The Holy Martyr Charalampius.
Jude 1-10; Luke 22:39-42; 22:45-23:1.
Read Luke 22:39-42; 22:45-23:1
The evangelists write with astonishing detail about the final moments of Christ’s life before His crucifixion. We read about Jesus’s prayer in distress on the Mount of Olives, His betrayal by Judas and arrest, Peter’s denial, the mockery and beatings Jesus received, and Jesus’s appearance before the council of chief priests and scribes and then before Pilate. Jesus was no stranger to pain and suffering. Some people really hated Jesus.
Jesus is still hated today. As His disciples, we must accept that we are hated as well. We are hated for believing in Him and following His teachings, especially the most difficult ones. If we aren’t hated, Jesus actually warns us: “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Lk. 6:26). We cannot live our lives seeking to be loved and accepted by other people at the expense of remaining faithful to God and following Christ’s teachings.
We must also remember Jesus’s instructions to us: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” (Lk. 6:27-28, 32-33). This teaching is hard for many to accept, and it goes against the common opinion of the secular world which tells us to say, “if you are nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.” We must reject this! We must love even those who hate us and disagree with us. We must love God in the first place, and we must love our neighbor as ourself. As God is eager to forgive, we must also be quick to forgive even those who hate us.