Slideshow image

10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

 

This day we commemorate the conversion of St. Paul (originally Saul of Tarsus) who, before his conversion, was involved in doing just what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel reading – seizing disciples and hauling them off to prison, or worse, for identifying with Christ.

As we’ve recently come through Christmas, with Jesus identified as Emmanuel – “God with us” – we now get another view of just how we are identified with Him, and He with us. Jesus tells the disciples here that they will be persecuted “on account of my name”, because they have identified themselves with Christ. To see how strong that identification with Christ is, notice what Jesus said to Saul of Tarsus when He confronted him on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. When Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”, Jesus replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul was chasing Jesus’s followers, but to Jesus, it was the same thing as coming after Jesus Himself.

Paul learned that lesson well – you can see it all over his letters in the New Testament (we are in Christ, and He is in us), and he lived it to the very end of his own life, which he laid down as a martyr.

 

Lord, in whatever situation we find ourselves, keep us faithful in identifying ourselves as belonging to You, no matter the cost, and keep us mindful that wherever we go, there You are with us. Amen.

 

Damon Glassmoyer

jwl1040@gmail.com

Prayer Concern: For peace in our world, and protection and encouragement for the peacemakers.

 

Alternate readings - Acts 9:1-22; Galatians 1:11-24