When One Suffers, All Suffer
He who touches you touches the apple of His eye.
ZECHARIAH 2:8
+
When One Suffers, All Suffer
Whenever the lowliest member of Christendom suffers, immediately the whole body feels it and is roused, so that all the members at once come running, crying out, and shouting. For our Head, Christ hears it and feels it in the same way. And though He holds back for a time, nevertheless, when He begins to glare and His nose flares, He will not be coming in jest. . .. See what precious promise this is, for the great comfort and assurance of Christians against their persecutors, to know that He is so deeply and personally affected by our sufferings that He calls it "touching the apple of His eye" and will tolerate it just as little as anyone could endure much poking in the apple of his own eye. And so when the devil assaults a Christian, he lays hold of something that will make him bite his own tongue and burn his finger.
From Sermons on the Gospel of John, Chapters 17-20 (Luther's Works 69:78-79)
ZECHARIAH 2:8
+
When One Suffers, All Suffer
Whenever the lowliest member of Christendom suffers, immediately the whole body feels it and is roused, so that all the members at once come running, crying out, and shouting. For our Head, Christ hears it and feels it in the same way. And though He holds back for a time, nevertheless, when He begins to glare and His nose flares, He will not be coming in jest. . .. See what precious promise this is, for the great comfort and assurance of Christians against their persecutors, to know that He is so deeply and personally affected by our sufferings that He calls it "touching the apple of His eye" and will tolerate it just as little as anyone could endure much poking in the apple of his own eye. And so when the devil assaults a Christian, he lays hold of something that will make him bite his own tongue and burn his finger.
From Sermons on the Gospel of John, Chapters 17-20 (Luther's Works 69:78-79)
Posted in Daily Devotions
Recent
Archive
2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak TruthEnduring Nation
2025
January
Not AshamedIn Every RespectWe Are In His HouseHear His VoiceTodayBut You BelieveRest in ChristRest in FaithRest in Christ’s WordConfidence in Our Great High PriestOur Eternal High PriestCalled by GracePerfect Through SufferingA Little MilkFoundationGod Comes to UsFaith in ChristObtaining the PromiseThe King of PeaceBlessed by the SuperiorA Priest Forever in ChristThe Forever PriestA Better HopeOur Eternal IntercessorOur Perfect High PriestOur Eternal High PriestThe Better Covenant in ChristA New CovenantPromises KeptOnly The High PriestNot the Blood of Goats