God’s Plan for Persecution, Part 2 | Finding Joy in Persecution

                        Luke 21:12-13

Look again with the text, verses 12 to 13, “But before all these things.” What things? Before the things he just talked about in verses 8 through 11, before all the, the beginnings of the birth pains of the tribulation. “Before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.”

According to the construction in the Greek language here, it’s very clear that Jesus keeps the prediction of, of suffering in persecution, and the purpose of the persecution conjoined; they’re one thought. So on the one hand, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, but on the other hand, joined to this prediction of persecution not to be separated from it, it, that is the persecution, will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.

 See what Jesus is saying here, how he speaks about persecution? He’s saying, yeah, yeah, it’s coming, persecution’s coming. But no worries. I got it all figured out. It’s part of the plan. We got it scripted. The Father has written it down. It’s in stone. It’s going to happen to all of us. In fact, I’m gonna go first. Persecution’s coming; Jesus says, but it’s nothing to be afraid of. Embrace persecution. Embrace suffering. Because, listen, it is not an obstacle to be avoided. It is an opportunity to be embraced. Persecution is something to rejoice in. That’s why in the Beatitudes, he says, “When you’re persecuted for the sake of the name, rejoice and be glad for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 “Fix your eyes on Jesus,” Right? Hebrews 12:2. He “the author and perfecter of our faith, for the joy set before Him,” he, “endured the cross.” He “despised the shame.” He “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Persecution, suffering even to the point of a shameful death by crucifixion; not an obstacle to be avoided. No, instead, it’s an opportunity to embrace.

 So, having said that, let’s isolate that first part in verse 12, which is the prediction of persecution. Two main verbs just state the fact of the persecution. They will lay their hands on you and will persecute you. Two main verbs, lay their hands on you, persecute you, and then there are two participles that describe the persecution, they’ll be delivering you and bringing you. Okay, so the fact of the persecution, they’ll lay their hands on you. The word, epiballō, it describes a violent movement of the hands. So not just put their hands on you, not patting your back, not giving you a side hug, this isn’t even a fist bump. They will throw their hands on you is the idea. They will grab you. They will forcibly put their hands on you to grab you and force you to go where you don’t want to go.

 Same thing, same verb, by the way, used of the scribes and the chief priests back in Luke 20 verse 19 says, “the scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him that very hour.” It wasn’t hands of appreciation; it wasn’t hands of affirmation. No, they had hoped to catch him in something, saying something against Rome, so they could hand him over to the governor for punishment. Same thing here. They’re gonna lay their hands on you and they’re gonna deliver you over to the synagogues. They’re gonna cast you into the prisons and they’ll bring you before kings and governors. So that’s the first word, is the fact that persecution, they’re gonna lay their hands on you.

Secondly, the common word for persecute is used there, diōkō. Diōkō: It, it refers to a violent, hostile pursuit of somebody. It’s basically chasing after them. Just picture it, you know, bullies chasing after a kid down the street. The kid runs and hops over fences and everything. These bullies are just surrounding him and running and running and running, chasing, going after them, pursuing them, trying to catch them. And they want to grab them and order that they can then drive that person away, drive that person out, expel them, sometimes even kill them, as it is in the case with Jesus.

 So that’s the idea here, chasing you down, grabbing you, getting their hands on you to persecute you. Jesus says this is what they’re gonna do to you. To what end? It’s for, the end of delivering you to the synagogues and the prisons. Here, the word delivering you is a legal, technical term for passing someone along in the judicial process. So it means to, basically, to turn you over to the authorities; authorities here represented by synagogues and prisons. Synagogues refers to the Jewish authorities, prisons refers to Gentile authorities.

 We know this, in our study of Luke’s Gospel, that synagogues, Jesus often was in synagogues every single week on the Sabbath. He found himself in a synagogue. But they were not just places of worship, they’re more like community centers, and they had something going on all through the Jewish week. Wide range of functions in the synagogue that serve the local community. It was the heart and soul, really, of the Jewish community.

Ever since the days of the Babylonian exile and onward, the synagogue was the heart of Jewish life, in the towns and the villages surrounding Jerusalem. So the synagogue was a place of instruction on the Sabbath, for reading Torah, reading and explaining the prophets. But it was also, even during the week, it was where tradition was passed down from one generation to the next generation; instructing on the market days when, when, when parents would bring, bring, their, their product to market or their whatever trade they were involved in. When they brought that into town or when they brought their crops from the field into town to sell it and trade.

 Typically on Mondays and Thursdays, they would come in and then they would bring their children into the synagogue and they would send their children in there for instruction; for school, basically, it was like a homeschool program. Homeschool augmenting program, that’s basically what it was. So, vital tool the synagogue was for the enculturation of the coming generations, to teach them the, the law, the prophets, the traditions, all those things handed down.

 So very important, the synagogue was for worship, instruction, enculturation, education of the coming generation of the Jews. Synagogue was also the place for the administration of the community and for the adjudication of civil matters, settling disputes. Judges were there. The synagogue ruler would act as an ultimate judge in his area. The synagogue had the authority to include and to exclude. It had the authority to approve and to censure its citizens. Jesus actually alluded to this function in Luke 6:22, when he said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when men ostracize you,” or the word is also exclude you, “when they cast insult to you, spurn your name as evil for the sake of the son of man,” blessed are you.

Reference to ostracizing, excluding that is the power Jesus is speaking of, of, the synagogue to excommunicate people from the community. The verb, aphorizō, refers to separation; means to push someone outside of a boundary and that’s the idea in excommunication. Synagogue: If you’re living in that community, that synagogue excommunication, that is a big deal, that is a serious issue. One commentator says, “the usual sentence was for 30 days. If there’s an offence and you’re actually excommunicated from the community, 30 days being excommunicated, where the Ex communicant might not come back within four cubits of anybody in that society.” Wow.

 Person’s treated like a leper, unclean, judged, ousted from the synagogue, no social contacts with friends and family, no physical contact with others and if that offending behavior continued and persisted, there was a summary judgment, that 30-day sentence could be extended to a permanent excommunication. Excommunications a huge deal, because it forbade the whole community, for, from trading or interacting at all with that person. No buying or selling, no inviting them over for a meal, no family gatherings; cut off completely, they might as well be dead.

The writer of the Hebrews describes this level of persecution that happened to some Jewish Christians. It’s kind of exactly as Jesus predicts here, Hebrews 10:32 and following, “but remember the former days.” Now this is a second-generation Christian, those who received the gospel from the apostles, early prophets. This is a second generation. “Remember the former days when, after being enlightened, you endured great conflict and sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and afflictions, and partly by becoming sharers with those who are so treated. For you also showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted with joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession.”

Suffering, reproach, afflictions, seizure of property, even imprisonment, the writer continues, and as he continues, we can kind of hear an echo once again of the encouragement that comes from Jesus in our passage. He says, “Therefore do not throw away that confidence of yours, which has a great reward. For you,” you, “have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in Him. But we’re not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

 Synagogues and prisons: Luke 21, they’re joined together here in the Greek construction in such a way that they represent just this united authority, hostile authority. Synagogues represent Jewish authority; prisons represent Gentile authority and the Roman prisons, they imprisoned the accused. They made the accused wait to stand before an adjudicating authority, mentioned here as kings and governors. And when they, when they were waiting, it was basically in jail waiting for their trial. They waited behind bars; waited in a prison cell.

 It’s exactly, by the way, what happened to the Apostle Paul, starting in Acts 21:27 and following, and all the way basically to the end of Acts. In Acts 21, he goes back to Jerusalem against the warnings by prophets that said, you’re going to be, you’re going to be seized there, you’re going to be arrested there, you’re going to be thrown into prison. He said, yeah, I’m going anyway. He was seized by an angry mob at the temple. He was dragged off out of the temple. He was beaten by the mob and the Roman, Roman tribune, the governor, had to intervene with his cohort of soldiers and centurions.

 They arrested Paul. In this case it was for his safety. But from then on Paul is remanded to Roman custody. He’s imprisoned first in Jerusalem, then for two years in Caesarea Philippi, and then finally he’s sent away to Rome to await his day with Caesar. Now, as I said here in Luke 21 verse 12, by the Greek construction Jesus uses, he’s keeping these two authorities joined together. So whether we’re talking about Jewish authority or Gentile authority, they are one in purpose. They’re united in hostility. They oppose the one name, verse 12, “for My name’s sake.”

These are enemies of the name. Why are they enemies of the name? Because that name represents a king, a king who has command over them. The Book of Acts is an extended illustration that shows the fulfillment of what Jesus predicted in this section. And I’d like you to turn to the Book of Acts. Just go over there and we’ll kind of start making our way through some of this, in the Book of Acts. Because it’s just, it’s absolutely fascinating to see how specifically these illustrations kind of apply to what Jesus has said in Luke 21:12 and following.

 We can’t unpack everything, but we can start to do that in, say, Acts chapter 4. Remember, in Acts chapter 3, Peter healed the lame man in the temple. They’re at Solomon’s Portico, that seems to be where the Christians hung out. And the healing of this lame man in the temple remember, Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ.” Arise, get on your feet. Walk. He was “walking and leaping and praising God.” Right?

That healing gave an opportunity for Peter and John to preach the gospel and the resurrection. Look at verses, chapter 4, right after that section; chapter 4, verses 1 to 3, “Now, as they were speaking to the people, the priest and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly agitated because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.”

There’s a lot to that story. Okay? We’re going to come back to that; we work our way through the Book of Acts. Probably next year, maybe year after. Maybe we’ll start the Book of Acts. I’m just kidding. It’s going to take a while to get through Luke, but we will come to the Book of Acts. But notice what happens next in verse 4, the same expression, laid hands on them and then throw them in jail until the next day, it’s already evening, “But many of those who had heard the message believed, the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Now it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.”

Basically, you got a, a, colloquium of the Sanhedrin. “When they placed them in their midst, they began to inquire by what power and what name, have you done this? And then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,” exactly as Jesus has promised, “said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people,’” and on he goes to preach the gospel, again.  Look ahead at Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter 5, and you can find your way to verse 17; as a result of the Ananias and Sapphira incident, kind of the first death to come upon, a death of judgement, to come upon the early Church. Great fear came upon the whole Church in verse 11, but also more ministry in the temple, verses 12 to 16.

Again, it was happening at Solomon’s portico. That was a place to be. Preaching was there. Healing was there. And then this, as it says in verse 17 of chapter 5, “But the high priest rose up, and those with him (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.” “They laid hands on the apostles,” there it is again, “and put them in a public jail.” Once again, exactly as Jesus said. The Sanhedrin’s attempt to stop the apostles was then thwarted by the Angel of the Lord who conducted a prison break and a prisoner extraction.

 I love this, this is my kind of OP, verse 19, “But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison.” Didn’t even have to use explosives, just opened the doors of the prison and taken them out; “said, ‘Go stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life.’ Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach,” again.

Just as Jesus said in Luke 21:13, “this persecution will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.” Turn the page. Go to Acts Chapter 6, verse 8. We got one of the early prototypical Deacons. Prototypes of the Deacons, “Stephen,” Verse 8, “full of grace and power,” he’s “doing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, they rose up, and they were arguing with Stephen. But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.”

 So that promised not just for the apostles, but also for this Deacon, “the Spirit by whom he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We’ve,’ heard from him, ‘heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came up to him, and dragged him away, brought him to the Sanhedrin.” Same thing.

 Now we know from the rest of the story, Acts Chapter 7, Stephen doesn’t come out of this trial alive, but again testifies about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He testifies before the entire gathered Sanhedrin, the Jewish authorities. It’s an absolutely incredible moment. Guess what? The pre-converted Saul of Tarsus is there. He’s hearing all this. He’s, he’s, he, he, gets in on the act. He’s not only there to guard the, the, cloaks and the coats of all those who are stoning Stephen, but he gets into the act, going to lay his hands on the Christians to persecute them, and drag them before the authorities. He becomes a part of this story, on the wrong end of the story, he’s one of the persecutors.

 Look at Acts chapter 8, verse 1. There’s, Saul, “in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Oh, no, they’re scattered. Oh, no, they’re driven away from their homes. But, “some devout men buried Stephen made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women, delivering them up into prison.”

 But again, what resulted from that? Oh no, I’ve lost my home. Oh no, I’m driven away. “Therefore,” verse 4, “those who had been scattered went about, proclaiming the good news of the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria, began,” preaching, “preaching Christ to them. The crowds, with one accord, were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, and they heard and saw signs which he was doing.” And, “in the case of many who had unclean spirits, coming out of them, shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was a great joy in that city.” Revival breaks out.

 I mean, I don’t mind losing my house. Can I be a part of that? The, emeny, enemies of the gospel, which in this case early on included Saul himself, Saul of Tarsus. The enemies of the gospel intended harm, wanted to shut down the voice of those who speak in the Savior’s name. But it’s futile. It’s useless to oppose this movement. Just as Jesus said, “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.” He says, it’s all a part of the plan. It’s going completely according to how God the Father has mapped this out. This is exactly how it’s supposed to happen. We could keep going through the Book of Acts, and we will one day. We’ll have to leave it there for now.

 The entire record, as I said, of the Book of Acts, just keeps unfolding this fulfillment of Jesus prediction of suffering, and it keeps demonstrating God’s purpose in persecution, which is to provide an occasion and an opportunity to give a testimony of the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and friend, as we drive this to a close, I’m just going to ask which side of this equation are you on? Do you stand with Saul of Tarsus, the Sanhedrin, all the power brokers of governing authority, in your time, in your community? Will you stand opposed to the son, to the Christ who will come again, in, but this time in judgement? Or will you suffer, the, for the sake of Christ’s name? Will you take your stand with him? Will you receive the opprobrium, the contempt, the hatred of the unbelieving world? Will you gladly receive it, rejoicing to suffer for his sake to be persecuted for his name, so that you can have an opportunity to testify to the saving power of Christ?

 You’re only gonna suffer for him, if you know him. There are many people who claim to know Jesus Christ, but when push comes to shove, they fade away. When the heat is turned up and persecution comes, you find them peeling away in a heartbeat. I mean, it only took a, a, pseudo virus, a pseudo pandemic to, to, cause many churches, just to shut down altogether and say, you know what, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it.

 I feel like that was a blessed test run for us as a church. 2020, 20 was a great year. I love 2020. It was like 2020 Vision. 2020 was a great time for true vision. Do you see clearly, or do you need glasses, or are you blind? You’re only going to suffer for one you know personally. You’re only going to be loyal to the one you know as Savior and Lord, the one who is your friend, the one you spend time with. Have you received the saving grace of God through saving faith? Because it’s only believers, only the redeemed who’ve been reconciled to God, and only they who may be counted worthy to suffer for his name’s sake. Friend, if that’s not you, put your faith in him today. Bow with me in a word of prayer.

 Our Father, we thank you for your marvelous plan that demonstrates your perfect wisdom; a plan that you decreed from before the foundation of the world, that is being unfolded as we see on the pages of Scripture being unfolded in Jesus Christ. We thank you that the greatest work of history was done at the dividing line of history in the first coming of Jesus Christ, that powerful time of Jesus’ life and ministry, his death, burial in the tomb, his resurrection from the dead, all those things have set a dividing line in the point of history, so that we even, we even number our calendars differently because of it.

The whole day of worship was changed from the Sabbath to the Lords’ day, Sunday, the first day of the week, which the day in which he rose from the dead. This one perfect life has made all the difference, and we pray that even today it would make a difference in some who do not yet know you, haven’t been reconciled to you because of Christ. Would you be pleased to save a few more that they may bring glory to your name through gratitude and joy and joining the rest of us in the proclamation of the gospel. And would you help the rest of us to see the implications of the fact that we serve a sovereign God, who’s declared the end from the beginning, and has, and governs everything on the way through by his perfect providence.

Would you help believers here, to see how to apply this to their lives, that they may never worry or be anxious again. Because even the worst that could happen to us, which is our physical death, that’s the very best that could happen to us, because it transports us immediately into your presence, in the presence of our beloved Savior. Please glorify yourself in Christ through us. In his name we pray. Amen.