The world was shocked when an extremist carried out an attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, which was caught on the church’s livestream.
Following the attack, Australian authorities attempted to silence the video and worked with various social media platforms to have it taken down. Elon Musk and his X platform (formerly Twitter) is the only major outlet that refused, in the name of free speech.
Since the vicious attack was carried out by an alleged radical Islamist, the attacker is a minor and his identity has not been released by Australian authorities, Emmanuel has returned to pulpit with a fresh energy to spread the truth of Jesus Christ.
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During his recovery, Emmanuel shared that he had forgiven his attacker, but also had a surprise update of his condition.
“This eye was lost,” Emmanuel told his congregation in a recent sermon conducted in Arabic. “I ask the Lord Jesus Christ to accept this eye as a token of love, and a token of sacrifice.”
With sight being such an integral part of the human experience, it would be easy for Emmanuel to harbor bitterness and resentment with a “why me” attitude following the attack. Instead, he mirrors the grace, love and mercy modeled for us through the perfection of Jesus Christ.
But Emmanuel says his sacrifice is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us on the cross.
“I am ashamed to say that I sacrifice to the Lord. What the Lord did on the wood of the cross, no man at all can do what He has done,” shares Emmanuel.
Anger in this type of situation is one snare Satan would like to catch us all in, but harboring hatred for the ones who persecute us is another. Yet it is another trap set by Satan that Emmanuel effortlessly sidesteps, and instead showers those who persecute him with love.
“I pray, my dear and beloved Jesus, that You accept with Your grace and love, that You accept this eye, as a token of love for every Muslim person,” Emmanuel prayed. “Wherever you are, I give you my eyes, my Muslim beloved. If you do not see, I will be your eye.”
No one can put it into better words than Jesus Christ Himself during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:44: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media
