A Hundred Times More

Louisa Ikena reflects on a recent Bible verse search and on the theme of multiplication of blessings in discipleship compared to walking an easier road.

I recently was searching for a Bible passage that emphasizes joy in this life, in addition to joy in heaven. My memory told me it had “a hundred” or “a hundredfold” within the verse. I am grateful today, in this day and age, for Bible websites with search engines. The reason I was searching for this passage was that the question had come up in discussion—is it our lot in life to suffer, or is there joy in the journey? I realize now that there’s not a black or white answer to that, but I set about on a quest for Biblical backing for having joy in the journey.

I first found the parable of the Sower in the synoptic Gospels, in Matthew 13:23, Mark 4:8, and Luke 8:8. Seed that falls on good rich soil produces fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Oh, that our Church may experience this abundant blessing today! Lord, cultivate the soil in me and make it rich in You. I pray You might grow an abundant harvest of fruit in what we say and do from Your Kingdom.

Next, I found reference to a hundred sheep in Matthew 18:12. How radical of Jesus, our Shepherd, to leave the 99 to go in search of the one sheep who went astray! Lord, please continue to lead me back when I go astray.

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Then I found the verses I was truly searching for in Mark 10:30 and Matthew 19:29. In fact, Mark chapter 10 and Matthew chapter 19 are remarkably similar. These chapters include Jesus’ teachings on marriage and divorce, the blessing of children, and the story of the rich man that contains the verse I had been searching for. There is at least one slight difference of detail between these two chapters. In Matthew 19 a rich young man approaches Jesus. In Mark, it is simply a rich man.

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and [the] last will be first.” (Mark 10:29-31)

When I surrender all to God, I receive a promise. Jesus promises a hundred times more now, in the present age … with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. It’s very uplifting to think of these promises. For me, I want to live a life of complete abandon to God’s Will. I have learned that the more total our surrender, the more fully realized is our freedom, especially freedom from all that stands opposed to God. Jesus’ promises here are very rich in hope. And they are rich in warning as the passage mentions persecutions. There cannot be an Easter Sunday without a Good Friday.

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The more total our surrender, the more fully realized is our freedom, especially freedom from all that stands opposed to God. #CatholicMom

Discipleship is rarely a cakewalk. Persecutions are real. I believe it was St. Ignatius who famously spoke of consolations and desolations. One call that I hear is for perservance through the good times and the bad, through the comforting moments and the uncomfortable ones.

When I give up my own hopes and dreams and lay them at the foot of the Cross, I receive a hundred times more hopes and dreams purified, cleansed of self-will and saturated in God’s Will. To stay in self-will might be easier, but I will only find peace when I bring my will into alignment with God’s Will. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10b).

There is, indeed, joy in the journey. Just for today I’m going to keep persevering, keep searching for truth, and keep being grateful for blessings and joys that are “a hundred times more” than anything I’ve given up on this spiritual adventure.

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