Well, we’ve been slowly working through the Sermon on the Mount for the past few months. Today we come to end of the first section, the Beatitudes. Our desire in this series is not to bring our own ideas or assumptions to this passage, using the teaching of Jesus just to support our own purposes, like a drunk uses a lamppost. Instead we desire to sit underneath the light and the illumination of the teaching of Jesus; to see Him in His beauty and to learn from Him about how to live as would please Him and help our neighbor. To this we once again turn…
But first, as we’ve done before we must begin by backing up. The word Beatitudes comes from the Latin word beati and the Greek word makarios, both of which mean blessed or happy. So this beginning section of the Sermon on the Mount is called The Beatitudes because they’re the road map to true blessing, true happiness, or true flourishing with the Lord. All mankind desires to be happy. This is 100% true, even though the roads taken to get there may be vastly different. Here Jesus tells us how to happily flourish in life, and as His teaching often is, it’s strange and surprising to most.
These Beatitudes are not stand-alone truths, there’s an intentional order and progression to them. We can divide them in half, into two groups of four. The first four are all internal, dealing with our soul before God. In v3 we begin by coming face to face with our spiritual poverty. This exposes us as fallen sinners, lost, and spiritually dead. This leads to v4. Having been so called out and exposed in our sin, we mourn and we grieve over our lost condition. This leads to v5. After seeing our sin and mourning over sin, we find our pride giving way to humility as we become meek. This leads to v6. From being so empty we desire to be filled with and grow into the very thing what we lack, the righteousness of Christ.
The second four Beatitudes come after this. These are all external, dealing with our soul before the world. In v7-9 we find the first three things the Christian must be in the world. The Christian must be merciful, embracing the mercy of God offered in the gospel, and then extending the same mercy to others. The Christian must be pure, rejoicing in the purity that is ours already in Christ, while also pursuing purity in all of life. And the Christian must be a peacemaker not a peacekeeper, who intentionally pursues and makes peace wherever they go.
This brings us to where we are today. The eighth and last Beatitude, Matthew 5:10-12, “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.”
This final Beatitude is both like and unlike the previous Beatitudes leading up to it.[1] It’s unlike the others not only because it’s longer than the rest being three verses. But it’s unlike the others because it isn’t technically a call to live a certain way as a Christian…so much as it is teaching us what will happen to us if we live as Christians in this world. Yet…it’s also like the Beatitudes preceding it as well because v10-12 is a true description of the Christian and how Christians experience the world. He or she will be persecuted because they are a certain type of person who lives in a certain type of way.
Right away this reminds us that the Christian bent on living like a hermit cannot embrace this last Beatitude. Already in the previous Beatitudes we have seen the Christian living in such a way as to be deeply involved with the world, especially in these final four Beatitudes from v7-12. The Christian isn’t to be a hermit engaged in solitary pursuits of holy living, but is to be living before the watching world. Today we’ll be taught that, sometimes, such a life has a painful cost.[2]
Two big points to work through today. See first…
Persecution Defined
To rightly understand what’s being taught, proper definitions are in order. Specifically, what is persecution? Matthew uses this word persecute many times in this chapter alone, and it’s also found across the NT as well. Generally we can begin defining it by saying persecution refers to suffering. Suffering which is inflicted on a person(s) for beliefs/actions that the current establishment frowns on.[3] We must define this further by looking at this very passage. In v11 we see more descriptors of what it means to be persecuted. There we see being persecuted is to be reviled or to be detested or hated, as well as having all kinds of evil uttered against you falsely. So right away we see that persecution is a deeply painful reality, which can involve verbal, social, and physical assault.
But notice there is far more to say about the kind of persecution Jesus is speaking of. Note that He doesn’t just say, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted’ but “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…” and “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” This is key. The kind of persecution in view in this eighth Beatitude is persecution that comes to a Christian for being a Christian. It’s persecution that comes to a Christian for righteous behavior, and for Jesus’ sake. And did you hear it? “…all kinds of evil…” leads us to believe persecution is comprehensive. Meaning, a great variety of evil is in view.[4]
Now, we really must see this for what it is, because far too many Christians claim they’re being persecuted when they’re really not.[5] Kids, it’s not persecution to be disciplined by your parents if you’ve been disobedient. Student’s, it’s not persecution to fail a test because you didn’t study. For us adults, it’s not persecution to lose your job because you were a lazy or incompetent.
And we could go on here.[6] Jesus doesn’t say ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are rude or obnoxious.’ Jesus doesn’t say ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are themselves difficult and judgmental people.’ Jesus doesn’t say ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are foolish and unwise.’ Jesus doesn’t say ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they have sinned.’ If persecution comes to you for any of these reasons be sure of this, you’re not being persecuted for your Christianity, but for the lack of it![7]
1 Peter has much to tell us about this. In 1 Peter 4 we read, “…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” (4:13-16). So there’s persecution for being a Christian, and there’s persecution for sins of various kinds. Church, when we are persecuted, may it be for “right-doing not wrong-doing.”[8]
What about when we are persecuted for being a Christian, what does that look like? This is a far simpler thing to speak of because of how clear it is. We could just use those categories we’ve already mentioned. A Christian, for being obedient to Christ and living a full and vibrant goldy life, can be persecuted verbally, socially, and physically. Verbally meaning we can be talked about negatively by others, talked to negatively by others, whispered against, shouted at, cursed at, laughed at, called names, and the like. A Christian can be persecuted socially, meaning we can be ignored by others, avoided by others, left out of certain plans or groups by others, unfriended or blocked by others online. We also could be ganged up on by a group of others who gather together against us to socially embarrass or ridicule or mock us. And a Christian can be persecuted physically, meaning we can be pushed, shoved, arrested, punched, beaten, stoned, shot, even killed by others. For those of you who know what it is to be persecuted, when it happens it’s usually some kind of combination of all of these things put together…and all this for being a Christian.
Perhaps we need to be sobered by this. Do you realize what this means? That v10-12, this eighth Beatitude is included means genuine happiness, genuine blessedness includes manifold miseries and pains in this life.[9] What are we to think when this happens? This passage would have us remember two realities.
First, when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake we are in good company. When we suffer persecution we must avoid the trap of thinking we’re the only ones who’ve ever experienced anything like this.[10] There is a rich tradition of persecution towards God’s people. One commentator says it like this, “God’s people have always been rejected by the worldly: persecution truly puts us in good company.”[11] Moses was reviled, Samuel was despised, Elijah was rejected, Micaiah was hated, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were ridiculed, Nehemiah was oppressed, and our Savior Himself experienced this to an unsurpassed degree. In His earthly life He was the Man of Sorrows. Jesus said as much would occur. Matthew 10:25, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” And in John 15 Jesus says, “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. 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” (15:18-20).
And what was true for Him was true His disciples. Stephen was stoned, Peter and John were imprisoned, James was beheaded, and Paul had one bitter season after another throughout his entire ministry.[12] Sure we might have lived in a moment of history where persecution has been milder than it has been in other nations or other ages. Yet, our enemy the Devil is crafty, and he finds ways and means to express his hatred for the Church.[13]
When we are persecuted, remember, we are in good company.
Second, it is normal for the Christian to be persecuted for Christ’s sake. Paul is explicit on this. In Acts 14 (v22) we read that only through many tribulations will we enter the kingdom of heaven. In 1 Thess. 3 Paul says we are destined for afflictions. And most well-known, in 2 Tim. 3 Paul says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Guys, it is normal for Christians to enjoy prayer and praise, doctrine and devotion, ministry and missions, and worship and witness. It’s abnormal for Christians to not enjoy these things. So too, it is just as normal for Christians, when they’re truly living out their faith, to be persecuted. No, we do not seek to be persecuted. No healthy Christian should foster a kind of martyr complex, where true faithfulness is measured by the degree of persecution we receive. That’s the not the aim. The aim is live out our faith. To so live as to glorify and enjoy the Lord in all of life. When we do this, though we don’t seek persecution, we should expect it.
This final Beatitude tests our idea of what a Christian truly is.[14] The Christian life is not all daisies and butterflies, it’s not all ivory tower discussions and debates. The Christian is like His Lord. Why would we expect to be welcomed by the same world that killed Him? As He went so we must go.
Persecution Rewarded
Note the reward present throughout v10-12, “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.”
So for those who are persecuted heaven itself is promised, true and deep blessing is to be found, rejoicing, gladness, and great reward is the goal and grand finale in view…how surprising is this outcome?[15] I’m sure this was as shocking when these words were first uttered as they seem to us now. Persecution is generally thought of as a grief, something to be dreaded and avoided, at all costs. But to the Christian it is a source of joy and blessing? At this point I want to give you reasons as to why persecution is a great blessing, but I feel like I need to remind you of one thing first. It should be stated once again that persecution is truly painful. The pain is not the happy thing about persecution, not at all. The happy thing about persecution is the outcome, the reward given here, which if seen rightly, transforms the whole experience of persecution, painful as it may be.
So how persecution such a blessing as Jesus says?
First, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because it teaches us large lessons. It teaches us of our own many weaknesses and needs. It teaches us of how greatly we must rely on the Lord. And it teaches us of how great God’s sustaining power and grace is in times of great suffering.
Second, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because it awakens us to the sinfulness of sin. In this way persecution sobers us and keeps us from giving in to sin in our own lives. When suffering is thick and dreadful and our lives are in danger of being lost, sin loses its allure. That is always a good thing.
Third, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because it gives us an opportunity to glorify God by trusting Him in the darkest of times. In this way persecution gives us a chance to be strong and courageous. It’s a true chance to be faithful to the Lord by choosing the right way over the easy way.
Fourth, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because it confirms that the one being persecuted is actually a son or daughter of God. It confirms what is said here. Of course this is only true if the persecution is for Christ’s sake and not for any reason in us. But if that’s settled, persecution is a happy reminder that we are in reality what we claim to be. In the moment of persecution that is a welcome blessing.
Fifth, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because in it the world is telling you that you do not belong to it, that you don’t fit in, that you are not part of its corrupt system. This is encouraging to the Christian because over and over the Bible calls us to not be part of the world, to not love the world, and that friendship with the world is hatred toward God. So it would be a great blessing indeed to learn afresh that you truly don’t belong to the world…persecution does this. It confirms these things.
Sixth, persecution is a great blessing to the Christian because it points us to our true home. It’s a massive reminder of where we’re headed in the end one day. That in glory there is no chilling wind nor poisonous breath, no sickness, sorrow, pain or death. That there on that healthful shore, this darkness will be felt and feared no more.
Conclusion:
We’ve seen persecution defined, we’ve seen the many rewards it brings, that our Lord Jesus holds out precious promises to those who are persecuted for His sake. Perhaps I can sum all of this up with this. Persecution is as burdensome to the Christian as wings are to a bird.[16]
It is hard. It is heavy. It is dark, darker than we know. But it lifts our eyes to heaven, and fills our souls with gospel comfort. For in persecution we are only following where Jesus has gone first. And remember, though He died, He rose! So too, all in Him will do the same.
[1] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon of the Mount (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1981), 128.
[2] R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 170.
[3] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 101.
[4] Morris, 102.
[5] Daniel M. Doriani, Matthew 1-13, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 130.
[6] Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon of the Mount, 130–31.
[7] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001), 73.
[8] A.W. Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1969), 40.
[9] Pink, 39.
[10] Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, NAC (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 1992), 101.
[11] Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, 102.
[12] Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, 41.
[13] Pink, 41.
[14] Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon of the Mount, 136.
[15] Doriani, [Matthew, 129.
[16] Samuel Rutherford, quoted in Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, 72.
