The way of disciple

The way of disciple

"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. (13:9)

The above verse actually predicted the situation that the early Christian community would be confronted with. They had to be tried in the Sanhedrin and had to be flogged in the synagogue. The intensity of their misery in the hands of the Roman Emperor was too horrible to be compared with any form of persecution meted out in the history of humankind.

The reason behind of the persecution of the Jesus’ disciples was that they did no bow to the demand of religious and political power. If the disciples had compromised and yielded to the demand of the people of the Roman Empire they might not have been persecuted severely. If you consider the people who persecuted the disciple as infamous people then you do not see the fact correctly. They are a people of high morality and good personality and their persecutions were legal.

This can be compared with the present context of Korean community. Many members of the ‘Jehovah Witness’ are averse to military service. They go on a trial and go to jail. Koreans who sends them to jail do this following the rule of law of the country. The Judges are men of novel character. It was a Christian group who give a suggestion that an alternative service be given. An organization named the Christian Council of Korea is a representative of this group. Most of big association belongs to this organization. They seem to lead the work of sending Jehovah Witness members to jail. Aren’t they taking a role of Sanhedrin that today’s content is talking about. In the long run, Jehovah Witness historian may bring a comparison between Korean history and today’s content.

We are living as the disciples of Jesus today and yet, we have not been persecuted at all. Even if we have been, it would be just one of two. We have to see if we are true disciples or if this generation has merely gotten out of barbarism.