But he who endures to the end shall be saved

 

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

 

- Mark 13:1–13 

 

 Yesterday we read Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

 

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  My study Bible comments that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans during the Siege of Jerusalem.

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  Jesus' response regarding end times begins here and continues through verse 23 (which will be in Monday's reading).  My study Bible notes for us that the account in Mark is given in reverse parallel form (also called chiastic, meaning cross-wise in its shape, deriving from the letter chi in Greek which resembles an X).  That is, the topics which are mentioned in the first half of the passage are repeated and amplified in reverse order in the second half.  This structure is characteristic of many important ancient documents, including, for example, the Old Testament and the literature of Homer.  Therefore, my study Bible notes, this passage -- and its second half which will be in Monday's reading --  both begins and ends with a warning to take heed about false christs.  The second warning here is about wars.  Then the second-to-last is about tribulation (in verse 19, on Monday).  A third warning here concerns being delivered up to councils, while the third-to-last warning is also about being delivered up, this time by family members (brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death).  At the very center of this discourse, Jesus gives the prophecy that the gospel must first be preached to all nations -- the heart of the apostolic ministry and mission of the Church (Matthew 28:19-20).  

Since Jesus' words have, at their very heart, the prophecy that the gospel must first be preached to all nations, "end times" must give us a rather fluid sense of time.  That is, a need to accommodate Christ's words with an understanding of their very permeable construction.  "End times" cannot be traced down to a particular year and a particular linear development, as the chiastic construction of these words itself would indicate to us by its image.  Since the time of Christ, and the earliest apostolic missions of the Church and His immediate disciples, efforts have unceasingly been made to preach the gospel to all nations, and those efforts actively continue today in each way possible.  Therefore, to read "end times" as those times which will happen somehow immediately before the end of all things is a mistake.  We have, indeed, been experiencing "end times" since the time of Christ; it is the Incarnation that initiated the end times, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was, as at the Incarnation itself, the birth of end times.  Christians began, from the start of the Church, to experience the advent of false christs, wars, tribulation, betrayals, persecution, etc.  And these things continue for the Church around the world, even as her apostolic ministry and mission continue of preaching the gospel to all nations.  Individual Christians may also experience these things in their own personal lives, rather than on a collective basis as a movement against the Church by organized forces.  Jesus gets right to the heart of the personal when He speaks of family betrayals.  Most intriguing are Jesus' words regarding testimony:  "But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit."  He speaks in terms directly applicable to the disciples to whom He speaks:  "they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake."  But in various countries around the world, Christians are experiencing new persecutions even where Christianity has long been established, such as across the Middle East and in Africa.  In various ways, there are even movements in the West which are hostile to the Church, and on one level to another, seek to shut down or curb its activities or public representations.  What is important is not that we take notice and great alarm at these things which we may experience on a small personal scale, or even a larger and organized one.  What remains of the greatest importance is that we understand we have been warned by Christ about these things, and although the period of martyrdom of the early Church is now passed, we are still to conduct ourselves as He has said here.  We are still to be prepared to give our own testimonies as the occasion might demand.  We are still to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us do so.  We still might face betrayals of one sort or another by family members or friends for our faith.  We might face hatred for our faith.  But the most important word is what He teaches us:  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  So when we read about end times, the really important thing is to remember His teaching about our disposition through it all:  we must endure to the end.  Our choice must be to endure.  We bear all things as we also take up our crosses, as He has taught.  Whatever comes, we rely on God, just as Jesus has taught in today's reading that one must rely on the Holy Spirit at moments when we're called to give testimony.  There are all kinds of ways in which we might experience the "trauma" of end times, both personally and collectively.  But it is our job to endure in our faith, to bear what comes, and to live as He has taught us even through the things about which we've been warned.  The disciples to whom He speaks would endure it all.  Let us follow in their footsteps and endure through all things.  In the journey of faith, Jesus keeps us all looking ahead, on His road, His "way."  For we all go forward, and let us not look back (Luke 17:31-33).   Let us consider that to "endure" is not to be unduly aggressive.  For His is also known as the gospel of peace (Romans 10:15, Ephesians 6:15).  Throughout His ministry, Jesus has been protective of His flock.  He teaches the disciples to "watch out for yourselves."  The byword with which He begins is "take heed that no one deceives you."  In all ways, Jesus' words teach us about prudence, not about being conventional conquering heroes, nor about inventing new methods of self-promotion, but to endure -- with all the attitude that goes with this choice of words.  It is entirely in keeping with His words in Matthew chapter 10, when He sends the disciples out on their first apostolic mission: "Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  We remain sheep in the midst of wolves; let us conduct ourselves as He declares we must, with eyes wide open and our mission in our hearts.

 

 

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved

Second Coming, c. 1700, Greek.  Icon on wood, gesso, tempera (Private Collection)

Then Jesus went out and departed from temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

- Matthew 24:1-14

Recently we have been reading through Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple at Jerusalem, and directed in scathing criticisms of the religious leadership.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 Then Jesus went out and departed from temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  Although orders had been given not to destroy or harm the temple, in the frenzy of the battle Roman soldiers attacked the temple by setting fire to it.  There had been rumors that gold was hidden between its stones, and in search of this gold, the soldiers quite literally fulfilled Jesus' prophecy of tearing apart and throwing down the stones of the temple.  Only one retaining wall was left standing, which is today called the Western Wall (for many years referred to as the Wailing Wall as it remains to this day the site of prayers and lamentation over the temple's destruction).

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"   My study bible notes that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no exact chronology could be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15-51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Rather than giving chronologies, Jesus' emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue.  Indeed, throughout each reporting of this prophecy in the Gospels, the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem) is bound up with end times, the period in which we now live.  Matthew describes the end as encompassing three parts:  the initial sorrows (given in today's reading), the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).  My study bible notes for us that we should understand the period of the great tribulation as including the entire Christian era, and not limited to the final years before Christ's return.

And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."  Here, Christ's warnings against deception are given the greatest emphasis.  He most stresses the warning against following a false Christ, which He will repeat again in verses 11 (below) and 23-27.  Before the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, there were several "Messiahs" or "Christs" who led various violent revolts which the Romans responded to by increasingly repressive force.  Eventually this would lead to ongoing and extremely violent civil war between the Zealots and the royal family which ruled for Rome, increasing in scope and violence as it went on.

"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows."  The revolts and civil war in Jerusalem went on for years, eventually drawing in Roman forces from Syria. In the ongoing fighting between these Syrian forces and the Zealots, the Zealots' food stocks were destroyed, and the Zealots in turn began to raid the homes of local Jews.  Thus those living in Jerusalem died from famine in great number.   My study bible says that the wars described here by Jesus refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  My study bible notes here that all of these calamities and all of this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, it says, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  In a commentary of St. John Chrysostom, it notes, he marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is a sad fact of life in this world that it is, to a great extent, marred and even dominated or underscored by violence.  We have the violence of wars, which we can see described very well from the "beginning" in Genesis 4, in which the murder of one brother by another leads to ever-increasing cycles of retribution and violence, and in which Lamech eventually declares, "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."  This ongoing evil and violence through the generations sets the stage for the story of Noah, who found grace in the sight of God.  In our reading yesterday, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, tying in the violence done to all the prophets with the rejection which will now come to Him, and its eventual results in the destruction of Jerusalem.  An increasing cycle of violence ends with total destruction.  But in the midst of such alarming evil comes the Messiah, Jesus, who preaches a turning back to God, the practice of righteousness, and saves His greatest criticism for the hypocrisy of the leadership which covers their greed and selfishness, and the violence which we shall see is done in order to retain their places.  Instead, Jesus offers a cure of humility, an understanding of service as the highest calling of leadership, and a depth of self-knowledge which leads us to turn from the impulses within us which would cause abuse of power:  selfishness, lust or covetousness, violation of good conduct among ourselves, and all the possible forms that takes.  In such a world, we are given the Gospel, sent out "as sheep in the midst of wolves," taught that ultimately we are responsible to God and to neighbor, to practice a righteousness that does not exclude the heart and is not covered merely by acts designed to show our piety or righteousness as a signal to others.  Jesus teaches that it is God whose good opinion we must seek and to whom we need to answer, and this includes the possibilities and practice of an ongoing repentance, a depth of communion and prayer that keeps us walking the right road, and especially participation in His Cross.  These are the things that make for our peace.  We will always be beset by the problems that evil and its destruction pose in our world.  If we listen to Jesus, there is simply no substitute for personal righteousness and the rigorous and ongoing work of faith and of the heart.  Perhaps we, as our earliest faithful ancestors, may also see forms of violence and destruction.   Perhaps we will be spared these worst of all horrors endured in Jerusalem.  But whatever our circumstances, Jesus has a message for us in the midst of them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you"  and "he who endures to the end shall be saved."  We know what He teaches us, the word to which we cling in faith.  Each of us possesses within ourselves this capacity for faith; He calls us to awareness and endurance.  With God's help and grace, may we all encourage one another in the strength to persist in our faith and to help one another in doing so.   In the icon above, a depiction of the Second Coming, we see Christ surrounded by angels and saints from throughout the centuries, including the ongoing supplication on our behalf of the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist on His right and left.  At the top is the prepared throne of the Crucifixion.  The great circle shows us that in the Body of Christ, all is one, an eternal and great communion.  Below is an illustration of Paradise; the image on the left shows the bosom of Abraham, and on the right is the repentant good thief who enters with his cross.  Let us remember Christ's words of endurance and awareness, watchwords for all the saints of both the Old Testament and the New, in this "time of the end" in which we still live.

I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."

- Luke 21:5-19 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus spoke to the leadership in the Temple, He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The Lord said to my Lord,  "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

  Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."   Christ speaks of the destruction of the temple, which would happen in AD 70.   The fulfillment of His prophecy would come at the time of the Siege of Jerusalem, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  The destruction of the temple is linked with 'end times.'  There is no precise chronology that can determine exactly when that will happen, although it is spoken of in a variety of ways throughout Scripture:  see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and the Book of Revelation.  Christ's admonition is not to listen to those who proclaim His Return, but to endure, and do not be terrified.   He repeatedly warns not to follow false Christs.  The Gospel speaks to the absolute splendor of the temple at Jerusalem, which had quite recently (by Herod the Great, father of Herod Antipas) been rebuilt and added to.  It was known as one of the great wonders of the world, renown not only for its beauty but for its scope of building and conception.  It was the crown jewel of building projects of the man also known as Herod the Builder, his most magnificent structure.

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."  In the earlier verses, we clearly read a warning about what is to come in Jerusalem.  But Jesus extends His talk of end times to the wars that will come as part of the age.  These are not signs of the imminent end, but rather characteristics of the age, before the "end." These are things they and we are to endure, for as He says in the previous verse, the end will not come immediately.

"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  Here is the great depth of Jesus' teaching on the time before the end time.  His followers will go through persecutions.  But the real essence of His word to us is that it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  He gives specific instruction:  settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer.   We are to rely on Him:  I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  And the message here is one of pain, a depth of betrayal even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends.  What a warning it is, and what prophecy:  you will be hated by all for My name's sake.   The message here is not invincibility in some worldly personal sense; He warns that some will be put to death.  But it is in patience that we endure and possess our souls.  This is the heart of His faith in us.

What Christ does here in this teaching about the end, or perhaps we should say, the times before the end, is give us a way of seeing ourselves through them as those who fill an important function.  Persecution offers opportunity for testimony.  This is not something to think about and ponder and meditate in advance.  It is something that offers an opportunity for the work of God in us and through us.  It is an opportunity to rely fully on God's help, strength, work, and testimony.  What Jesus teaches about testimony is akin to the teaching of St. Paul on prayer:  that it is God who works in us (". . . the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession . . . " - Romans 8:26-27).  Christ as the Word, God the Son, says, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom . . .."  In the depth of tragedy, events that are terrifying, and persecutions even to the death and with the worst sorts of betrayal, there is opportunity for what is good.  There is opportunity for testimony, for the work of God the light that comes into the world and shines in the darkness, even if the darkness does not comprehend it -- and neither can it overcome (John 1:5).   Our endurance, patience, and possession of our souls is the primary thing He emphasizes.  We should not let fear nor terror get in the way of understanding that there is a mission to be part of, something in which we participate at all times -- and maybe most vividly when under duress.  We don't really know the work of God in testimony.  We never know who it effects or how.  We don't know all the spiritual workings of the Word.  But it is important to know that the Greek word martyr means "witness."  Witnessing is not necessarily about making conversion, particularly in the immediate sense.  Jesus does not say here that the kings and rulers before whom His followers will be taken are going to be converted to faith in Him and His gospel message.  He does not say that adversaries will all experience conversion or change their minds.   What He does promise is that adversaries will neither have the power to fully oppose nor contradict the word He gives.  In effect this is a promise that His word is true, and will remain, and we by our patience will possess our souls in that truth.  It is in this sense of the salvation of the soul that not a hair of your head will be lost.  Testimony involves a synergy of God's work through us, with us.  In taking in Jesus' words we should understand that the work of God is as He spoke about the Spirit:   "The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  And so it is with testimony.  We don't know how it's going to work, on what levels even prayer works within us and among us and in our world.  What we are to understand is that we are all connected in a great Body, a communion of saints, and that testimony is important work for our own souls and for that communion in which we all participate by faith.  And -- most importantly -- that even the worst of circumstances becomes by the work of God in us an opportunity for this most important good in the world, this most important act of light coming into the world, even through our own testimony.  He bears us as lights in the world for His light, even in the greatest and grimmest darkness.  Let us ponder such a great mystery, even as Jesus is going to His Passion.