“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.” (Matthew 5:10-11)
Persecution is the ultimate beatitude in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In the account of Matthew it is also bookended with the same proclamation as the first beatitude—the kingdom of heaven is for those who meet this criteria.
The emphasis here on persecution catapults the rest of the sermon that follows and points towards the words to come towards the end of the sermon, and elsewhere in Matthew’s text. That is to say, Jesus’ prophetical statements need to be held up alongside the blessing of those who are persecuted. (Matthew 7:12-27)
Jesus makes sure to point out that many will claim false allegiance to Christ. They will often do this by pointing towards an element (often an equally false one) of persecution. These evildoers know (overtly or subconsciously) that if they are perceived to be persecuted, many good hearted individuals will follow them wherever they may go. They lead people astray from the primary principles of the Gospel and the core values of Jesus Christ simply by invoking a mirage of persecution.
The truly and holy persecuted are not like these pretenders because their lifestyle is also built on all the other beatitudes mentioned previously. Poverty, mournfulness, meekness, hunger, mercifulness, virtuousness, and peacemaking are prerequisites for holy persecution. Indeed, most people do not meet these standards, literally or spiritually.
As Christ followers, not even many of us will meet all these standards. To those that do, their reward is promised to be great in the Eternal Kingdom. To those that don’t we must strive to be brought closer to the standards Jesus has set forth—spiritually for sure, and literally if the Lord wills it.
It can be easy at this point to think that the life of the Christ follower is one of sadness and sorrow. Indeed, our Savior and Lord lived out a life that consisted of much of those realities. However, the same Lord Jesus had a close group of good friends, enjoyed moments of pure happiness, and knew how to party heartily. We are invited to live a similarly balanced and full life.
The asceticism we as Christ followers willingly partake in (fasting, prayer, meditation, acts of service, giving of alms, etc.) is designed to not punish us—it is intended to prune us so that we can grow into the person and people Jesus Christ is calling us to be.
When we follow in the way of our Lord we are drawn closer to the Divine and closer to one another. We become part of movement that is greater than us. We freely give up our desire to be great so that the whole of humanity can be drawn into the Endlessly Expansive Eternal Kingdom of God that has come in Christ, is continuing to come into the world still, and will one day envelope all of the universe.
Relevant Reformation 