My mother said these words whenever she heard of a terrible crime or injustice done to someone. The Lord Jesus, speaking to his disciples of the persecution they were soon to face, said: “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30) In Luke 21:18 Jesus says: “Not a hair of your head shall be lost.”
Surely a strange thing to say to men who would soon die for preaching that Jesus was both Lord and Messiah. The Apostle James, and later Paul, would lose not just the hairs of their heads but their very heads.
Jesus was not saying they wouldn’t die but was assuring them that no part of them would be lost in the Resurrection. He had also said that not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without his Father’s will and knowledge. “So do not be afraid: you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7) God knows everything and misses nothing.
We know that our DNA is numbered, in the binary sense, so there was a lot more in the words of Jesus than was known at the time. Nowadays, Christians are losing not only their heads in some countries. We need to remember the assurance of Jesus that God is well aware of everything, and that when resurrected they will have lost nothing.
We also need to keep in mind that on Judgement Day those whom Jesus finds guilty of such crimes will lose everything — including their own souls — eternally.