Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 12:8-12

Jesus continues to prepare his disciples for trials that they would face in the future. He encourages them to be steadfast in their faithfulness to Christ as their Lord. The imageries of the Son of Man and the angels of God that Jesus used here were taken from the Book of Daniel, where the author spoke about the final judgment of the world. Jesus seems to present two kinds of sins – words against the Son of Man and against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would not be forgiven, says Jesus. What would constitute blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Jesus acknowledges that not all are strong-willed to withstand torture and persecutions. Under the pressure of torture, some might break down and disown Jesus – as it happened with St. Peter. A momentary breakdown in courage which the Lord forgives and even appoints him to be the leader of the Church. But a refusal to believe in the saving grace of Jesus – a radical denial of Jesus and loss of faith is the blasphemy against the Spirit. This was the failure of Judas, who freely chose to put himself beyond the desire for reconciliation. A disciple must always be ready to acknowledge his allegiance to Jesus. St. Luke must have been warning the members of his community who were under attack for their faith. He encourages them to stand strong in moments of trials and persecutions because Jesus had predicted such persecutions and killings. Witnessing to Jesus is the mission of every Christian and Luke wants his community to grow in the habit of giving witness to the Lord in words and actions in their daily life. That would enable them to stand for Christ and his gospel with courage, in times of trials and struggles as well. Jesus raises this question with his disciples and with us today. Are you willing to acknowledge me as Lord in our daily life? In times to come, Jesus’ disciples will be dragged before civic and religious authorities. Jesus wants them not to be afraid or worried but to believe in God’s providential care. The Gospel calls us to fearlessly bear witness to Christ every day of our lives. Every day we do a lot of talking! We talk to a lot of people – at home, in the neighbourhood, in the work place… . We send SMS, we write emails, we watch TV, we listen to the radio… Every day, thousands of words leave our lips or reach our ears. What are we talking about? What do we hear? How many of these words in some way give glory to God, or give witness to Jesus in whom we believe?