Blessed are those who are Persecuted

The very last Beatitude that I am going to talk about is actually quite a few verses.  The last Beatitude is Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  

Throughout the looks of the Beatitudes, I have often brought up that the Beatitudes are not often idealized in this world.  They are often not the characteristics that are owned by people who are in high charge places.  This Beatitude shows us all of that.  The world does not always love those who are poor in spirit, meek, love mercy, those who mourn for others,  a peacemaker, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Because of that, there are many times they will sometimes show anger and persecute what they don’t like including the people who possess those qualities.   That is why this Beatitude holds extra weight including a great reward in heaven.  A person who is willing to be persecuted, mocked, scored, hated, and maybe even killed for the sake of the Lord or for the sake of having those righteous qualities will be later well honored and loved by the Lord. 

The Bible includes many different examples of those who are persecuted.  The verse even introduces that when it says that “the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  One example of a good prophet/follower of Jesus who was persecuted for his following of Jesus is Paul.  Paul started out killing Christians for their belief in Christ.  Then with a blinding light (literally) he sees God, becomes a Christian and then is the one who is being persecuted, through being thrown in prison and eventually many perceive beheaded in Rome.  

However, Paul always takes great joy in the Lord, even if he is suffering a lot from the people of the world.  In Philippians 3:8 Paul says, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ” Even though Paul has lost a great deal through following God and sharing God’s word, he still considers the love of God as something that means more.  That while in this life, there may be suffering at the hands of others in the form of persecution, in the end, there will be an everlasting life that will be filled with joy and love.  Paul at this time didn’t even know about the grand reward that will come from being in heaven after being persecuted.  His biggest prize is getting to know the Lord.  

The other example of someone who had struggled with persecution is of course, Jesus Christ himself.  He himself was definitely persecuted for his strong beliefs in the Father and also that he came with the prophecies about himself and the future for believers.  Eventually he would be arrested, put on trial, and later of course, executed on the cross.  He does this to die for our sins, so that way we have the opportunity to live forever with God in heaven.  He also then understands completely what it means to be persecuted and killed for one’s beliefs, so therefore, he would be the most understanding and loving to us when we also struggle through this.  

Persecution may, of course, not always end up in death.  There are many times that persecution may have nothing at all to do with any body harm, but instead there is a lot of mental hostility and hurt.  This can be as simple as people making fun of you because you may choose to go to Sunday morning church service as opposed to sleeping in.  Even though that is not a huge deal, for many that can be painful and sometimes hard to endure.  I am not going to ever say that it is not painful to be looked at strangely for talking about Jesus or for having people not understand why you feel the need to go to church on a regular basis.  I certainly have no idea what it means to be heavily persecuted where you are threatened to have your life taken away or even hurt.  I can’t even imagine that.  However, that being said, God has promised that whoever is persecuted for the sake of the Lord and the Lord’s name will have a great reward in heaven.  I have no idea what the award will be, but there is the promise that it will be grand and the Lord always keeps his promises.   

In conclusion, this Beatitude shows us that when you choose to live a righteous lifestyle, you are not going to be loved and adored by everybody.  Similar to how the Lord was not loved and adored by everybody.  There may even be some that really hate those who have that righteousness.  However, in the end the Lord will look at those people’s lives and remember that they suffered a lot for the sake of God’s glory.  This overall concludes my look at the Beatitudes.  It has been really great to look at them each individually.  Each one of the Beatitudes is individually hard to achieve and it is not at all loved by the people of the world, but each one is adored and loved by the Father.  Continuing to have a deep love for the Lord and looking to the world and the characteristics above will be the only thing that helps us achieve each individual Beatitude and therefore the relationship and rewards that come with it.