Everyone Will Hate You Because of Me,
But Not a Hair of Your Head Will Perish
Mark 13:9-13 and Luke 21:12-19
Late in the afternoon
on Wednesday the thirteenth of Nisan
Everyone will hate you because of Me, but not a hair of your head will perish DIG: Who would first reject the apostles? But before they died, what must happen first? How were they to act when they were arrested? Why? How would their families and friends act? But what assurance did they receive?
REFLECT: When was the last time you were persecuted for the sake of the Lord? If you have never suffered persecution, what could that be saying about you? Are you on your guard? Are you helping the Gospel to be preached to all nations? That you know of, does anyone hate you because of your stand for Christ?
Having provided an answer to the third question regarding the sign of the end of the age, Jesus then gave a near historical prophecy to describe some personal experiences that His talmidim would encounter. So here, Luke clearly states that before all this worldwide persecution will occur, the apostles themselves will undergo persecution after Messiah had left them and returned to the Father.
First, the Jews will reject them. Yeshua said: They will seize you and persecute you. This turns the attention of the Twelve from the worldwide events just described to themselves. You must be on your guard. Must means to take precaution, lest persecution cause you to disavow Christ. John said it like this: Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; but whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son (Second John 1:8-9). The talmidim would be rejected by both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews will hand you over to the [Lesser] Sanhedrins (to see link click Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) and put you in prison, and secondly, the Gentiles will bring you before kings and governors on account of My name. This will result in an opportunity for ministry, for you will be witnesses to them and bear testimony to Me (Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12-13).
And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations (Mark 13:10). Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world (Romans 10:18; Colossians 1:6 and 23). All over the world this Gospel is bearing fruit and growing. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven (Colossians 1:6a and 23b).
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say or how you will defend yourselves. For [the Holy Spirit] will reveal to you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. It will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11; Luke 21:14-15).
The breaking of the ties of natural affection will be another trial the apostles will have to face. They will be rejected by their families because of the Messiah. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death (Mark 13:12; Luke 21:16). Only a fanatical hatred of the Gospel could bring about unnatural behavior such as these verses describe. We do not like to think that persecution is a major vehicle for proclaiming the gospel, but it is. Peter, James, John and Andrew proved the point themselves in the book of Acts and in the unwritten history of their missionary ventures and martyrdom.1328
Everyone will hate you because of Me. These words are distinctively Jewish. Only the Jews have been or ever will be the global object of hatred. But not a hair of your head will perish during their earthly ministry. When their earthly ministry was completed, however, all were martyred except John who died a natural death around 98 AD and Judas who hung himself (see Lm – Judas Hangs Himself). By standing firm, their salvation is assured (see Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). Because of their faithfulness Jesus promises that they will gain eternal life (Mark 13:13; Luke 21:17-19).
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