Posted by Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension
These things I have spoken to you, that you may not be scandalised. They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Today is the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, the great feast which we celebrated on Thursday. In today’s Gospel we are continuing to read from Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. He promises the coming of the Holy Spirit and predicts that, as he has himself experienced persecution in the world, so his followers will also experience persecution, suffering and even death. The coming of the Holy Spirit will enable Jesus’ disciples to speak truth to power, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear.
Since Christianity first arose as a movement within Judaism that affirmed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the anointed Saviour of Israel, persecution came at first from those Jews who did not accept these claims. We can read about this persecution in the Acts of the Apostles, not least in the accounts of the missionary journeys of St. Paul where he is often expelled from the synagogues in the places where he preaches. The mission to the Gentiles was more successful than the mission to the Jews since the early Church decided at the First Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) that Gentiles could become Christians without first becoming circumcised Jews who observed the Law of Moses. Though they were not required to become Jews they were required to renounce idolatry and worship the God of Israel who had now finally revealed himself in Jesus Christ. This meant that Christianity was a more attractive option for the interested pagan than Judaism because there was no requirement for Christians to first become Jews.
However, while Christianity was superficially a more attractive option for a pagan enquirer than Judaism, in truth it actually placed the convert in an even more difficult position than the convert to Judaism. Judaism was accepted by the Romans as a religio licita (a recognised religion). Though the Romans did not really like or understand Judaism they could accept it as a recognised religion on the basis that it was the ancestral tradition of the Jewish people. The ancient Roman pagan world was strictly conservative and was only prepared to accept a religion on the basis that it had a long established tradition behind it. The problem with Christianity for the ancient Roman was that it did not appear to have a long established tradition behind it (once they recognised it as a distinct religion from Judaism). It was therefore seen as subversive to the social order because in renouncing idolatry the Christians refused to acknowledge the cult of the Emperor. They proclaimed another king, one called Jesus.
St. Peter wrote his epistle (part of which we heard today) from Rome to Christians in Asia Minor. He wrote during the first great persecution of the Church under the Emperor Nero. Nero had fastened the blame for the fire of Rome on the Christians. The Roman historian Tacitus recognised that this allegation was almost certainly false, but he disliked Christianity as a “pestilent superstition” and accepted opinion believed that the Christians deserved their fate. St. Peter wrote that it was better if they suffered as a Christian for well doing than for illdoing. In so doing they were following in the footsteps of their Saviour who suffered unjustly at the hands of wicked men. While the specific context of St. Peter’s epistle was the persecution after the fire of Rome under Nero much of the focus of the epistle relates to more general social ostracism. Once the Romans came to recognise that Christianity was a distinct religion from Judaism they identified it as a movement subversive to the social order.
It is this last point that provides the key to understanding why Christians were persecuted. The pagan Romans were not so much interested in what Christians believed in the abstract. What concerned the pagan Roman world was the fact that Christians refused to worship the pagan gods and refused to participate in the cult of the Emperor. The pagan Romans saw themselves as tolerant and civilised and Christians as intolerant and exclusive for claiming to possess the truth about the final revelation of God to man in the person of Jesus Christ.
However, the more the Romans tried to suppress Christianity, the more the Church flourished. The blood of the martyrs proved to be the seed of the Church and the Empire eventually succumbed and accepted Christianity. But though the Empire came to formally recognise Christianity the danger of becoming conformed to the world’s false standards still existed. As St. Augustine saw, two loves had built two cities, the city of this world grounded on the self and the city grounded on the love of God. The Church could never be truly at home in this world (even in an age when most people formally professed Christianity).
Today the nominal adherence to Christianity of earlier ages has subsided and society increasingly seems to be embracing paganism. As in the time of pagan Rome people now see themselves as enlightened and civilised and Christianity as a “pestilent superstition”. The Church is seen as intolerant and exclusive for claiming to possess the truth and Christians are again increasingly seen as a subversive element in society. This may not necessarily result in actual martyrdom, but it does result in an increasing sense of isolation and ostracism from what is now seen as acceptable opinion.
As we approach the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, let us pray for the guidance of the Spirit to enable us to speak truth to power in our own time and place.