My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 2:1 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 2
Bede
AD 735
When the merits of the elect increase, the envy of the ancient enemy also immediately increases. It seeks either imperceptibly by himself, or openly through people who are subjected to his wickedness, to suffocate the incipient seeds of piety. Therefore, after having promised to the disciples the courage to preach, the Lord reveals the persecutions that would come on the part of those who would resist their preaching. In fact, he adds, "I have said this so you will not be shocked. They will chase you out of the synagogues." Their loving Master wanted his disciples to know in advance the future hostility of the wicked, so that when it appeared it would cause them less harm, given that usually we more easily endure the adversities that we can foresee. The evils that happen to one who is not prepared and does not know what is coming often cause a more precipitous fall from their state of security. Here is the warning Solomon provides: "Son, when you come to the service of God, stand firm in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptations." And our Savior reminds his disciples that not only will they be cast out from fellowship with their fellow citizens but also they will be confronted with mortal peril. In fact, he continues, "But the hour has come in which anyone who kills you will think he is doing something in service to God." The Jews believed they were doing something in service to God when they, full of hatred, were persecuting the ministers of the New Testament to the death, according to the testimony of the apostle: "They desire to please God, but not in an illuminated way." And, he says about himself: "I myself believed it was my duty to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, as I did in Jerusalem." Therefore, after predicting the torments they would experience from their adversaries, in order to console his disciples, the Lord immediately adds, "But the hour has come in which each one who kills you will think he is doing something in service to God," as if he were saying: accept the tribulations brought on you by your fellow citizens, but accept them even more so knowing that they are not so much inflicted on you out of hatred against you as out of zeal for the law of God.
