Persecution- Matthew 5:10-12

This post concerns persecution of Christians.

Persecution describes the eighth beatitude stated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:10-12. “Blessed… those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, for theirs … the kingdom of heaven. Blessed you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and… glad, for your reward … great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Consider the beatitudes as a whole. The first seven beatitudes cover what the Christian should show to the world: a contrite spirit, and an attitude of doing right with pure hearts seeking to be peacemakers between God and man. Thus, ill treatment of these people may surprise us.

However, this subject clearly matters to Jesus. Only on this beatitude does Jesus’ comment further to show clearly what the disciple should expect. He also makes the reason for maltreatment clear: for righteousness’s sake. This means that some people will persecute the disciple for trying to mimic what God does— doing right.

In addition, Jesus says that ill-usage can come because of me referring to Himself. When I try to obey Jesus and walk as He directs, unkind things may occur.

Note what this beatitude does not say. Jesus does not say that maltreatment will come due to the disciple exhibiting a hateful or unkind attitude toward unconverted people. The first seven beatitudes stress the kind attitude of the Christian. Ill treatment occurs anyway.

This beatitude offers a way to examine self. If abuse occurs, such verifies my claim as a child of God.

Finally, we can rejoice in being mistreated. The reason for rejoicing under these unjust actions clearly appears—a great reward in heaven.

So, what did we learn?

1.God will bless us when we suffer persecution.

2.Maltreatment occurs when we practice righteousness and follow Jesus.

3.When ill-treated, we rejoice because of our reward in heaven.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#forRighteousnessSake #rejoiceInPersecution #GodBlessesPersecuted