THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 14:1-12
“John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it.” (Matthew 14:12)
All over the world there are Jesus followers in prison.
Many more live under daily pressure of persecution and abuse.
This is not my experience, but still it is something I feel deeply about.
Faith in Jesus brings us into an experience of hope and love… and suffering.
John the Baptist was God’s chosen messenger of good news in Jesus.
Yet look at what happens to him, and how much he suffers for Jesus’ sake.
Among western Christians, blessing and healing and victory seem to be the focus.
Suffering is often viewed as a punishment for something, or perhaps weak faith.
But believers through the ages have suffered, before and after Christ.
And they have done so with faith, with hope, with love.
To bury John need not be an act of despair and defeat; there is grief – but also hope.
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
When we bury someone, or when we bury our dreams or plans, we can still plant seeds of hope.
Jesus’ death is a seed that produced eternal life, the assurance of victory despite suffering.
John died, but in Jesus he is alive; imprisonment and beheading cannot take that from him.
Whatever our suffering, even if some end up imprisoned and persecuted, our suffering is not in vain.
I hang on to this when things do not go according to my western Christian ‘blessing’ focus.
When life gets hard, when dreams fail, when hope seems buried… Jesus is alive, and I live in Him.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, faith is not a guarantee of an easy life. But it is the assurance of things hoped for. When my experience of blessing or healing or victory are buried in my life, I still have faith, hope and love in You!