Rebel wih a cause

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

I remember I used to hate going to doctors or dentists when I was a kid. They’d often take this injection out and say, “This won’t hurt a bit,” before jabbing you with the thing. And, of course, it hurt. I wouldn’t trust anything they told me after that. I think doctors have been taught to tell the truth since then, because these days they tell you when something they do is gonna hurt. “This will hurt a bit,” they say, “but then you’ll be fine.” I appreciate the honesty. You are prepared for the pain, and because the doctor is honest you trust whatever else he tells you.  

Jesus is like this. He tells his apostles exactly what they can expect, and as we saw in yesterday’s reading, none of it is pleasant. They would go out like sheep among wolves. They would be hauled before counsels. They would be flogged in the temple courts. Their family members would turn against them. They would face other miscellaneous persecution. He would go on to tell them other stuff, but the bottom line was that they were gonna suffer. So, here is the question for thought: why on earth would they stick by his side?

If Jesus told you that you would go through a lot of suffering if you followed him, would you stick by his side? This is a very serious question. You see, he IS telling us that we will go through this if we are his true followers. Because if we are his true followers we will do what he told his disciples to do. “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light,” he said. “What you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” And then suffer the consequences! But, first, what did he mean by this?

“What I say to you in the dark” were the private lessons Jesus had given the disciples. They were to “tell in the light”, meaning they were to make these lessons public. “What you hear whispered,” was a reference to the practice the Jewish Rabbis had of standing next to a student and whispering in his ear what they wanted the student to speak aloud. But Jesus said they were not merely to speak aloud, but “proclaim from the housetops”, a reference to the practice of making public and private announcements from rooftops. In short, Jesus wants us to fulfill his commission of proclaiming and teaching (see Matthew 28:18-20).

Doing this could cost them their lives. So, let us return to the question I asked. Why would the apostles still stick by his side, knowing what it was gonna cost? The thought of suffering is never pleasant, yet they accepted the prospect. Why? Because they wanted to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. It was a noble purpose. When people enlist to join the army they do so because defending their country matters to them. It is a noble purpose, for which they are willing to lay down their lives. 

Is the salvation of souls a cause that matters to us? 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/SREnZEd8HWU