ANUARUL ACADEMIC 2003-2004 - Facultatea de Teologie "Andrei ...

Thus, we can see that according to Fr. Bejan, the reasons of joy wereworshipping Lord Christ, the Christian inmates’ purity, and the hopeful endurance.Not only Fr. Bejan, but also pastor Richard Wurmbrand expresses the same allembracing joy. He also mentions that the Christians` joy was a reason foramazement among the guards and the other prisoners:“When I look back on the fourteen years of prison, it was sometimes a veryhappy time. Other prisoners and even the guards were very often wondered athow happy Christians could be under most terrible circumstances. We could notbe prevented from singing, although we were beaten for this. I imagine thatnightingales too would sing, even if they knew that after finishing they would bekilled for it. Christians in prison danced for joy. How could they be so happyunder such tragic conditions?” 92 .Not only the guards and other prisoners wonder at the joyful condition of theChristian inmates. Pastor Richard Wurmbrand finds an urge to meditation in thishappiness of the Christians.And he finds a suggestive biblical context for theChristian inmates` situation. This is the context of Lord Jesus’ words to Hisdisciples from Luke 10:23: “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see”(Luke 10:23). Pastor Richard Wurmbrand sees a complete antagonistic relationbetween the Lord’s words and the reality that the disciples see: “Palestine was anoppressed country. Everywhere there was the terrible misery of a tyrannizedpeople. The disciples met sickness, plagues, hunger, sorrow…It was not a beautifulworld to look upon. Still Jesus said: (Luke 10:23)” 93 . However paradoxical the situation seems, theLord’s words are filled with meaningful content. Pastor Richard Wurmbrandconcludes: “That was because they had not only seen the suffering. They had alsoseen the Saviour of all, the Achiever of the last good, and the Goal which mankindwill attain” 94 .Thus the source of joy is the hope to-be, everything is future oriented. Afterthis meditation, pastor Richard Wurmbrand goes back to his situation in prison, andapplies the same perspective:“Around me there were Jobs, some much more afflicted than Job had been. ButI knew the end of Job’s story; how he received twice as much as he had before. I92 R. Wurmbrand, op. cit., p. 59.93 Ibidem, p. 59.94 Ibidem.171