Daily Devotional • December 7
5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12 “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. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, 15 for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Meditation
In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus says, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” In our 21st century context in America, we think of our “crosses” as the hardships of our life, but in its immediate context, Jesus was talking about the potential of literal crosses and all that went with persecution. In many cases, he was calling his people to follow him to death.
In Luke 21:12-19, it is clear that this theme of Jesus, the persecution and death of those who follow Him as the true messiah, is very much alive; however, despite the reality of death for Jesus’s followers, there are real threads of positivity. Luke 21 views the imprisonment and trials as “opportunities to testify.” When the gospel is central, even terrifying, life-threatening events are ripe with potential to share the good news — think of Acts 24. Furthermore, Jesus promises his disciples that “not a hair of your head will perish.”
This sounds crazy when we know that many were, indeed, martyred for their faith, but there is an intimate sense that only the God who is aware of the number of the hairs on each of his follower’s heads can promise that. In this, he promises a bodily resurrection to those who follow him to death but not a mere bodily resurrection, because these followers will also “gain their souls.” As followers of Christ, may we live lives of true surrender even when it costs us. May we follow with our crosses — whether literal or figural — using every opportunity to proclaim the gospel and the hope of the resurrection.
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Melissa Amber Patton is a Pittsburgh native, a writer, and an M.Div. student at Trinity Anglican Seminary. She is currently the music leader at Mosaic Anglican Church in Imperial, Pennsylvania and is pursuing ordination with the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of North Kivu – Province de L’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo
Christ Episcopal Church, San Antonio
