Luke 21-B "For your Nake's Sake"

S = 21:6b, 9b, 12-13 “^6b…the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down… ^9b…but the end will not be at once…¹² But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. ¹³ This will be your opportunity to bear witness.

 

O = While the great ornamental stones of the temple, the image of stability and place of God’s name in Israel would be completely destroyed, with huge stones cast down to the street below, a possibility the disciples couldn’t imagine, Jesus’ concern was to prepare his followers for how they would be persecuted. This would be their opportunity to witness—martyrs in the full sense of the word. They were to be completely trusting God for the message in the moment, and also to endure to the end (for the end was not the end!). In v. 18 Jesus said that “Not a hair of your head would perish” though their temple surely would. What I get from this phrase is that nothing about me will be lost or destroyed. There would be no further use for the temple…but for you, that is another story—for you are the image of God and the place of his name in their midst.

A = Do I look at difficulties and even persecution as something to be avoided or embraced because there is the opportunity to witness inside the brittle shell of those circumstances waiting to get out? Will I allow my life to be co-opted so that I can witness to the glory of Christ? Tertullian, an early church leader from around 200 ad suggested that we should never run from persecution…for “the blood of Christians is seed.” It seems that if we do, then we miss our opportunity to be different from the temple made with hands.

P = O Lord, encourage me today to endure rather than escape, to love rather than leave, to witness rather than worry. I need to live in the permanence of your plan. Thank you for the grace to be part of it so that nothing about me will be lost. Amen.