Sixty Christians executed in Africa. Too often here in America, we can read a story like this and go on with our morning. There are children to take to school and other ordinary things calling for our attention. The peace in which many of us worship is a blessing. Perhaps it has also makes Jesus’ warnings about following Him sound far away.
“In the world you will have tribulation,” He told His disciples. Then He added, “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He knew what lay ahead for those men, the hatred they would encounter and the cruelty some of His people would suffer. He spoke of trouble with the certainty of one who sees the whole road and of victory with the certainty of one who has already conquered.
But, Jesus never taught His people to shrug at cruelty. He did teach us that His love can be trusted even when the world is cruel.
That brings me to an extraordinary chapter in Matthew’s Gospel. Chapter 18 begins by talking about greatness and ends by talking about forgiveness. The world doesn’t usually put those two together. Forgiveness looks weak to a world that admires power. Jesus brings a little child among His disciples and tells them that true greatness requires humility.
To me, this passage of Scripture becomes something like a thunderstorm. From verse six onward there is thunder and lightning and warning. Don’t ever dare do anything that would stumble one of these little ones who believe. Jesus speaks about a millstone and the depths of the sea. That’s how seriously He regards the spiritual welfare of His people. Read those words before imagining that the suffering of Christians escapes His notice.
Then, from about verse fourteen onward, the thunder dies down and it becomes a love song. Instead of lightning, there is sunshine. Jesus speaks of a shepherd looking for one sheep that has gone astray. He goes through thick and thin, mountain and moor and rock, just to find that one little sheep. Because the Lord loves His sheep that much.
And we know, of course, what stands behind that picture. His cross, His suffering, His bleeding, His dying, His shame. The eternal Son of God takes the place of the sinner because He loves the sinner that much. That is the sacrifice He makes because that is the sacrifice that is necessary. When we wonder whether Christ cares for suffering people, we must look again at Calvary.
How can such a tender Shepherd allow His sheep to suffer? I don’t pretend to know why one family is spared and another faces unspeakable loss. The Savior promised His people trouble, yet gave Himself for them and rose from the grave. His victory reaches further than the grave.
Later in Matthew 18, Jesus speaks about a wandering brother who has sinned against another Christian. Go looking for him, He says. Do everything you can to bring him back. Be like Jesus. The church must seek the mind of God together, even when doing so is difficult and painful. Then comes this wonderful promise: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). In its setting, Jesus is speaking about the responsibility of His gathered church and the promise reminds us what an extraordinary thing Christian fellowship is.
You know something of this from your own experience. You’ve had a hard day and thought how lovely it would be to stay home, put your feet up and rest. Then you remember it’s Wednesday. Prayer meeting. You go, perhaps reluctantly. A hymn does you some good. Somebody prays and that does you some good. There’s some Bible reading and conversation about the things of God and you go home thinking, I’m really glad I went. What happened? Jesus Christ reveals Himself to people who gather in His name. When two Christians meet, there are three people present.
I cannot tell you what those Christians in Ethiopia experienced in their final hours. We have no right to invent their prayers or the words they may have spoken. Mourn the dead, care about the wounded, and pray that grieving families will know the Lord’s mercy. Ask that churches be protected and that the truth come to light. Their suffering deserves more than tomorrow’s forgetfulness.
And for every person who belongs to Christ by faith, there is a promise stronger than the hands of those who kill. Paul wrote that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Death can empty a home. It can leave a family reaching for someone who will never walk through the door again. Those sorrows are real. Christ’s resurrection is real too. The Good Shepherd suffered, bled, died and rose again. He has gone before His sheep through death itself. Whatever the world may do to those who are His, it cannot take them from His hand.
And the Good Shepherd will never lose a single one of His sheep.