Heb. 12:12-17
In his commentary on Hebrews, Richard Phillips opens this passage with this poignant account:
“Of all the young men and women who tragically died in the assault on Columbine High School in April 1999, none has touched the lives of more people than Cassie Bernall. Cassie has been rightly described as a martyr; that is, as one who died for her Christian faith. She perished in her high school library when one of the two young murderers put his automatic rifle to her head and asked, ‘Do you believe in God?’ Some think Cassie might have been praying, thereby drawing their attention and prompting the question. But the issue was not one of mere theological speculation. When they asked, ‘Do you believe in God?’ they were challenging her willingness to die for Christ. With the rifle muzzle pressed against her forehead, the young woman pondered her response.
“Cassie answered loudly and clearly, for another teenager, crouched under a desk twenty-five feet away, heard her distinct reply. He later recalled: ‘One of them asked her if she believed in God. She paused, like she didn’t know what she was going to answer, and then she said yes. She must have been scared, but her voice didn’t sound shaky. It was strong.’ She said yes, and with that the young killer pulled the trigger, and Cassie Bernall entered an eternal reward with the God she acknowledged in the face of death.
“Cassie Bernall is famous for dying for Christ, but what is perhaps less well known is that in the months prior to her death she had been living for Christ. Two years earlier, in fact, Cassie had been much like the two angry youths who later shot her: caught up in the teen underworld of Gothic darkness with its trappings of disturbed music, wild rage, and flirtation with suicide. She had committed her soul to Satan in a dark ritual; she and a friend were plotting the murder of a teacher they despised and wrote letters seriously discussing the idea of killing her parents. When they found these letters, her parents dramatically intervened, among other ways by sending her to a nearby church’s youth group. Cassie stuck out among the Christian kids, both by her dress and her demeanor, and attended unwillingly. But after finally making a Christian friend, Cassie was dramatically converted to Christ at a youth retreat. God brought the gospel of his love and forgiveness and power for life into her heart. Cassie returned home and exclaimed, ‘Mom, I’ve changed.’
“After two years of living for Christ, this young woman was willing to die for Christ. Her mother writes, ‘The real issue raised by Cassie’s death is not what she said to her killers, but what it was that enabled her to face them as she did…. Cassie didn’t just die on April 20, but died daily over the previous two years.’ By faith she had been giving her life over to Christ, and that is how this young Christian was able to face death on his behalf.”
If there was one concern on the writer’s mind in our passage this week (Heb. 12:12-17), it was that his Christian readers stand firm when the day of testing came. The whole letter makes clear that he expected suffering and persecution in their immediate future. This was part of his message when he exhorted them to look to Jesus.
Last Sunday the Scripture exhorted us to an acceptance of God’s fatherly correction. Raymond Brown notes: “The writer now addresses himself to the complementary and equally important truth, that of the Christian’s active pursuit of spiritual ideals.” Join us as we are urged to live for Christ, especially in holiness without which ‘no one will see the Lord.’
For His Glory,
Pastor Wayne
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