Proclaiming God's Reign

Supposing two men come to a city without food, money, or a change of clothes.  Who do you think would welcome them, where would they find an open door?  Who would want to know them?  What sort of lodging would they find and where would they start to look for it?  One must surely marvel at the power of one who could send his disciples out in such a way, and at the faith of those whom he sent.

What had these men to offer?  What was their message?  "He was crucified," they said.  The preachers were Jews, men of lowly station, ignorant, illiterate, poor.  Their teaching was about a cross:  hence the need for faith.  But power triumphs through difficulties.  The cross was proclaimed and temples were destroyed; the cross was proclaimed and kings were conquered; the cross was proclaimed and the worldly-wise were put to shame, pagan festivals were abolished, pagan deities destroyed.  Why be so amazed that the apostles were believed, or that they themselves could believe, and then they returned home safely after being welcomed everywhere?  But these are truly great marvels and we should not fail to realize this.  Unknown strangers, poorly dressed, and without contacts, traveled all over the world proclaiming someone who had been crucified, and offering a life of fasting in place of drunkenness, and irksome self-restraint in place of sensuality.  It can hardly have been easy for those addicted to such vices to receive these exhortation to renounce them and live upright lives.  And yet whole peoples seized upon this teaching, whole nations embraced it.

Eusebius of Emesa

Eusebius (359) was a bishop, a prolific author, and a courageous opponent of heresy.