and their parents, was not very good, these relationships would automatically get better. And sometimes, praise God, things do work out this way for some -but when it doe not, many feel let down; they feel that they have been lied to, and many turn away from the Savior.
I believe, that when people come to Jesus, it should be with the understanding that they are entering into a love relationship. In any relationship things can go wrong, and sometimes will. But when we are in the relationship for what we can bring to it, not merely what we can take from it, we do not think of abandoning it, when a problem arises, especially, when we are aware, from the very beginning, that things can go wrong. Today, we will re-visit Matthew 10, and see the nature of some other difficulties that oftentimes Christians suffer on the journey. ” ‘ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ” ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’ ” (34-36). Some of us have experienced this. But oh the joy, when we see the very ones who were against our decision to follow Jesus, give their lives to Him!
Verses like these are sometimes difficult for us to understand. How do we reconcile the image of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, with someone who willfully causes strife among people, and especially those of one’s own household? Does it not strike you as odd to hear Him declare that He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword? Was it not Jesus who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5: 9)? In fact, on the night that He was born, the song the angels sang to the shepherds was, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”(Luke 2: 14, emphasis provided).
I believe that it is Jesus’ doctrine that causes the strife. You can tell at a glance that His doctrine was not pleasing to the existing religious body. Love your enemies? Do not kill? Heal on the Sabbath day? Eat with Publicans and sinners? Tell stories in which the heroes are Samaritans? Who ever heard of a good Jew doing things like that? So they persecuted Him, and eventually killed Him. Is the servant greater than his or her Master (John 15: 20)? When some of us give our lives to the Lord, and no longer think, act, eat, or dress, the way we used to, or go to the places we used to go, it causes friction in our relationships. As youth, we are expected to obey our parents. Nevertheless, when some of the things that we are asked to do, are in conflict with what our Savior expects of us, and we refuse, we are sometimes punished for non-compliance. The sword of persecution sometimes divides spouses, or long time friends, not because as Christians we want to be antagonistic, but because we no longer live according to the status quo! When you find yourself suffering for being a Christian, just remember, ” Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3: 12).
We will continue!