Jesus was sentenced to death, got beaten, suffered, and died on the Cross for blasphemy because he called himself “The Son of God”. But nobody defended him. There were many people Jesus cured such as Lazarus, a brother of Martha and Mary, the son of a widow in a town called Nain, the daughter of a synagogue ruler, Jairus, a leper who suffered from incurable sickness, the blind, those who crippled from birth, the mutes, and the deaf. None of them was seen in the situation. Where were the people who experienced the miracles of Jesus with five loaves of bread and two fish? It is weird that not one of them defended Jesus in the court saying, “Pilate, he is the Almighty who saved me from death. Which crime did he commit, causing you to hand him over to be crucified?”
Even Peter, a disciple of Jesus denied Jesus three times when Jesus was flogged in the courtyard of Caiaphas, the high priest. They received God’s grace so they had to defend Jesus. But not even one of them did, fearing the disadvantages they may encounter.
The pastor who was entrusted with a flock of God loves them according to His commandments. But it will be an unbearable pain for him to be insulted by his church members for he poured love for them so much. The more he has loved, he will be more painful to be betrayed.
However, the pastor worries about the members, not about his hurt from betrayers. To save humans, God sent His one and only Son and made him die on the Cross to pay back human’s sins because He could not give up their souls. Likewise, the pastor prays more for the betrayers even with tears fearing that their souls might go wrong. Who would understand the burning heart of the pastor? He could do this by overflowing love to them, given by God, since the moment he took them.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #786
