https://youtu.be/B—GlK-DFk

“Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed  —” Luke 2:34 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.2.34.CSB

Jesus, God and man, will cause the rise and fall of many and will be a sign to be opposed. We see this now, but do we understand it, and where do we see ourselves in this prophecy? How will people rise and fall with Jesus? They will rise and fall before men and God. Those who embrace Jesus and His teaching, who unequivocally identify with Him before men, will rise in the esteem of God and fall in the eyes of men. For a season in this country, when the church had faithfully made Jesus known and required obedience to His commands, it was popular and even necessary to identify with Jesus. That is not true today. Those who would identify with Jesus in government, education, and big business are ridiculed and ostracized for their naivety and their bigotry against those who reject God and love to do those things God condemns. This forces people to decide whether to align with Jesus or seek to please men. Those who oppose Jesus are the predominant voice today in the media and university, persuading government and business to be complicit in their promotion and acceptance of the ways God condemns in the Scripture. People oppose God because they seek their way and oppose Jesus and His way. Those following Jesus today must embrace a lifestyle of debate and hate toward their relationship with Jesus if they would rise in the eyes of God or deny Him and rise in the eyes of people. This decision, however, has eternal consequences that are much more significant than the temporal ones that so many fear.