“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to bear witness…….You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. By your endurance, gain your lives.” Luke 21:12-13, 16-19 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.21.19.CSB
The persecuted are those who identify with Jesus and His teaching. The persecution is for furthering the message of God’s love so that the powerful hear and can repent or have heaped upon them even greater condemnation on that day they face our Savior and Judge of all people, Who alone determines the eternal destiny of all humanity whether in heaven or hell.
Our Savior warns that those who endure these persecutions gain their lives. Later, He warns John that the cowardly will not inherit the kingdom of God (Rev. 21.8). Avoid persecution now or avoid condemnation later. That is the choice the Christian must make in this world that grows increasingly hostile to Jesus and His teaching. The world is cold only because the church has not been hot at making disciples.
Teaching obedience to everything Jesus commanded to everyone in all nations is the means for building the church, where we are commanded to love one another, thus eliminating the biting and devouring of one another. The church’s failure to obey its mission is why we suffer persecution from the non-believer. Persecution then leads to further evangelization, leading to more coming to faith and being discipled, diminishing the persecution from people. The cycle has often been recorded in our history, but now, we must persevere by rebuilding the community of faith through faithful service and witness to Jesus and all He commands.
Those who diligently work at seeing God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven while suffering among men for doing so will gain their eternal lives in the kingdom of heaven.
