Word to the Wise
Monday, May 18, 2020 - 6th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 16:11-15 and John 15:26-16:4a]"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God." [John]
Jesus promises to send "the Advocate" (older translations use the word "Paraclete") to enable believers to bear witness. He also promises that bearing witness (testimony) will lead to persecution. The very word, "martyr," comes from the Greek word meaning "witness." In that sense, one does not have to be dead to be a martyr, but time and tradition have given the word a narrower meaning: to die for the sake of a belief.
Even more chilling is Jesus' prediction that martyrdom may occur as the result of a "competing" belief. Roman persecution of the early Christian community lasted more than 300 years off and on because Christians were seen to be a danger to public order which was founded on worship of the emperor!! When Christians refused to perform the prescribed ritual, they were condemned to death. The Romans thought they were serving their own "faith" by getting rid of the Christians. This kind of thing is still going on, as we well know. Conflicts between Christians. Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious beliefs are a common part of history. In our own country, people have been subject to persecution for their religious beliefs because they were considered a threat to public order: Catholics (because we were thought to be in allegiance to the foreign pope), Mormons (because their theology allowed for polygamy, etc), and anyone who refuses to show public allegiance to the Stars and Stripes for religious reasons. Civil religion can be just as intolerant as any other.
Early Christians refused even to "pretend" to offer sacrifice to avoid persecution. The same witness can be read in the Books of the Maccabees in the Old Testament when Jews refused to acknowledge the Greco/Roman deities imposed by the authorities. The same challenges exist today when Catholic institutions refuse to obey morally offensive governmental policies. Jesus wasn't just talking to a group of first century disciples on one fateful evening. He was (and still is) talking to us! AMEN