PERSECUTION — the hatred
and affliction that follows the witness and holy life of God’s
people in a hostile world. The concept is stressed in many of the Old
Testament prophetic books, such as Isaiah. The New Testament also
teaches that God’s people will suffer persecution. Jesus taught
that God’s prophets always faced persecution (Matt. 5:12); so His
disciples should expect the same (Matt. 10:23).
In the early church, two ideas were taken over from
Judaism to express the meaning of persecution. The Jewish theologians
taught that the death of the righteous sufferer had redemptive value.
While this idea was applied primarily to Jesus by the early
Christians, the persecution of His followers was seen as a
participation in Jesus’ suffering: filling up “what is lacking in
the afflictions of Christ” (Col. 1:24). A good statement of this is
that of Tertullian: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
Church.”
The idea of the coming Messiah held that the suffering
of God’s people was part of the coming of the kingdom—evidence
that a person is truly one of God’s own. Therefore they are
“blessed” (Matt. 5:10) and should “rejoice” and “glorify
God” since “the time has come for judgment to begin at the house
of God” (1 Pet. 4:13–17).
Jewish opposition to Christianity arose primarily among
the Sadducees (Acts 4:1; 5:17). At first the common people and the
Pharisees did not oppose the church strongly (Acts 5:14, 34; 23:6).
The first persecution came because Stephen spoke out about the
inadequacy of the land of Israel and the Temple for salvation. This
intensified when the apostle Paul began to proclaim the salvation of
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ alone. Both Jew and Christian began
to realize that the two were now separate religions, rather than
sects of a single religion.
Roman opposition to Christianity also developed
gradually. The Book of Acts emphasized Roman tolerance for the new
religion. But this began to change with the Jewish riots against
Christians in Rome, resulting in the Emperor Claudius banning both
groups from Rome in a.d. 49. This set the stage for the intense
opposition of later years that allowed Nero to make Christians the
scapegoats for the fire that leveled Rome in a.d. 64. During this
persecution the apostles Paul and Peter were martyred.1
10 “God blesses those who
are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is theirs.” Persecution should not surprise Christians. People
who put others before themselves will seldom receive applause and
honors. Often, they will be persecuted instead. Because they
live for God, they stand out from the world and become marks for
enemy attacks. The world is under Satan’s control, and believers
belong to the opposing army. The reward for these believers will be
the Kingdom of Heaven. God will make up for the suffering that
his children have undergone because of their loyalty to him.
5:11 “God blesses you when
you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my
followers.” Jesus was telling his disciples that they shouldn’t
be surprised when people mock them, persecute them, and lie about
them. Jesus would face such treatment. Later, he explained to his
followers that they should expect nothing different (10:18; 24:9;
John 15:20).
5:12 Jesus described the
way the disciples should respond to persecution: “Be happy about
it! Be very glad!” This refers to deep, spiritual joy that is
unhindered and unchanged by what happens in this present life. A
person with righteous character can rejoice and be glad because of
the promise: a great reward awaits you in heaven. The
persecution will pale in comparison to the great reward.
Besides that, the disciples had
good company: the ancient prophets were persecuted, too. Jesus
placed his disciples in a long line of God’s followers who lived
righteously and spoke truthfully—only to suffer for it. Jesus
explained that to live and speak for God in the face of unjust
persecution, as the ancient prophets did, would bring great reward in
heaven.2
sed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 10). Notice that
this beatitude does not say that persecution for just anything is
blessed. People all over the world experience persecution of all
kinds, but not always for the sake of righteousness. Peter writes,
“It is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil” (1 Pet. 3:17). In other words,
it is one thing to suffer because we have done evil, but it is quite
another thing to suffer for doing what is right. In that
regard we are merely seeking to be imitators of Jesus, who suffered
perhaps more hostility, loathing, and persecution than any individual
in the history of the world, and yet every ounce of His suffering was
altogether for the sake of righteousness.
Righteous behavior provokes persecution because the
unrighteous in this world cannot stand to behold righteousness. Those
who hated Jesus most fiercely were the Pharisees because they had a
public pretense of righteousness that was not real. Their sin chiefly
involved hypocrisy, because while they pretended righteousness they
were in fact unrighteous, and they, in their pretense of
righteousness, crucified the Son of glory. Nothing exposes the
counterfeit faster than the authentic. When true righteousness
appeared in the person of Jesus, the false righteousness of the
Pharisees was exposed for what it was, and they hated it.
I once had a student with a 4.0 grade-point average,
which in those days was the highest there could be. She was
brilliant, and her grade-point average broke the curve. As she broke
the curve I noticed that the rest of the students did not applaud
her. In fact, they did not like it and tended to scorn her. In the
second semester of her senior year I gave her an examination that she
failed. I told her I thought that she had failed the test
deliberately, and she began to cry. She admitted that she had done
just that because none of the men wanted to date her; they all
thought she was too smart. She made a pretense of failure in order to
be accepted. This woman in her way had suffered for doing what was
right.
The same thing happens when Christians refrain from
participating in worldly activities. Even if you say nothing outright
against the activities, those who participate in them will look at
you askance and call you “holier than thou.” That kind of
persecution is hardly the same as that experienced worldwide for the
sake of Christ. People lose their jobs and their lives if they so
much as publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus. There are
different levels of persecution, yet no Christian can go through life
without receiving some form of it. Jesus goes into greater detail in
the next beatitude.
Reviled for Christ’s Sake
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute
you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake”
(v. 11). Our Lord has in view here the type of persecution that
includes slander. People so persecuted are reviled and falsely
accused, and their reputations become tarnished. Again, we are not
promised blessing just because people speak evil against us; the
blessing is promised when these things happen for Jesus’ sake.
For the sake of Jesus, have you ever been slandered or
falsely accused? Has anyone ever falsely accused you for the sake of
Jesus? If you have experienced that, you know how painful it can be.
Our reputations are precious to us, and it is difficult to be accused
of things that we have not done or of saying things that we have not
said. How can that be an occasion for blessedness? Jesus tells us:
“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
heaven” (v. 12).
As a student I was once selected by the seminary to give
a sermon in chapel on a special occasion. It was an annual event at
which the entire presbytery convened. There were ministers present
from about two hundred churches, along with the student body of the
seminary and the faculty. It was a great honor to be selected to
deliver the sermon. I chose to preach on the doctrine of sin, and in
the sermon I explained what I had been taught at seminary about
sin—that sin is an existential failure to achieve authentic
existence. I’d been taught that sin in the final analysis is simply
a matter of finitude, a necessary component of creatureliness, and a
psychological malady. Then I told the audience that while I agree
that we struggle in all these ways, not one of them comes close to
the biblical understanding of the nature of sin. According to
Scripture, sin is a violation of the holiness of God. Sin is a
transgression of His law, and such transgression cannot be minimized
by explaining it away in psychological categories of neurosis or in
existential categories of inauthenticity or by reducing it simply to
finitude.
When the sermon was finished, I stepped down from the
pulpit, and a rush of students came toward me. The students, most of
them liberal thinkers, came to me moved and excited about the sermon.
I was amazed. I thought they would want to tar and feather me.
However, not everyone was happy. As I made my way to the back of the
chapel, the dean of the seminary approached me, and he was irate. In
fact, his face was contorted with rage. He began to yell at me in
front of the crowd, and he physically pushed me up against the back
of the wall and said, “You have distorted every truth of
Protestantism in that sermon this morning.” I was devastated, and I
walked out of the chapel and wondered if I had really made such
distortions.
I went to see my mentor, John Gerstner. When I told him
what had happened, he grinned and said, “You should be exceedingly
glad.” I told him that I did not feel exceedingly glad, and he
replied, “Every Calvinist from John Calvin to B. B. Warfield is
rejoicing in heaven this morning for what they heard out of that
pulpit. You are blessed because you have just been reviled for
Christ’s sake.” I certainly did not feel blessed, but in a small
way, I was able to experience the wrath of men for the sake of the
truth of God.
Rewards
The concept of rewards is something with which we often
struggle. We put so much emphasis on justification by faith rather
than by works that we sometimes despise the works we might be able to
achieve. How can we reconcile the truth that Christ is our only merit
with our receiving great reward in heaven? There are at least
twenty-five texts in the New Testament that teach that rewards in
heaven will be distributed by Christ according to our works. We get
to heaven by faith alone, but the reward we experience once we are
there is based upon the works that we do in this world. Therefore,
those who are justified are called to live fruitful, godly lives that
produce good works, and those works will receive a heavenly reward.
Augustine said that when God rewards us for our works,
even those works are so tainted by sin that they are at best splendid
vices. The best work we do will not deserve a reward in heaven.
Nevertheless, even though we do not deserve it, we will receive it.
When God distributes rewards in heaven, He will be crowning His own
gifts, which means that God is the one who has gifted you to do the
work you do. It is only by grace that you are able to do it.
The reward promised is a future one, although if we look
at the last clause of this beatitude, we see that there is a present
reward: “for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you” (v. 12). If you have been slandered in this world for the
sake of Christ, for righteousness’ sake, you will indeed receive a
great reward when you get to heaven, but even now you will be
numbered among the prophets of the Old Testament. Even now, in God’s
sight, you are included in the select company of those who have gone
before and tasted the same slander. If you have experienced this, you
are in the company of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the prophets before
you. That is splendid company in which to be numbered. The reward is
not future only but comes to us even now, if we understand the
blessed way in which our Lord looks at us. He sees us. He observes
us. He encourages us.3
10 Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the
kingdom of heaven.
The men of the world judge those men very unhappy and
miserable whom their rulers make the objects of their wrath and
malice, and pursue violently to the loss of their estates, liberties,
or lives, never considering the cause for which they are so pursued:
but they are quite mistaken; for that man who is pursued by such
violence, and hunted upon this account, because to please men he
durst not sin against God, but labours to keep a conscience void
of offence toward God, and toward men, Acts 24:16, is a blessed
man; and if he be hunted out of the kingdoms of the earth, yet he
shall be hunted but to heaven, for to such men belongeth the kingdom
of God in glory, James 1:12; 1 Pet. 3:14; 4:13.4
What? Persecution? Maybe you thought if a person
possessed a “beatitude mentality”—if he was aware of his own
poverty, if he mourned over his sin, if he was meek, if he hungered
and thirsted after righteousness, if he had a pure heart, if he
showed mercy—he would be popular. But such is not the case, for if
the attitudes of meekness and mercy, poverty of spirit and
righteousness of heart are being worked out in you, you will
encounter persecution. You will have enemies. You will be slandered
and misunderstood because in 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul says this, “Yea,
and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.” That’s a promise.
Jesus said, “Happy is the one who is persecuted.
You’re joining a great company, the company of the prophets. And,
indeed, you will have profit in heaven—exceedingly great reward.”
“Be happy,” Jesus said, “because your reward in
heaven is going to be great when men persecute you—and they will!”
Notice one more thing before we leave these verses. It says, “and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake.” Many times Christians are being persecuted not because
they’re living righteously, but because they’re weird. Weirdness
doesn’t count!
These are the attitudes that will lead to happiness and
fulfillment: poverty of spirit, mourning over sin, meekness that no
longer struts, but submits, hungering and thirsting for
righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, persecution—this
is the pathway to happiness.5
5:10–12
Blessed
are those who have been persecuted:
Jesus’ promise of blessing for persecution appears the most
difficult one to accept; it also promises the greatest rewards (the
first of many such promises in the NT consummating with Rev. 22:12).
It seems strange, indeed. When we see people experiencing this kind
of persecution, do we think, “Blessed”? Hardly! Why? Because we
are not truly kingdom oriented. If we can really believe what Jesus
is saying here, it will revolutionize our attitude toward trials. The
truth is that our positions of service and dimensions of glory that
we will enjoy in the kingdom are being determined today by how we
handle the experiences of this life. It seemed contrary, in fact, to
the covenant promises of material blessing for righteous living, on
which the Pharisees built their materialistic view of life (Deut.
7:12–16; Ps. 84:11). Jesus clinched His point by appeal to the
persecuted prophets (Heb. 11:32–40). For the first time the Lord
changes from the third person, “they,” to the second person,
“you.” Perhaps He is saying that if the Beatitudes are lived out
in life, the Lord’s followers may expect persecution. Persecution
is not unusual. Proper response is! The Beatitudes emphasize
character. The Lord begins this discourse with this accent to show
that being
precedes doing.
Sometimes it is said that a person’s character should not be at
issue but only his or her ideas, viewpoints, or actions. The
Beatitudes belie such a perspective. Character stands behind each of
our thoughts and beliefs.6
10. As
Jesus develops His message He makes it clear that such a life causes
His people to be in direct contrast to the world in which they live.
Therefore He reminds, Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake. The plural use of ye in verse 11 indicates
that He foresaw this persecution as touching all His followers.
Notice 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The nature of this persecution (Gr
diōkō) implies a driving or chasing away, a withstanding or
keeping one from his goal. This does not mean that every Christian
will necessarily suffer physical abuse as evidence of true salvation.
While many Christians have sealed their faith with their blood, many
more have had to withstand the social temptations and pressures of
the world in order to live effectively for Christ.
11. Again, Jesus warns that men shall revile
you, and persecute you. This became true during His own ministry,
in the lives of the apostles and throughout the history of the
church. But in Tertullian’s words, “The blood of the martyrs
became the seed of the church.” The persecution spoken of here is
twofold. First, it involves a physical pursuing of the persecuted and
secondly a personal attack of slander against them.
- Rejoice is the command that grows out of the blessedness of the believer. The phrase “rejoice and be exceeding glad” means rejoice, but even more exalt! The believer who is the blessed one may not only rejoice in tribulation but he may rejoice exceedingly to the point of exaltation. Therefore, he glories in tribulation even as the Apostle Paul (cf. 2 Cor 1:3–7; 12:7–10). Great is your reward in heaven focuses attention upon the eternal, spiritual destiny of all things. If God is as real as He claims, if the Bible is true, if heaven is to be gained, then there is no temporary earthly trouble or persecution that can thwart the child of God from the eternal glory that lies ahead. In Romans 8:18, Paul proclaimed, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”7
5:10. As
Jesus develops His message, He clearly teaches that such a life
causes His people to be in direct contrast to the world in which they
live. Therefore He reminds us, Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness’ sake. The plural use of “ye” in verse 11
indicates that He foresaw this persecution as touching all His
followers. Notice 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
5:11. Again, Jesus warns that men shall revile
you, and persecute you. This became true during His own ministry,
in the lives of the apostles, and throughout the history of the
church. The persecution spoken of here is twofold. First, it involves
a physical pursuing of the persecuted, and second, a personal attack
of slander against them.
5:12. Rejoice is the command that grows out of
the blessedness of the believer. The phrase Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad means even more, exult! Great is your reward in
heaven focuses attention on the eternal destiny of all things. If
God is as real as He claims, if the Bible is true, if heaven is to be
gained, then no temporary earthly trouble or persecution can
dispossess the child of God of joy in the prospect of the eternal
glory that lies ahead.8
:10 Those
who are persecuted are those who have been wrongly treated because of
their faith. God is pleased when his people show that they value him
above everything in the world, and this happens when they
courageously remain faithful amid opposition for righteousness’
sake.
5:11–12 Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you … on my account. Just as Jesus
experienced opposition and persecution, his disciples can expect the
same. Their reward may not come on earth, but it surely will be
theirs in heaven. so they persecuted the prophets.
Throughout history, beginning with Cain’s murder of Abel (Gen. 4:8;
cf. 1 John 3:12), there have been those who oppose God’s people.9
1
Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas
Nelson Publishers (Eds.). (1995). In Nelson’s new illustrated
Bible dictionary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
2
Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman,
D. (2001). Life Application New Testament Commentary (p. 24).
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.
3
Sproul, R. C. (2013). Matthew (pp. 91–94). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway.
4
Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 3, p.
21). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.
5
Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary
(p. 27). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
6
Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s
new illustrated Bible commentary (Mt 5:10–12). Nashville: T.
Nelson Publishers.
7
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible
Commentary (pp. 1885–1886). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
8
King James Version study Bible . (1997). (electronic ed., Mt
5:10–12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
9
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1828).
Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Gay Theology: Did God Really Say, “You must not…”