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Blessed are those who are persecute for righteousness

sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
you when men 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 men persecuted the prophets who were before
you (Matthew 5:10-12)
This final Beatitude does not say Blessed are those who are persecuted,
but Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Many
people suffer persecution but for a varied number of reasons, many of which
rather needlessly. The Christian is told that he will suffer persecution
because of his stand for right living.
Through righteous living, the Christians either draw people to them or repel
them. Jesus taught: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me
first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is,
you do not belong to the world, but I have chose you out of the world. That
is why the world hates. Remember the words I spoke to you, No servant is
greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also
(John 15:18-20).
Before the end of the first century, the word for witness and the word for
martyr had become the same Greek word. This was because in that time
the man who was a witness had every chance of being a martyr too.
There was in Jesus an almost startling honesty; no one could ever say that he
had been induced to follow Jesus on false pretences. Jesus told his followers
what they might expect and he left them in no doubt that they must suffer for
his name. To follow him necessarily involved the taking up of a cross
(Matthew 16:24).
He had no doubt that his disciples would be brought before magistrates, that
they would be scourged n the Synagogues and that they would be hated by
all men because of their faithfulness to him (Matthew 10:16-22). The day
would even come when those who killed a Christian would think that they
were rendering service to God (John 16:2).
Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission

There are many reasons leading to the inevitable persecution. The

Christians to begin with has a completely different moral standard. The
Christian lives in a sinful world; therefore if he exhibits genuine transparent
righteousness, he will be rejected by man. Genuine righteousness condemns
people by implication; small wonder why people often lash out in retaliation.
It was not that Christian went about criticizing and condemning others, nor
was it that the Christian was consciously self-righteous and superior. It
implies that the Christian ethic in itself was a criticism and condemnation of
the pagan life and standards. People were humiliated and abased at the sight
of the goodness of Christians.
The Christian does not need to speak; his presence and his life are a
conscience to his society. Their life is a reminder of what life ought to be
and a condemnation of the world as it is. It is no new thing for persecutors
to want to silence their conscience.
The Christians were hated as they were seen by men to be aloof from their
fellowmen and as men whose customs and way of life seemed likely to
disrupt the social set-up of life.
Another undeniable effect of Christianity that brought about persecution was
that it often makes a division in the family. Jesus already prophesied over
this in Matthew 10:34-37.
It is notable and extremely important to note that in the early days of the
church, the Christian never conceived of the possibility of using force to
meet persecution. Rather they resorted to only two weapons.
a.
The weapon of the Christian life. The Christian showed himself so
loyal and so useful a citizen, and so good and conscientious a servant,
that the slanders of the persecutors were silenced.
b.
The Christian had the defence of Christian apologetic. Peter insisted
that the Christian must ever be ready to give an answer for his faith
he must know what he believes and why he believes it.
This eighth Beatitude is so important that Jesus expands it, making it more
pointedly by changing the 3rd person form of the Beatitudes to the direct
address of the 2nd person (Blessed are You instead of Blessed are Those).

Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission

Three other important insights are also given in this expansion.

a.
Persecution is explicitly broadened to include insults and spoken
malice and cannot be limited to physical torture.
b.
The phrase because of righteousness (Matthew 5:10) parallels with
because of me (Matthew 5:11).
This confirms that the
righteousness of life that is in view is an imitation of Jesus.
How can we speak of the blessedness of the persecuted? It does seem to be
a paradox. Yet it is blessing in at least 2 sense.
a.
Persecution is in fact a compliment. To persecute a person is to show
that we take him so seriously that we consider that he must be
eliminated. No one will persecute a man who is futile, ineffective and
indecisive. Persecution is proof of the utter genuineness and sincerity
of the faith of the man who is persecuted.
Luke 6:26 says, Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For
so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Illustration: George Bernard Shaw said that the finest compliment the world
can pay an author is to burn his books because it shows they regard his
books as so dynamic and explosive that they cannot be allowed to continue
to affect the minds of men.
b.

Persecution is an opportunity to demonstrate loyalty. It shows that he

is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, that he does not shrink from
showing who is it he loves and serves.

The Beatitude promises that he who is persecuted for righteousness sake

will have the reward of the kingdom.

Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission