I have been in a somber mood lately, and this passage from the Book of Wisdom inspired some deep but troubling thoughts:
12Â âLet us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
13Â He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child[a] of the Lord.
14Â He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
15Â the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
16Â We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy,
and boasts that God is his father.
17Â Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;
18Â for if the righteous man is Godâs son, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
19Â Let us test him with insult and torture,
that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
20Â Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.â
(Wisdom 2:12-20)
I wonder if there is a corollary in life between how righteous someone is, and how much he or she will suffer in life. I mean, there is always suffering in life. Sometimes good people suffer a lot, and sometimes bad people suffer a lot. But at the same time I think that those who are really good people seem to suffer more. Looking through the people I know in my life, and others I have read accounts of, I just see that as a thing. Suffering and righteousness are just connected. I am also reminded of this passage from the Gospel of John:
18Â âIf the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.[c] 19Â If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Â Remember the word that I said to you, âA servant[d] is not greater than his master.â If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21Â But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. 22Â If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Â He who hates me hates my Father also. 24Â If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25Â It is to fulfil the word that is written in their law, âThey hated me without a cause.â 26Â But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; 27Â and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.
(John 15:18-27)
The world will always hate those who belong to God. It makes sense to me that the closer one is to God, the more the world would hate you. Perhaps my readers will feel like chiming in and offering their thoughts. Perhaps there are some other passages from scripture which would further illuminate the matter.
