Wake Up Call
“‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
He said, ‘Who are you, sir?’
The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”Acts 9:4b-5
It does not seem like Saul had a personal encounter with Jesus before His passion and death. Yet when Saul is knocked off his horse and he asked who it was that was speaking to him, the voice said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” How could this be? Saul may have condoned the stoning of Stephen and may have dragged Christians out of their homes and putting them into prison, but he never laid a finger on Jesus. Why did Jesus say he was persecuting Him?
We recall in Scripture that Jesus said, “Whatsoever you do for these least brothers of mine, you do for me.” Jesus was telling Saul then and tells us now that when we persecute others, those around us, those who we do not like, those who share different views from us, we are persecuting and hating Him. Brothers and sisters, it does not matter how much we pray, fast, give to charity, if we treat those who are in front of us, around us, and near us with malice and judgement and hate, Jesus is saying to us, “Why are you persecuting me?” Any good work we may have done — no matter how much — does not justify any act of hate or discrimination — no matter how little — we show towards others.
Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. We must rise to the occasion. When we get knocked off our high horses, may we not become indignant but rather hear the voice of the Lord saying to us, “Love and do not hate. Remember how much I love you. Now, love others the same.” Our Lord gives us a wake up call today.
