Continued 👇🏾
✍🏾David, the man after God’s own heart, said:
“The rod of the wicked will not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hands to do evil. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in heart. But as for those who turn aside to crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the workers of iniquity.”(Psalm 125:3–5)
And the Apostle writes, “For because He Himself has suffered and been tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)
✍🏾 A true Christian who suffers does not repay evil with evil, but entrusts all things to Christ. Of Him it is written:
“When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”(1 Peter 2:23)
So too the prophet Isaiah said,
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.”(Isaiah 53:7)
His suffering was not forced upon Him it was given freely, according to His own will and time. Therefore, He said, “When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
(Luke 22:53)
Through His endurance, Christ showed us that persecution, though painful, leads us to a deeper union with God. Those who suffer for righteousness are not abandoned they are engraved upon the very palms of His hands.
For Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven
✍🏾 When our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary, said, “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He revealed a divine mystery. He had already mentioned the kingdom of heaven in the first beatitude, and He repeated it again in the eighth. By doing so, He showed that the blessed ones at both the beginning and the end of the beatitudes share the same promise the inheritance of heaven. The Lord meant that the kingdom of heaven has been prepared for them, that they shall inherit it, and that it shall become their eternal home.
✍🏾 When He spoke these words in both the first and eighth beatitudes, He established them as a covenant of perfection. The first seven beatitudes are the path that leads to spiritual maturity, and the eighth is the seal and confirmation of that perfection. These seven steps to holiness correspond to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as the prophet Isaiah declares:
“The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”(Isaiah 11:2)
✍🏾 Saint Paul, the light of the world, speaks of this same perseverance, saying:
“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer man is perishing, yet the inner man is being renewed day by day.”
(2 Corinthians 4:8–16)
Through this, he shows that those who suffer for righteousness’ sake will never perish, for their spirit is continually renewed by grace.
✍🏾 Likewise, Saint Peter exhorts the faithful, saying:
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, so that when His glory is revealed, you may also rejoice with exceeding joy.”(1 Peter 4:12–13)To suffer with Christ, then, is not a curse but a privilege a reason for holy joy.
Continues 👇🏾