I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. – Luke 12:4-7
You are never powerless.
Your enemies and those who want to manipulate you will try to convince
you that you are not able to oppose or overcome them. When a person is sitting in a prison cell or
being marched to the gallows in bonds, it can be pretty convincing, but the
worst they can do is kill you.
Admittedly, that is bad. But then
what? The mortality rate is 100% anyway. The executioner dies in his time.
Deception is the thing that robs us of power. All of us, I believe, are fearless when we
know we are right and in the right. It
doesn’t mean we push our way to the front.
The truly meek person, knowing he has the power, is not compelled to
demonstrate. The truth does set us
free. If you knew for a fact -- if you
had an iron-clad guarantee written in blood by an honorable, absolute monarch
that you would inherit a place perfect for you, a guarantee by an omnipotent,
omniscient ruler that the end of your body was not the end of your life, you
might still fear the pains of the torturer or the transition, but you would
know it would pass.
Jesus, as a man, put aside His omniscience. There were things that were hidden from Him
by the nature of the Incarnation. The
human mind can attend to only so much at one time. He had to ask who touched Him in a crowd. He had to pray for the strength of
reassurance in the garden. He could go
to the cross and endure the torment and suffering, not because He was God who
could not die and could not feel the anguish, but because He was the Man Who
Knew He Was Right. He knew the truth.
If there is a benefit to argument and debate, it is usually
not that we convince the opposition but that we solidify the ground upon which
we stand and confirm the position of those on our side. Once we have reached that bare rock of
certainty, debate, for us, ends. Some
people are certain only of their uncertainty and deny that we can ever really
know. They are wrong.
Cultural norms are ridiculed, and some are mere
fashions. The truth may manifest itself
in various times, seasons and situations in differing guises, but it is the
truth beneath it. Appearances may help
to make it more palatable and digestible for a given group, but the appearance
is not all there is. Essence is eternal
and unchanging. We can know and be sure
of that.
Seek not to defend forms and appearances, but seek the truth
that gives them shape and substance.
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