A Bundle of Myrrh

Joy Under The Cross

I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Acts 9:16

“If you would be a joint heir with your Lord Jesus Christ, but will not suffer with him and be his brother and be made like him, he will certainly not accept you as his brother and joint heir at the last day. But he will ask you where your crown of thorns, your cross, your nails and scourging are, and whether you too have been an abomination to the world, as he and all his members have been from the beginning of the world. If you cannot give proof of this, he will not be able to accept you as his brother. In a word we must suffer with him, and must all be made like the Son of God, or else we cannot be exalted to his glory.

The marks, nails, crown of thorns, and scourgings I must bear, and so must all Christians, and not just painted on the wall, but stamped in our flesh and blood.

Here St. Paul admonishes every Christian to bear the marks of Christ our Lord. And he comforts them that they should not be afraid even if all human suffering should be laid on them, as now for some years has been the lot of our brothers and sisters. But it will become even worse when the hour of our foe and the might of the darkness comes. But let it be. We must suffer or we shall not come to glory.” Martin Luther

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2014 at 10:03 am and is filed under Being Lutheran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.