Jesus made it very clear that neither he nor his followers would ever be accepted by the mainstream. The gospel would never trump the world of public opinion. He illustrates this by the parable of the tenants where they beat all of the owner's servants and eventually killed the owners son when they were sent to reclaim what belonged to the master. Jesus summed the story up with a verse from Psalms 118 “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” - Luke 20:17-18 NIV
'It is never going to get any better on this earth,' he told his disciples. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life. - Luke 21:10-19 NIV
'Watch and pray', Jesus told them. Not for the signs of the end of the age, the signs are going to be obvious in the last day. Instead, he told them, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” - Luke 21:34-36 NIV
Be on the watch for your heart, he told them, Guard it. Don't let it become preoccupied with the things of this world. As Solomon said, Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.- (Prov. 4:23) Guard your heart, so you will be able to stand.
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