Before Governors and Kings!

Friday, July 10, 2026

Hos 14: 2-10; Mt 10: 16-23

Today’s Gospel highlights two models of testimony. 

Jesus talks of his disciples being led before governors and kings for his sake.

When his disciples are loyal and faithful to him, the disciples of Jesus will be dragged before governors and kings in total hatred and contempt. The fact that they belong to Christ will become their offense, and they will be handed over to courts and scourged in synagogues because of his name. Even their own families will betray and abandon them. However, when all these happen, the disciples of the Lord must realize that they are proof that they have been faithful to the Lord in the world that resists his truth. Jesus implies that his disciples must carry and endure the cross before they receive the crown because the world would not treat them any better and what happened to him would befall his disciples as well. 

However, the opposite could be true as well.

If we are unfaithful to the Lord and if we yield to the temptation to make use of God’s mission for our self-serving purposes, it is very likely that we may be received favourably by ‘governors and kings’ whom we will also end up serving eventually. Because we will cease to be prophetic and refrain from challenging the world with the Gospel truth, we may even befriend the wealthy and the influential in society. When our primary objective becomes personal success, recognition, and wealth, we may find ourselves receiving applause instead of persecution. Our families might bask in our good fortune as well. However, we must know that if the world has no reason to disagree with us, it might be a sign that we might have gained such unconditional acceptance at the cost of our fidelity to the Lord. 

Now, whom do we ultimately seek to please – Jesus Christ or the governors and kings of this world?

A life away from Christ is in itself an eternal damnation.

Let us pray that we may always measure our discipleship by how we please the Lord and not by the approval of the world. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar