Who Will Celebrate Your Death?

by Terry Wane Benton

In the aftermath of Jesus’ death, there were Jewish leaders who were glad to be rid of Him. They thought they shut down His voice and His followers for good, but soon found out that they had only stoked a fire that soon burned out of their control and changed the world.

I believe we wrestle against forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18) that celebrate when the righteous die. Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), and his people show their true colors when a voice of reason and truth gets murdered.

I have to self-reflect about “letting your light so shine” that people know which side I am on! Can they tell? Are there evil people who would celebrate my removal and righteous people who would mourn it? Am I hiding my light under a basket, afraid to take a stand, fearful that someone won’t like me?

While Jesus did not intentionally make enemies or cause people to hate Him, we must remember that He was perfect in goodness and righteousness. The darkness hated the light, no matter how kind and loving and gentle He was! (John 3:19-20). We cannot do better than Jesus and be so good that everybody loves us. We should be concerned about the reality and strength of our light if nobody knows what we stand for and hates us for it! Our goal is to win people over if we can, but we must also be realistic enough to acknowledge that some people love darkness and hate light. We can do no better than Jesus in changing their commitment to the darkness of evil and sin.

Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). We need to make such a difference in this world that evil celebrates when we are gone, and the righteous mourn, but heaven welcomes our victory! Stand up for Jesus no matter what!