Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 10:19-21 - The Lord said to his disciples, "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will."
Jesus promised the disciples that nothing would hurt them,
but as we know only one of the original twelve died of “natural” causes. The
rest were martyrs. We became His disciples and people hurt every day,
physically and emotionally. What did Jesus mean when He promised that nothing
would hurt us?
I received a note from someone recently asking advice on how
to respond to a situation when they were hurt. The person asked, “In orthodoxy
we are taught to turn the other cheek when someone strikes us. I have followed this throughout my young life
however now I wonder if there was something more to that?” YES, there’s always
more to the story. The idea of turning the other cheek is more about US than
the person who hurt us. Let me explain.
We pray in the 50th Psalm, “Against You only have
I sinned.” If our sin is only against God, then the sins of others are also
only against God, even though we may feel the action. The call to turn the
other cheek is to guide us into NOT taking personally the sinful actions of
others. In fact, it is our sinful pride that we think that any sin could be
against us, because in our mind it is ALWAYS about us. We must remember the
context of the “turn the other cheek” command of God. (see Matthew 5.39) Jesus
is helping us to resist evil. Among the turn the other cheek commands are the
following commands:
" You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. " You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5.38-48)
So what is it that hurts when someone sins? Our pride is
hurt, and that then becomes our sin. What about the physical pain we feel from
others? Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
(Matthew 10.28) The only damage done when someone hurts us physically, if we
hold off our pride, is a simple flesh wound. Flesh wounds might hurt for the
moment, but they heal. We often think the WORST possible thing someone can do
to us, from our earthly vantage point, is to kill us. That ultimately is what
Jesus wants us to understand from today’s reading. EVEN if they kill us, that
doesn’t hurt us because Jesus has conquered death. We will live forever with
Him. What will hurt much more ‘later’ is the hell we created by pride and our
own sinful passions.
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