Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 48, verse 10, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried and chosen you in the furnace of affliction,” (NRSVB). Today I would like to approach our watchword by using the lens of the doctrinal or application verse that Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 6 verses 22 to 23, “Blessed, happy and with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favour and salvation, apart from your outward condition, and to be envied, are you when people despise and hate you, and when they exclude and excommunicate you as disreputable and revile and denounce you and defame and cast you out and spurn your name as evil and wicked on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and be glad at such a time and exult and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is rich and great and strong and intense and abundant in heaven; for even so their forefathers treated the prophets,” (Amplified Bible).
Jesus knew what the future would hold for his disciples and followers and those who would worship his name and pronounce him as the Son of God. He warned that following the path of righteousness can lead to personal suffering, even to the utmost suffering for believers, as to be labelled that they are blasphemers and not allowed into the synagogues and churches, because of their worshipping Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus wanted to encourage his disciples not to lose their hope and their faith, despite them being punished and excommunicated and treated as if they were evil, for the prophets of old, were also treated in similar ways through the history of Israel. Jesus tried to explain the road that he was going to have to follow to the Cross, but the disciple could not yet understand, they only understood after the crucifixion and resurrection. He was despised, as the prophet Isaiah foretold. The temple leaders despised his lowly birth in Bethlehem and did not reckon him as the Messiah, the One who was born of the line of King David. The authorities hated him for the miracles he performed and the teaching he taught, explaining that God’s redemption came for the poor, the sick, the lonely and those whom the temple authorities looked down on. Ultimately the temple authorities sought to kill Jesus, and they rebuked him and said he was a false prophet. The leadership even went as far as saying that Jesus was evil and, because of him being evil, he was able to drive out demons. They spurned him, mocked him and reviled him; they spat in his face, formulated false charges against him and finally crucified him. Despite Jesus’ miracles, his teachings and his blessings that he brought to those that came to listen to him; he was rejected and suffered. He suffered while upholding righteousness and preaching in truth. He did not turn against his enemies, but prayed for them, before he died for them. This is the “furnace of affliction” that the Prophet Isaiah spoke of, the fire of suffering that Jesus went through in order to bring the rebellious Israel and Judah back to her Lord and reconcile the Gentiles to their Creator.
The prophets of old kept on calling Israel and Judah back to God, and they suffered the same fate, being rejected and killed. Jesus warns his followers that they must not be surprised when they are suffering in this world for doing what is right. Many Christians have to endure suffering. This is not a sign of being punished by God, but this is a sign of being punished by the world for being a child of God. Ultimately God will reign and his children will rejoice because in “their furnace of affliction” they preached Jesus, the One who loves us and died for us. He will strengthen his children in their time of affliction.
Our Father, we praise you, for you will bring us safely through our suffering. Amen.