Wednesday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 24, 2021

Luke 21:12-19

Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

“They will seize and persecute you.”  Today’s Gospel reading continues the Lord’s teaching on the end times.  St. Luke does not quote the Lord here as identifying why “they” are in this line.  He moves directly from the Lord’s words about the un-creation of the physical world to the great persecution near the end of the world.  Missing from the lectionary reading, however, are the words “before these things” — before the end of the physical world — which are found in the text of the Gospel of Luke 21, 12.  Thus, in order of time, the persecution will come, a period of rest for the Church (as described in Revelation 20, 1-3, and then the break up of the natural world.

This persecution of which the Lord speaks will be waged throughout the world by the Antichrist and his minions.  It will be the most savage of all the persecutions.  “They will seize and persecute you.” Literally, the Greek translated her as “they will seize you” means “they will lay their hands upon you”, which is a little more graphic.  “They will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.”  The persecution will be carried out by religious as well as political enemies.  This will be done for the sake of the Lord’s name.  We need to keep in mind as we read this that the Apostles are hearing this for the first time.  It completely conflicts with their expectations of glory for glory for the Messiah and his followers.  And the Lord Jesus has only hinted at the fact that he will come again for judgment, that the Messiah will judge.  This was also not expected by the Apostles or any of the Jews who understood that God would appear to judge.  In their understanding, the Messiah was not the divine Son of God nor would he judge.  “It will lead to your giving testimony.”  But even the arrest of the believers will result in the spread of the Faith.

“Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”  The believer must know the doctrine of the Faith and be able to explain them, but not to prepare an elaborate defense or speeches.  The Son of God will validate the truth of the Gospel by working through those who believe in him, using their lack of rhetoric and experience in court to silence those who oppose him, just as an artist who uses the crudest tools to create a masterpiece shows his greatness as an artist.  

“You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends.”  The Greek translated here as “handed over” can also be understood as “betrayed”.  We recall here how the Lord earlier taught that he had come to bring division into the world, and not peace, but a sword (cf. Matthew 10, 34-36).  The hatred of Christ and his teachings will reach such depths that family and friends will turn in their loved ones to be killed.  “They will put some of you to death.”  “Some”: the Greek, strictly speaking, means “not all” will be killed.  The persecution will end while a portion of the faithful still live.  “You will be hated by all because of my name”.  Again, no one taught that the Jewish Messiah would be the cause of persecution.  His advent meant victory, not disaster.  The Apostles would have been struggling with this teaching.  Who is this?  But they did not account him as a madman because they had heard him preach and seen his miracles.  They did not walk away, nor did they try to argue with him, although they had in the past (cf. Matthew 16, 22 and John 11, 8).

“But not a hair on your head will be destroyed.”  Having just taught that many of his followers would die in the persecution, he teaches them that they will be kept safe.  He uses the word “head” here to speak of the soul.  Despite the most strenuous efforts of their persecutors, they cannot harm the soul of the believers cause him to lose his salvation.  Matthew 10, 28: “Fear ye not those who kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul.”  “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”  This verse sums up the message of the Gospel of Matthew, several of the Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.  Practicing the faith in one’s daily life, come what may, believing in the Lord Jesus despite threats and persecution, brings salvation.  To have faith in Christ is to commit to believing, no matter what.  It is not much to believe when times are easy, but when we believe in the face of mortal peril or terrible temptation, that is true faith.

We must pray for perseverance and work for it as well be enduring gladly the small things we are called upon to suffer for Christ now, and for the perseverance of the many Christians suffering today in many parts of the world.