“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
(John 16:1-4 ESV)
Persecution. Suffering. Sacrifice. Martyrdom. On what was to be a solemn, yet joyful occasion, Jesus dropped some very disturbing promises. What will happen when we take the good news of great joy to a sinful world? Many will not be so happy. There will be resistance and opposition, even violence. But this does not catch Christ by surprise, nor should it us. What happens to us when we are in the dark and someone suddenly turns the light on full blast? We beg for it to be turned back off; we yell at the one who turned it on; we would rather stay in darkness, at least at first. We should not be surprised or discouraged, but continue to love, proclaim and pray.
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