Thursday after the First Sunday after Epiphany
Posted on January 12, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 16:24-27 (NKJV)
16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
Devotion
The Christ commands us to take up our own cross and follow Him. Now, the cross is an instrument of torture, so every Christian should expect torture. But that is not all Christ says; compare these words from Matthew 11: “Take My yoke upon you … for My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (vs. 29-30). How can the cross of Christ be both torture and easy? It is as He Himself says: “what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” The Christian will suffer torture of various kinds. Nonetheless, he rejoices because his soul is safe with God. This faith makes even the torture light and easy to bear.
In this way, the martyrs of old faced their deaths with rejoicing. Consider St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who wrote on the way to his death, “May I have the pleasure of the wild beasts that have been prepared for me… and if when I am willing and ready they are not, I will force them” (Letter to the Church in Rome, 5:2). These are not the words of a suicide; they are the words of a Christian confident of his salvation and about to realize his salvation in his flesh. May God grant us the same joy and confidence.
Prayer: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
