In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, 1: 1-6, Paul states that
Jesus “is the refulgence [the
brilliance, the splendor] of …[God’s]
glory, the very imprint of his being, and [is the one] who sustains all things
by his mighty word. [Once] he had
accomplished purification from sins [through his obedience to His Father
until death] he took his seat at the
right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels….” It is this Jesus, who, in today’s Gospel, Mark 1: 14-20, entered Galilee “proclaiming the
Gospel of God: ‘This is the time of
fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.’” Jesus comes upon Simon and Andrew casting their
nets into the sea and calls them. He walks a little further and sees James and
John, sons of Zebedee, mending their nets. He calls them as well. They
immediately leave their work, their coworkers, and their families to follow
Jesus and don’t ever turn back.
What was it about Jesus that Peter, James, John and Andrew
and so many others simply leave everything to follow Him, to stay by Him, to
proclaim the Gospel of God, to work for
Him, with Him, and through Him at a great price? This past weekend I read the book “Face to
Face with Jesus: A Former Muslim’s Extraordinary Journey to Heaven and
Encounter with the God of Love.” This is
the story of a young Muslim woman, Mariam, coming to know Christ. A Muslim who becomes a Christian risks
death. Miriam, known as Samaa following
her conversion, is beaten by her brothers,
strangled by her own father and left for dead. She is the victim of a bomb
attacked upon the Church where she worshiped and prayed. She fasted for long
periods of time for the conversion of other members of her family. Nothing
stopped her from following Jesus and proclaiming that Jesus is more than a
prophet, that is, that He is the Son of God, to any of her fellow Muslims. And
nothing stopped Peter, James, John and Andrew, three of whom were put to death
for their faith in Jesus and John was exiled.
What about you and me? What am I willing to sacrifice for
Jesus? Will I even follow Him when He asks that I do difficult things in His
name?
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