Good News for Christ's Persecuted Followers

We come now to the last of Jesus’ beatitudes here in the Sermon on the Mount. When we started a couple months ago, we asked the question, What does it mean to be blessed?

To be blessed, we discovered, means to be happy, but not merely emotionally happy. It means to be fortunate, but not merely in the sense of Good luck. It means to be congratulated, but not as those who have earned some special applause - to be blessed is to be in the good way.

In the first beatitude, we found that those who are poor in spirit are the blessed ones - they are in the good way even though they recognize such a spiritual poverty that cannot be overcome. They are blessed, because not everyone knows their condition. The blessing was a kingdom blessing.

The mourners are blessed - those who recognize spiritual poverty, spiritual bankruptcy and mourn over that condition, both in themselves and in society. There is a comfort for these mourners, a comfort realized in the Gospel and Jesus’ new creation.

The meek are blessed, even though they don’t fight back, even though they don’t stand in self-confidence and high self-esteem. It is not the strong, belligerent conquerors who will stand on the last day, but those who meekly submit to the sovereignty and Lordship of Christ.

The hungry and thirsty are blessed, because knowing their spiritual condition, mourning over it, realizing they cannot bring themselves out, they hunger and thirst after God and His righteous ways - and this hunger will be satisfied.

Those who display mercy are blessed, because they stand in a constant stream of God’s mercy.

The pure in heart are blessed, because their ultimate desire is God - it is to see Him, to see His beauty, his majesty, his righteousness, and they will see Him. The desire of their souls is met and will be met in the Gospel of Christ.

The peacemakers are blessed, because they do the will of God in making restoration. They will be seen as and called the sons of God.

All of these are incredibly counter-cultural. They are contra-normal. None of these are first inclinations. None of them can be claimed as a “personality type.” Yet, it is possible to see the goodness in many of them. It is possible to see the goodness in being meek rather than oppressive. It is possible to see the good in being merciful rather than self-centered. It is possible to see the good in being a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker. In other words, you may be able to convince a disinterested party that these ways of Jesus are beneficial in their natural sense, that there is good value in seeking this way of life for its immediate goodness - but that prospect is lost when we reach the last point.

If Jesus was trying to make a case for following Him on the basis of earthly benefit, He blows it when He comes to beatitude number 8. Meekness? Sure, i can see that Jesus. Mercy? Yeah, that sounds like it could be nice. Peacemaking? I can see the benefits in that. And then Jesus says, “at the end of all this, the blessed way is probably going to lead you to persecution, suffering, slander and revilings. And that is the blessed way.”

Humanly speaking, it seems like Jesus just pulled a bait and switch. But of course, He didn’t. Because none of these beatitudes come from earthly disposition or inclination. From the very beginning He makes it clear that this way is, earthly speaking, backwards - and that is no more clear than when He says

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

We must realize immediately that there is probably a significant disconnect in our understanding and conception of persecution. We, as American citizens, have been afforded such docile conditions in our history and religion that we have almost lost the category of persecution as a blessing and expectation. But we should temper any concept of privilege, any expectation of lack of suffering with Jesus words here, and in other places.

John 15:20 ESV

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

That statement in John 15 and This final beatitude are incredibly important for understanding the scope of what Jesus teaches us about following Him. If we take Jesus’ ethics but despise these kind of statements, we are still left with a unique kind of emptiness. For in that condition, we are essentially saying, “Jesus was a wise, ethical teacher who was perhaps a little too fanatical.” None of us would voice that opinion, but desiring the earthly benefits of righteousness without the costly price of discipleship is equivalent to half-truth.

Christ’s persecuted followers are the blessed ones, because their final breath on earth is the realization of the eternal value of following Jesus.

What is persecution?

Persecution, by definition, is to be subject to systematic harassment and attack due to your religious belief or affiliation.

The word that Jesus uses means, literally, to be pursued, chased, driven away, harassed, or hunted. That makes it fairly vivid. In other words, persecution isn’t bad luck or a series of misfortunes, it is an intentional, personal, motivated pursuit for the sake of harm or defamation.

We can take cues from Jesus’ own words both here and in Luke 6 to see what kind of actions He was thinking about. He expands his thoughts about persecution in verse 11, where he includes two things, namely, reviling and slander.

Reviling is sometimes translated as insulting, mocking, or reproaching. That is, it is to find fault and express that in a harsh manner. So this is a verbal “persecution.”

He also refers to “evil speaking.” Perhaps slander would be a one-word equivalent. That is, when someone concludes that you are evil, and they make that conclusion known.

There is even more expansion given in Luke 6.

Luke 6:22 ESV

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!

Here the persecution includes being hated and being excluded. We find, then, that persecution follows the pattern of the heart. Someone hates the persecuted person in their heart. They follow this hatred with exclusion, then verbal slander and assault, and as the rest of scripture indicates as a real possibility, persecution often leads to physical attack, even including death.

Now, of all the beatitudes, this one seems the most severe. Again, you could make an argument for some that they might be naturally appealing. For others, it is a stretch. Mourning? Poverty of Spirit? Not so appealing. But there is none so unappealing as this 8th and final beatitude.

Yet, we cannot see this final beatitude as somehow standing in contrast to the rest. We cannot see the beatitudes as Jesus saying, “These seven things are positives, and these are the blessed way, but if all goes wrong and you are persecuted, it is still ok!” No, Jesus didn’t add persecution to the end of the list to cover himself in case his followers were disappointed or it didn’t go well. He includes persecution in His Kingdom blessings because it is as much to be expected of a Christ-follower than poverty of spirit, meekness, pureness of hearth, and peacemaking. It is not an appendix, or an addendum, or a “just in case” beatitude - it flows with the rest.

All of these blessings are contra-expectation. If we begin to see any of them as mere cause and effect, then this last one realigns our thinking. Hate? Exclusion? Slander? Verbal abuse? Physical harm? Are you sure?

This is one of the times where we must be reassured by the fact that it is Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord of Creation, King of the Kingdom who is speaking these words. Any other speaker would naturally and rightfully be ridiculed and rejected for inviting his listeners to suffer for his sake - but in the case of Jesus, there is true blessedness even in persecution.

What does this kind of persecution look like?

Now, a very important question arises, and one that Jesus answers well in His simple statements. If Jesus says the persecuted are blessed, it is not enough to know simply what persecution is, but also what kind of persecution, or perhaps, what cause for the persecution.

Let me explain. There is a dangerous concept that seems to always float around the spheres of thought and ideas that goes something like this.

“If I am being persecuted, I must be on the right side of history.” That is, if we are treated poorly or discredited or given grief or arrested or harmed or stopped because of something that we have done or said, then we must be right because otherwise they wouldn’t care.

That is not only false, but it is ridiculously false. Bad things happening to you does not indicate that you are in the good way. If you get a speeding ticket, it doesn’t mean that you are being “oppressed by the man.” If you get fired from work, it doesn’t automatically mean that you are being systemically oppressed by your superiors. If your spouse disagrees with you, it doesn’t mean that your manhood or womanhood or personal dignity is being challenged.

Jesus’ statements here are not general statements about persecution and mistreatment. Jesus beatitude for the persecuted is not a general principle of persecution=blessedness.

Jesus is explicit and exclusive in who He is speaking about. What does He say?

Matthew 5:10 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

His first qualification comes immediately. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Now, we have noted in the past that the way Jesus uses the word righteousness, and the way Matthew uses the word righteousness in this Gospel record is very practical. Righteousness, in its basic scriptural form, is right living and right relationship before God. It is first Godward, and also manward. It is reflected in the Great Commandment that we looked at a couple weeks ago. Love God supremely, and love others also. Righteousness is explained and delineated through God’s decrees, His laws, His revelation. Righteousness is displayed and fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ.

So we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness. That is the first qualifier. Am I being persecuted because of God’s righteousness and His righteous ways in my life? Am I being slandered because I am seeking to follow and obey Him, seeking to love Him supremely and love others in His will?

We can state this in a negative. This blessing is not for those who are persecuted because they are belligerent and unnecessarily rude. In other words, if share the truth of Christ in an unchristlike manner and someone despises you for it, that is not persecution for righteousness sake. You can say all you want, “they hate me and reject me because I’m a Christian!” But they might just be hating you and rejecting you because you’re a jerk.

Another example. Some have an overrealized propensity to equate following certain political leanings to following Jesus. Then, when others reject your political stance, you feel religiously persecuted. Now, it is entirely possible and very probably that you have arrived at some of your political opinions because they align with the ethics of the Bible, but please don’t equate political shame with persecution for righteousness sake. Remember that someone can be a proponent of something you believe is righteous, while at the same time exhibiting a completely unrighteous lifestyle and disposition. That is common in politics. We don’t get a martyr’s crown when our political candidate doesn’t get elected. That is not what Jesus is speaking of.

This is further qualified by Jesus own words as He expands his teaching in verses 11-12. Now, some would say that this is a 9th beatitude, and some would say that these verses don’t belong with the beatitudes at all because Jesus changes His way of speaking. There is no use splitting hairs over that. These words clearly unite with verse 10, and also lead in to the rest of the Sermon - so we will examine them as such today.

Matthew 5:11 ESV

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

If Jesus’ first qualification is that we are blessed when we suffer for Righteousness, His second qualification is even more explicit. We are blessed when we suffer for His Sake. That is, we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness as Christ’s followers.

We cannot always equate suffering for a perceived “good cause” as the kind of persecution that Jesus is speaking of. He ties the blessing specifically to suffering for righteousness, and not righteousness in a broad sense, but the kind of righteousness tied to His name.

In God’s Kingdom, righteousness is intrinsically tied to Jesus Christ. Even in the practical sense that Jesus speaks of righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount, it is tied back to following Him. At this point, He is speaking directly to his disciples who came to listen to Him. He looks them in the eye, as it were, and tells them - you are blessed when you are persecuted because of Me. Its as if he is, and I believe He is, equating righteous living with following Him.

These two qualifications are linked - in God’s Kingdom, you cannot have righteousness without following Jesus Christ, and you cannot follow Jesus Christ without righteousness. And if you have any doubt about whether Jesus intended to tie importance to following Him, just read the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 7:21–27 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Do you see it? Jesus will be the one who grants entrance to the eternal state. Jesus will be the one to say, “yes, you are my disciple.” or Depart, I never knew you.” Jesus will be the one who says “yes, you listened to me, you followed me.”

There is no righteousness without Jesus. Jesus is the only one who perfectly fulfilled righteousness. He is the only one who can stand as the ultimate arbiter and judge over righteousness. And in His life, Jesus changed the paradigm of how we should view righteousness.

Think of this. Before Jesus, it was very easy and tempting for a devout religious man to overlook his failings and say, “I am quite pleased with my lawkeeping. I have surpassed all my acquaintances in my good deeds and efforts. When I compare myself with the best of the best, I’m near the top.” Like the man who went to the temple and prayed, “God I am thankful that I am not like these other men.” But when Jesus comes on the scene, and lives a perfect life, never sinning, never breaking the law, never excusing himself or skirting the edges of obedience, then the standard suddenly was elevated to impossible heights. Jesus’ righteousness infuriates the legalistic tendencies of men, because if the goal is to be the best, we can never achieve it.

Jesus shows us true righteousness. If we are persecuted for following Him, we are blessed. If we are persecuted in His ways, we are blessed.

Peter took up this teaching and passed it on to the suffering new converts in His day.

1 Peter 4:12–19 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

No doubt, Peter was remembering exactly what Jesus is saying in this beatitude.

First, he says suffering is to be expected. Persecution is to be expected for the Christ-follower. In the same way a growing Christian should find himself mourning sin, exhibiting meekness, hungering after righteousness, displaying mercy, desiring God above all else, and making peace, the growing Christian should expect to be persecuted for the sake of Christ and His name, Christ and His ways.

"If you are insulted for the name of Christ,” Peter says, “That is evidence that you are a Spirit-filled Christ-follower.”

That is why I titled the message, “Good news for Christ’s persecuted followers.” Because that is exactly who Jesus is referring to, and it is exactly the kind of persecution that is blessed.

Notice how Peter ties this blessing ultimately to the Gospel - there is no blessed suffering outside of the Gospel. You cannot be a blessed, righteous sufferer if you are not a follower of Christ, which includes the truth of His Gospel. His atoning, substitutionary death for sin, his resurrection defeating death and claiming victory, his ascension, ruling, reigning as king, and his coming return.

Jesus also makes another connection that reveals the importance of His person and nature.

He ties the suffering and persecution of His followers to the suffering and persecution of the Old Testament prophets. Persecution of prophets would have been a familiar theme for the Jewish audience of Jesus’ day. Consider a couple familiar texts.

2 Chronicles 24:20–21 ESV

Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’ ” But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.

Here, a prophet was stoned and killed for preaching the righteousness of God.

Nehemiah 9:26 ESV

“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.

Here, it is recounted how prophets were killed for imploring people to turn back to God.

Do you see the strength of what Jesus is saying? He is saying, “if you are persecuted for following me, it is the same as the prophets who were persecuted in the same way.” The prophets were following and speaking for Yahweh, and Jesus followers are just that as well.

That is a bold connection, and if any mere man made it it would be blasphemy and treason against God, but Jesus, the Son of God, the King of the Kingdom, can say such, for He is the God-Man.

So this counter-cultural, contra-expectation statement by Jesus is hinged and founded on who He is. And the blessing, then, is very real because Jesus is very real.

What is the good news for Christ’s persecuted followers?

Finally, then, what is the good news? Well, it is here that Jesus brings his beatitudes full circle. Do you remember the first?

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The good news for the poor in spirit, the most basic of Kingdom blessings, to those who have nothing figured out except that they have nothing, is that theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.

Remember, the Kingdom is the Kingship - the poor in spirit are citizens, followers, subject to and under the rulership of God.

And the good news for the persecuted? The ones who have followed Jesus, who have grown in His ways, who have mourned sin, hungered for righteousness, shown mercy, made peace, and have been hated and despised by the world for Christ’s sake, is the same - they are citizens, members, subjects of the King of Kings.

The Kingdoms of this world may despise, cast out, exclude, and even kill these Christ followers, but the ultimate King of the Ultimate Kingdom gladly claims them as His own!

Jesus says “rejoice and be exceedingly glad!” That’s as if He is saying to both feel and express joy at this persecution for His sake. And why? Because the heavenly reward is remarkable.

There are at least 25 New Testament passages that speak of rewards we can receive in heaven. While our salvation, our justification, our eternal destiny is bought and delivered by the Grace of Christ in the Gospel, there is a major sense of our calling that is a calling to Good works, up to and including following even to persecution. Jesus says, “the reward you receive will far outweigh the temporary experience of persecution.”

And in a temporary sense, we are numbered with the faithful prophets who have gone on before.

Hebrews speaks of many of these prophets, even those whose names we do not know. In chapter 11, which speaks of God’s righteous servants who lived to the end by faith.

Hebrews 11:36–38 ESV

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

If we are persecuted for the sake of Jesus and His ways, then we are blessed - for we are numbered with a multitude of martyrs who lived by faith. And above all, we look ultimately to Christ. The author of Hebrews goes on to say this.

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus, who calls us in this final beatitude to endure persecution, to find blessing in being cursed, is our example and our victor in this very way. Jesus endured ultimate suffering, ultimate slander, ultimate hate and exclusion, even to death, and now He is seated and reigning as King of the Kingdom, and He welcomes us in.

John 15:18–19 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Persecution for the cause of Christ bears the fruit and mark of faith. It bears the genuine and authentic marks of being called by Jesus Christ. It bears the blessed mark of distinction, the humbling mark of being Christ’s own chosen possession.

So Blessed are those who are persecuted, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.