Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his
enemies. At the end all his disciples
deserted him. On the Cross he was
utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had to come, to bring peace
to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of
cloistered life but in the thick of foes.
There is his commission, his work.
The kingdom is to
be in the midst of your enemies. And he
who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants
to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but
the devout people. O you blasphemers and
betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done
what you are doing, who would ever have been spared?
--Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, citing Martin Luther
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community
Image source: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ Before Caiaphas & the Sanhedrin https://www.wga.hu/html_m/d/duccio/maesta/verso_1/verso10.html
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