Continued 👇🏾
The first martyr, Saint Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to those who were about to stone him:
“Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. You have now betrayed and murdered Him.”(Acts 7:52)
✍🏾the Jews persecuted and killed the holy prophets who prophesied about Christ, and later, when the appointed time came, they crucified Christ Himself, who was born of the Holy Virgin Mary.
✍🏾Saint Stephen taught by both word and deed that Christians attain glory by passing through suffering and by imitating the prophets and Christ Himself in endurance. He confirmed this teaching by accepting martyrdom and receiving immortal glory.
The light of the world, Saint Peter, also spoke about the glory that comes through suffering, saying:
✍🏾“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial which is happening to you to test you, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But rejoice, inasmuch as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed you may also rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.”
(1 Peter 4:12–16)
✍🏾Through this teaching, Saint Peter shows that just as gold is tested by fire, so the Christian faith is tested through suffering. He teaches us not to fear suffering for Christ, but to rejoice in it, for it leads to glory.
✍🏾Likewise, the most honored Apostle, Saint Paul, teaches that suffering with Christ is the path to sharing in His glory. He says:
👉🏾“If indeed we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together.”
(Romans 8:17)
✍🏾Saint Paul further expresses his deep longing to share in Christ’s sufferings, saying:
👉🏾“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3:10–11)
✍🏾The highest reward in heaven is found in fellowship with Christ through suffering, for through suffering we are made partakers of His death and His resurrection.
✍🏾The First and the Last, the living Christ, said in the Book of Revelation to the Evangelist John, who was in exile on the island of Patmos:
✍🏾“Do not fear any of the things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”(Revelation 2:10)
✍🏾This teaching shows us that suffering for Christ leads to the crown of life. Since the ultimate goal of the Christian life is to receive this crown, we must strive to remain faithful, patient, and steadfast until the end.
For So They Persecuted the Prophets Who Were Before You
The prophets who came before were teachers of God’s truth and many of them became martyrs through suffering. Our Lord Himself spoke of these prophets, saying:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
(Matthew 23:37–39)
This passage shows that the prophets whom God sent before were persecuted and killed for speaking the truth.
Continues 👇🏾