"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for
my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (Matthew 5:10-
12).
This blessing of the Lord, like the ones before it, falls on our natural
ears like discord. Blessed? When people talk insultingly of us? When they do
unkind, spiteful, even harmful deeds to us?
There is an important point of clarification in this beatitude. "For
righteousness' sake ... for my sake." Jesus is not putting a blanket blessing
on all those who are reviled or harmed, but on those who are maligned and
mistreated for His sake.
When we consider this beatitude, our thoughts may first go to countries
that have been intolerant of Christianity, countries where Christians have
been put in prison, tortured, and killed for their faith. And the Lord's
blessing certainly falls on such. Of such is the kingdom of heaven!
The Apostle Paul, however, after describing such hardships in his own life,
wrote, "Yea, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
There has always been a deep antagonism from Satan toward God, from the
world toward the Church, and thus from the ungodly toward the godly. This is
not to say that every believer hates every unbeliever. But it is to say that
there is an essential conflict between evil and good, and that this conflict
will spill out of unbelieving, sinful, carnal people against believing,
righteous, Spirit-filled people. It will spill out in derogatory remarks, in
cutting accusations, in spiteful attitudes, in unfair dealings, and sometimes
in physical harm.
The more subtle persecution and sometimes the most malicious comes from
those who hide their carnality and sinfulness behind religious cloaks. Jesus
found it so. The Gentile rulers, Pilate and Herod, would have set Jesus free,
but the Scripture-thumping religious leaders were hostile beyond reason.
Hypocrisy--form without life--is still with us, and therefore, those who live
like Jesus will be despised and persecuted. Following are some examples:
And Jesus said, "Rejoice!"
Even when our actions have been righteous, we find that our natural
reactions to unkind, cutting, sarcastic, demeaning, words and actions are
carnal. We don't naturally rejoice when mistreated. It is far easier to be
discouraged, to find sympathizers, to lash back, to mentally review the hurt
and grow bitter.
Jesus said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake."
Why should we rejoice?
Jesus says, "Rejoice!" And He knows what He is talking about.
Let's balance these examples with recognizing that there is no virtue in
being different. There is a blessing only in living righteously, like
Jesus.
When you have done right and were criticized, insulted, ignored, laughed
at, and held at arm's length for it, how have you responded?