Jesus promised to his first disciples that when they were put on trial for following him, the Holy Spirit would teach them what to say.
“When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
Jesus promised to his first disciples that when they were put on trial for following him, the Holy Spirit would teach them what to say. Though we may never be tried in a court for our faith, the promise of Jesus applies to situations when we’re talking about the Lord to others. The Spirit empowers us to be faithful, truthful, and sensitive witnesses, even giving us the right words to say. The more we trust God and take risks for him, the more we will experience God’s amazing grace and power in our lives.
In Luke 12 Jesus was preparing his first disciples for the persecution they would experience after his death and resurrection. He foretold a time when government and religious leaders would “bring [them] before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities” (12:11). This may not have been much of a surprise to the followers of Jesus, given how Jesus himself was treated by those who opposed him. But it surely wasn’t good news, either. Who wants to be put on trial? I know I don’t.
Yet, Jesus offered some encouragement. When you’re forced to speak to those in power who are opposing you, “do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:11-12). God’s own Spirit would help them say just the right things at just the right time, so the disciples didn’t need to worry or even prepare their defense in advance.
Now, this was certainly welcome news. But I confess that if I had been one of Jesus’s disciples, I would have had mixed feelings. Yes, it’s great that the Spirit will help me when I am put on trial. Yet, frankly, I would have preferred another plan, perhaps one of two possibilities. First, if the Spirit was going to help me defend myself, I would have wished for this to happen in advance of the trial itself. I would have been happy to have the Spirit help me prepare for what was coming. That would have felt better than relying on the Spirit in the moment of extreme need. In general, I like feeling prepared for difficult challenges. Perhaps you can relate.
Second, what I really would have preferred was a promise that the Spirit would somehow protect me from persecution. I would have wanted to avoid going to trial in the first place. I don’t like conflict. I don’t like being in trouble. And I really don’t like being treated unfairly or threatened with punishment. Why couldn’t the Spirit bail me out in advance, so to speak?
But Jesus didn’t offer either of my preferred options. He knew that persecution was coming. And he promised divine help, but only at the moment in which it was most needed. This meant that the disciples had to trust God enough so that they were willing to put their wellbeing, even their lives, on the line.
I have never experienced anything like the persecution that was coming for the first disciples of Jesus. I have known mockery, teasing, and prejudice related to my faith. I have sometimes been accused of things like narrowmindedness, foolishness, or bigotry. But I have never been arrested for my faith or put on trial because I follow Jesus.
Yet, I have been in places where my faith was being put to the test in unsettling ways. One of the first times was during my sophomore year of college. My friend, Leland, was a relatively new Christian. When he would talk about his faith to his roommates, they would quickly hit the limits of Leland’s understanding. So he figured it would be a good idea to invite me to meet with his roommates to talk about Christianity. I was willing to do this, even though I was nervous about what was coming. I didn’t even know how to prepare.
in order to experience the Spirit’s power in this way, we need to take a risk by putting ourselves in a situation where we need God’s help or we’ll fall flat on our face. That never feels comfortable, but it does open us up to a fresh experience of the power of the Spirit.
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