But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death. John 12:10
A jewellery store manager in Toronto is under a death sentence in Egypt. Although Nader Fawzy’s only ‘crime’ is to be part of an organization that speaks up for the rights of Coptic Christians in Egypt, an Egyptian court has convicted him of blasphemy in relation to an anti-muslim film that was produced in the United States, even though Mr. Fawzy had nothing to do with that film. Although Mr. Fawzy is relatively safe if he remains in Canada, he fears he could be kidnapped and taken to Egypt to be killed. And he would never dare travel to any country with any significant moslem presence. The case shows the total injustice of Islam’s mindless blasphemy laws and the demented moslem clerics who enforce them. It’s an unfair price Mr. Fawzy has to pay for not being part of the moslem majority in Egypt. Just as a death threat from the chief priests was an unfair price for Lazarus to pay for being a recipient of Jesus’ great miracle. Christians often have to pay unfair prices for our affiliation with our Lord, too.
A death threat against Lazarus makes no sense, does it? The only reason the chief priests wanted to get rid of him was his testimony to the power and proof of Jesus Christ as God. For the same reasons today, men are doing everything possible to destroy the credibility of the Bible by pushing such unscriptural agendas as evolution and global warming. The Bible condemns their sin and presents them with their responsibility before God, so they mock the Scriptures as irrelevant, inaccurate, and antiquated. Christians are labelled ignorant, uneducated, and superstitious. In a land that prides itself on freedom of speech, many Christians are denied the right to speak freely on such topics as the Bible, sin, and judgment, while the proponents of evil lifestyles, abortion, and immorality of all kinds are free to openly promote their filth. The Christian’s lifestyle reveals the evil of the evildoers. And the Christian’s Bible condemns their sin.
No, we are not on anyone’s death-list because of our faith, although many Christians elsewhere in the world are. But the devil and his children would like to do away with us. All we can do is remain faithful and confident in the knowledge that the enemies of our Lord are already defeated. -Jim MacIntosh