Today’s Scripture Readings

‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

The word ‘Gospel’ is usually translated as ‘good news’—but our gospel passage today doesn’t sound all that good, does it? You will be hated by all, arrested, persecuted, betrayed by family and friends, even put to death! Hmmm, sounds like a great life: sign me up!

Why are these ordeals laid down as the lot of the Christian? Why does Jesus predict such grim days ahead for his followers? Not because persecution and faith are intrinsically linked—as though suffering or martyrdom were an essential part of God’s plan for us—but because of the deep contradictions between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.

Jesus knew that the way that human societies maintain their order and peace is principally through violence, even if the violence is often hidden. In this world it seems that there must always be a common enemy, to unite the tribe against; there must always be outsiders, for the insiders to define themselves against.

And since this is the case, a Kingdom that preaches love of enemies will always be seen as a threat to the good order of ‘kings and governors.’ The Kingdom of God, which Jesus preached, proposes quite a different order: one that achieves unity not by force but by the seemingly fragile bonds of mutual love and service.

And this truly is good news. Power and privilege cannot, will not, dominate forever. Those bonds of love, fragile as one hair of your head, will not perish eternally. Though standing with those rejected by this world may cost us some share of pain in this life, it is also the pathway to the fullness of life in the kingdom: the path by which we gain our souls.