In this text Matthew shows us that the life that Jesus promises us is not a life of pleasures only. But rather of tribulations, storms, persecutions, slander, insults and… for being His disciples and missionaries in the modern world. He also reminds us that the disciples will not finish their work until the Son of Man comes.
From the point of view of what is proposed to us in this text, we conclude that all suffering is only accepted before God when it is for the love of Jesus: Because you are my followers, you will be taken to governors and kings to be judged and you will speak to them and the non-Jews about the gospel. Therefore, suffering for the love of Jesus is not a reason for sadness, but for joy, knowing that we were destined for this: you will be arrested, and taken to court, and you will be whipped in the synagogues. This joy does not come from the fact that the Christian enjoys being persecuted or being considered a martyr, but from the testimony he gives and the reward that follows. Suffering for the Gospel is a type of suffering for the love of Jesus, as well as suffering for doing good, suffering for the sake of justice and suffering as servants of God. You must suffer for the love of the body of Christ, the church. And then, at the end of so many storms, calm will come from God for all of us who have suffered because of Jesus and his Gospel!
Sufferings endured patiently by a Christian serve as an example and testimony for the entire Church. The apostle Peter uses the word suffer and suffering seven times in reference to Christ, encouraging Christians to follow Jesus’ example.
Suffering is the Holy Spirit’s school of sympathy, where we learn to console and comfort people in the same way as God does. Only those who have faced pain, suffering and loss can genuinely comfort those who face such situations (Heb 4.15).
Suffering is a means that God uses to make you grow in faith. Peter says that suffering is compared to the action of fire, as a purifying element, an element that makes the object approved, perfected, confirmed. God uses suffering to refine us (Ps 66:10; Ps 119:67, 71).
Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus must be ready to face the problems arising from discipleship. Being a disciple of Jesus means not accepting the counter-values that are present in the world and that do not allow life and life in abundance, but denouncing these counter-values as a cause of suffering and, at the same time, announcing the values of the Gospel. Being a disciple of Jesus means being a prophet of the New Covenant and bearing all the consequences of prophetic action, that is, persecution, suffering and even death. The history of the Church is full of martyrs, prophets of the New Covenant who, because they believed in the values of the Gospel, were persecuted and shed their blood like Christ.
Therefore, when we go through suffering, we must remember God is with us and will not allow us to suffer beyond what we can bear. God will turn to good all the suffering and persecution of those who love him and obey his commandments. God cares about us, regardless of the severity of the circumstances. We should never allow suffering to make us think that God does not love us, nor should we move away from Jesus (Mt 13.20-21). We must turn to God in sincere prayer, wait until He delivers us from affliction, and trust that God will give us the grace to endure affliction until deliverance comes. It is worth remembering that we are always more than conquerors, through him who loved us (Rm 8.37; John 16.33).
I want you to know once and for all that when we go through suffering, we must remember: God is with us (Ps 23.4; Is 43.2; Heb 13.5) and will not allow us to suffer beyond what we can bear (1 Cor 10.13). God will turn to good all the sufferings and persecutions of those who love him and obey his commandments (Rm 8.28; 2 Cor 4.17). As happened with Joseph (Gen 50.20).
Believe: after the storm, calm will come. If you do not doubt this, you and those in your household will see the salvation that comes from God through Christ Our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen!