“You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake,” Jesus in Matthew 24:9.
“Mr. Dickason, you are advanced in years now, and …soon you will be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours.” (John Paton to a Christian who objected to Paton going as a missionary to the South Sea Islands. His objection was summarized: “You’ll be eaten by cannibals!” John Paton’s biography: Missionary to the New Hebredes, p. 56)
“My body is theirs to do what they want with.” (Sayed Musa, in a letter from a Kabul prison to the Sunday Times, February, 2011. Musa is a Christian and is told he will be hanged unless he converts back to Islam.)
As Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives, He is discussing with His disciples “signs” of the “close of the age” (Matthew 24:3). For the next two chapters, Jesus gives the “Olivet Discourse” describing the end times.
These are several bleak verses. Jesus’ message is that the world will become a more violent and difficult place to follow Him as time moves toward the end of the age. Many of the things that Jesus has said thus far “are but the beginning of birth pains” (24:8) and deal with events on a broad world-wide scale: things such as wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes (24:6-8). But now as He speaks to His disciples, it gets personal.
Jesus promises difficult days for those who wish to follow Him: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake,” (v.9). Church historians tell us that the twelve disciples died for their faith. Only John survived to be an elderly man, but not without attempts made to kill him. Yet Jesus’ words were not only for His disciples but for all Christians at all times.
From the Book of Acts through church history to modern times and on through Revelation, Christians have and will be, delivered, put to death and hated because of Jesus Christ. The World Christian Database, a part of Gordon Conwell Seminary, reports that on average over 170,000 Christians are martyred each year. It is no wonder that those weak in their faith, if they are even of the faith at all, “will fall away” (v.10).
Jesus says that this hatred will not just be toward Christians. But people will “betray one another and hate one another,” (v.10). It will be dark times spiritually and from that void “false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold,” (vv.11-12).
Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) proclaimed that "God is dead,” meaning that God is no longer the dominant influence in Western Society. He then predicted that consequently the 20th century would be the bloodiest in history. Nietzsche was right; the 1900s was the bloodiest century ever. The birth pains increase.
Why do we shudder when Christ says His followers should expect to be delivered up to death? Death should surprise no one; it is the one curse that finds us all. If we shudder at death, do we likewise rejoice that our eternal destiny is glory? Since we will forever be with the Lord, is the crowning achievement of our lives to live long enough to retire? Or do we serve Him and take great risks with our lives until He calls us to Himself?
I was recently talking to a friend who is serving in a very oppressive Muslim country as a missionary. When I asked him about the danger, he said, “And wait for cancer to get me?” May we show the world that the value of our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than any earthly treasure. He is worth living for and He is worth dying for.
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