“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.” (John 16:1-4 NIV)
Most of us can remember exactly where we were 13 years ago today. 9/11 is forever etched in our minds much like for our parents and grandparents is November 22nd (the assassination of President John F. Kennedy) and December 7th (Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor). These were events that changed our lives and perceptions of the world.
Until 9/11, Islamic terrorism was, for the most part, something that was distant from our daily experience, something we may have heard about from newspapers or television news. That Tuesday morning in 2001, however, it became very close and personal. Seeing video of the planes blowing through the Twin Towers and watching in horror as they collapsed a short time later killing thousands of people, awoke us to the reality that there are people in the world who hate us for what we stand for and believe. And perhaps the most shocking, these people were convinced that by murdering our citizens they were rendering a service to God.
Thirteen years later, we have been shocked again by the brutal beheadings of two American journalists (and hundreds of other Syrians and Iraqis) by ISIS, another Islamic terrorist group. They, too, claim they are under a mandate of God to cleanse the earth of “infidels.”
Truthfully, we shouldn’t be shocked or surprised because Jesus warned of this very thing 20 centuries ago. He said there would be people who believe killing Christians was the will of God. The Jewish leaders pressured Pilate to kill Jesus because they thought He was a blasphemer. Church leaders killed men such as John Huss, and William Tyndale, believers falsely accused of heresy. And there are many modern day examples in India, Pakistan, and the Middle East of Christians being persecuted and killed because Muslims and Hindus consider them blasphemers and infidels.
They hated Jesus because they never knew the Father. The same remains true today. To many, those who follow Jesus deserve persecution and death.
Today, as our nation remembers the tragic events of 9/11, know there are many in the world who believe we are infidels and blasphemers because we follow Jesus. They think we deserve to die and that our deaths would please God. This may sound shocking, but the Lord warned us of this long ago. He wanted us to be prepared and to remain strong in the hope we have in Him.
© Jim Musser 2014
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