1 AND 2 PETER
As you’ve seen by now, Christianity wasn’t just another branch of Judaism — like the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Essenes or the Zealots — after all. It was its own thing.
And so the persecution began.
It began mostly as Jew-on-Jew crime in Jerusalem. James, the brother of Jesus, the leader of the Church there in the Holy City, was stoned to death on authority of the high priest, his meticulous observance of the Law no longer able to make up for the fact that he aligned himself with the Gentile-loving Christians.
Christians like Paul throughout the Jewish world looked to Rome for protection, and it was granted as long as the Romans believed Christianity to be under the umbrella of Judaism. But as more and more Gentiles came to faith in Christ, they came under more careful scrutiny. In a few short years, the Roman emperor Nero saw Christians as a convenient scapegoat for a dastardly crime committed by none other than the emperor himself, the burning of Rome!
Now you might think that the most powerful nation in the history of Planet Earth would be able to win this little skirmish. But these Christians proved a plucky lot, willing to endure terrible hardships and finding joy amidst their pain, peace in spite of their circumstances and the gumption to bless those who cursed them.
As you can imagine, this infuriated the Romans.
Christians were rounded up and killed. Nero had them wrapped in animal skins and thrown to packs of wild dogs. He thought it would be ironic to have them crucified like the One they claimed to follow. He lit them on fire and suspended them on poles to serve as torches for his outdoor parties.
But these Christians wouldn’t stop. Somehow they thought that no matter how bad things got in this life, there was something better waiting for them on the other side. They believed that the sufferings would appear to be brief in light of the eternal life that was theirs because of their faith in Jesus. They saw the persecution they endured as a refining process.
After all, Jesus Himself had suffered at the hands of Jewish and Roman leaders; why should His followers expect to escape the same treatment? He suffered, and He was vindicated by His Father in heaven. If they could summon the strength to suffer as He had, they would surely be vindicated in a similar fashion.
This stumped the Romans.
All they could think to do was more of the same — only harder. So they cracked the whip again and again and again. Nine times in 250 years, they swept the land, seeking to rid themselves of Christianity once and for all.
But an amazing thing happened, Love won.
Love bested the worst Rome could dish out. Love outlasted power. Love demolished strength. Out of everything that had ever been or will ever be, these three will always remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Prayer
Lord, You have warned us not to be surprised when we share the sufferings of Christ and encounter fiery ordeals during our sojourn in the present darkness of this world. The forces of this world system are opposed to the gospel of Your kingdom, and when we do not fit in this system because of our commitment to Christ, we know that we can become targets of opposition, ridicule, and other forms of persecution. May we immerse ourselves especially during these times in biblical faith, hope and love. May we hold fast to the truths of the gospel, to the Person and work of Christ, and to the power of the Spirit. May we hope in Your promises that we will not receive in this life by welcoming them from a distance and confessing that we are strangers and exiles on the earth. And may we display the love of Christ to those who oppose us.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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