3. Bearing Reproach

At this, these close relatives of his were greatly amazed. It was not that they believed to be true what he said to them, but rather because they thought that some frenzy distemper (disorientating disease) had got into his head. Consequently, with the night approaching, and with the hope that sleep might settle his brains, they got him to bed with all haste. However, instead of sleeping, he spent that evening in sighs and tears. So, when the morning was come, they enquired as to how he was feeling, and he told them, “Worse and worse.” He also intended to talk to them again, but they began to firmly resist him. They also contrived to drive away his demented frame of mind by means of surly carriages toward him [responding with contemptuous and irritating behavior]. Sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and at other times they would quite neglect him. Therefore, he began to retire to his bedroom to pray for and pity them, and also condole (lament] over his misery. He would also walk alone in the nearby fields, sometimes reading and sometimes praying; and so, for some days he spent his time in this manner.

John Bunyan – The Pilgrim’s Progress

1. Why is it that Christian’s Family could not seem to comfort him during his time of distress?
2. Why was Christian not getting any better? Did the way his family treated him contribute to his condition?
3. Do the words of Jesus in John 15:18 apply here?

Hear the words of John Bunyan himself “Therefore, I bind these lies and slanderous accusations to my person as an ornament; it belongs to my Christian profession to be vilified, slandered, reproached and reviled, and since all this is nothing but that, as God and my conscience testify, I rejoice in being reproached for Christ’s sake.”

Christian, if your family and close relatives shun you, hate you, abandon you for the name of Christ, so did they to many a great saint in the past. Hold your head up. keep proclaiming the Gospel and continue on the King’s Highway until he brings you home to glory!