Luke 21:12-13 (ESV)
[12] But before all this they
will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the
synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for
my name’s sake. [13] This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
“This will be your opportunity to
bear witness.” In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his disciples that they were to be his witnesses
throughout the world. He is preparing them for that with this statement. They
will be arrested, persecuted, imprisoned, brought before magistrates. They
could look at that in a negative light or a positive light. It is oppression,
or it is an opportunity. I wonder whether our obsession with personal rights in
America has blinded us to the opportunities God gives to simply bear witness to
who Jesus is and what he has done.
Jesus follows with these words in
verses 14-15,
[14] Settle it therefore in your
minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, [15] for I will give you a
mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or
contradict.
That is so foreign to our
thinking. Don’t plan a speech, trust God to give you the words. I don’t think
that he is saying that we should not prepare sermons. I don’t think that he is
saying that we should not study and know what we believe. But he is saying that
canned answers are not the best answers and that the Holy Spirit is a real power
and presence in the life of the believer. We just need to learn to listen to
him.
Viewing opposition and oppression
as an opportunity is so foreign to our thinking that it is hard for us to grasp.
Jesus continues in verses 16-18 by saying that believers will be betrayed even
by family. Some will be put to death. Believers will be hated. And this, Jesus says,
is an opportunity. Our endurance in the faith demonstrates the truth of our
gospel. The big question is whether we actually trust God.
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