Wednesday, December 11 (November 28), 2024
2Thess. 2:1-12; Lk. 12:48-59                                                

“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:   For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.   The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” [Lk. 12:51-53].  What is the reason for that?  Those who are faithful to the Lord get filled with a spirit totally different from the spirit of this world, a spirit which filled the nations before His coming: therefore, true Christians are scarcely tolerated by non-Christians.

The pagan world’s scope was limited to earthly, material interests.  Ancient Hebrews originally sought divine blessings, but eventually they followed the path of the heathens.  The Lord, having come to the earth, has shown us other treasures, beyond and above the family or social realm, has motivated other interests and pursuits in people.  Those who have heeded to Him naturally changed their way of life, paying the price of hostility, oppression and persecution by the rest of the society: hence the division.

A little later St. Paul wrote  plainly: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” [2Tim. 3:12]: that’s how it was and that’s how it is, even through this day.  When worldly, material interests begin to prevail in the society, then it looks askance at those who pursue heavenly rather than earthly goals. The world has no understanding of such pursuits and no tolerance for the people whose way of life is so different from its own.

This is happening around us, as we speak.  Is it not a sign of the times  [Mt. 16:3] for us to discern?

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