Blessed are the Persecuted
Matthew 5:10-12
Let’s turn to Matthew 5. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount – which begins with eight beatitudes. And today we are going to study the last beatitude. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Matthew 5 is on page 908 in the Bibles we are passing out.
To introduce this last beatitude think about your friends who don’t know Jesus -- people in your neighborhood who don’t know Jesus – people at your workplace who don’t know Jesus.
The Bible teaches that they are prisoners in Satan’s kingdom. Picture it as a prison cell with a locked door. Because of their sin they are in this prison cell, cut off from God, captives of Satan, enslaved to do his will, and facing eternal judgment.
But the Bible says God has given us a key which can open that prison door. The key is the Gospel. The spoken words of the Gospel. We can’t open that cell door. They can’t open that cell door. But God can open that cell door – and the way God does it is through the Gospel.
People you know are prisoners in Satan’s kingdom, and the only key which can open the cell door is the Gospel.
But Satan knows that. So he does everything he can to silence us and keep us from speaking the Gospel. And one way is through fear of persecution. If he can make us fear persecution, we will not speak the Gospel, and Satan’s prisoners will not be set free.
Which is why Jesus’ last beatitude has one aim – to free us from the fear of persecution. Let’s read all the beatitudes – starting with Matthew 5:3 –
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [This last beatitude is so important that Jesus elaborates on it -- ]
11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
So in this last beatitude Jesus talks about persecution. What kind of persecution is Jesus talking about? There’s two clues in these verses.
First, in v.10 he calls it being persecuted “for righteousness’ sake” – so it’s persecution that comes from living a righteous life – being loving and merciful and meek.
And second, in v.11, Jesus says that we will be persecuted on His account – because of Him. What that means is that people have seen our righteousness – and we’ve explained that it’s because of Jesus. We’ve told them about Jesus.
So Jesus is talking about persecution that comes because we’ve been living righteous lives and explaining that it’s because of Jesus.
So what might persecution look like? Jesus uses three phrases in v.11 to describe it –
- You may be reviled – spoken against.
- You may be persecuted – which covers anything that would cost you – like losing a job or promotion, or losing a friendship.
- You may have all kinds of evil spoken against you falsely – being slandered, falsely accused, and so forth.
That’s the kind of persecution Jesus is talking about.
And who is it that will be persecuted? Just the apostles? Just a few believers? No. Jesus teaches that every one of his followers will be persecuted. There’s two reasons I say that.
First, because Jesus lists being persecuted as one of the beatitudes. The beatitudes do not list 8 different groups of people. It’s not that some followers of Jesus are poor in spirit, some mourn, some are meek, and some are persecuted. No. All of Jesus’ followers are poor in spirit, all of them mourn, all of them are meek – and – all of them are persecuted.
Second, because in v.10 Jesus says it’s the persecuted who receive the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is salvation. And everyone who trusts Jesus gets the Kingdom of Heaven. But here Jesus also says that it’s those who are persecuted who get the Kingdom of Heaven. Which means that everyone who trusts Jesus will be persecuted.
Let me back this up by having you look at 2Tim 3:12 –
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Who will be persecuted? All. All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.
That’s what Jesus is saying back in Matthew 5. Jesus is telling us that following him will mean persecution. And this is helpful – because we can think that if we are persecuted – if people speak against us, shun us, make fun of us – then we’ve done something wrong.
And it’s true that some people get persecuted not because of Jesus, but because they are argumentative, obnoxious, or causing unnecessary offense. Don’t do that. Don’t use company time to talk about Jesus. Follow company policy in the way you talk about spiritual things.
But Jesus is honest with us. He does not say – if you speak humbly and lovingly and graciously and follow company policy – you won’t be persecuted. No. He’s honest. Even if you do all that – you will still suffer some persecution.
Now that sounds like bad news. But that’s not what Jesus says. How should we feel about being persecuted?
In v.10 he says “blessed are those who are persecuted.” “Blessed” means – rejoice that God’s favor is on you. Then in v.11 he states it even more strongly – “rejoice and be glad.” Those words in the Greek mean – “feel really happy.” So when we are persecuted we should feel blessed, rejoicing, glad, really happy.
That is so shocking – I have to show you one other passage which states it even more strongly. Look at how Jesus puts it in Luke 6:22-23 –
22 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!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Leap for joy! When someone leaps for joy they are very, very happy.
So let this sink in. Jesus is saying that when we are persecuted, we should feel blessed, we should rejoice and be glad, we should even leap for joy.
But is that really possible? Has anyone ever done that? Let me show you one real-life example – in Acts 5. Peter, Matthew, John, and the rest of the apostles heard Jesus say – when you are persecuted feel blessed, rejoice and be glad, even leap for joy.
And in Acts 5 Peter, Matthew, John, and the rest of the apostles had been telling people about Jesus. And because of that they were persecuted -- arrested by the religious leaders and beaten. So how did they respond? Start reading in v.40 –
40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them [this is not just a slap – they were beaten] and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. [So how did they feel about this – after being beaten – after suffering in that way?]
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. [And what did they do? They had just been commanded not to preach about Jesus – what did they do?]
42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Peter, Matthew, John heard Jesus teach the Sermon on the Mount. They had heard Jesus say that when they are persecuted – they should feel blessed – they should rejoice – they should leap for joy. And they did.
But why? Why? Was it because they were really disciplined? Because they were really spiritual? Why would we feel joyful and glad about being persecuted?
We have to ask “why?” Too often we read a passage like this and say – I’m supposed to feel blessed and joyful and glad about the possibility of being persecuted. OK. I’ll try to do that. I’ll try to feel blessed. I’ll try to feel joyful and glad.
What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong is that we are ignoring what Jesus says about WHY we should rejoice and be glad. Too many Christians only see the commands, and ignore the why’s – the promises – Jesus gives. When we see the promises Jesus gives – and trust the promises Jesus gives – we will rejoice about being persecuted.
So what promises does He give? The first is in v.10 – read it again –
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for [here’s the promise] theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The promise is – if you are persecuted then you will get the kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven? It’s heaven – God’s kingdom of perfect love and peace all centered on the joy of knowing Him.
And if you are persecuted – you will get the kingdom of heaven. Why? Not because being persecuted earns you the Kingdom of Heaven. But because being persecuted shows that you are trusting Jesus. Why else would you live a righteous life and explain it by telling people about Jesus and being willing to be persecuted for it? It’s because you trust Jesus.
So being persecuted shows that you are trusting Jesus – and it’s by trusting Jesus that you get the Kingdom of Heaven. So – if you are persecuted – you will get the Kingdom of Heaven.
And Jesus puts the same promise slightly differently in v.12 -- read it again --
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Notice that Jesus motivates us with rewards. There’s nothing wrong with wanting rewards. Jesus wants us to want rewards. He wants us to seek rewards. He wants us to pursue rewards.
And when you are persecuted – when people speak against you, or you lose a friendship, or you lose a promotion – the reason you rejoice and are glad is because you have a great reward coming -- your reward is great in heaven.
What is that great reward? A bigger mansion? A bigger crown? No. Those are just metaphors. Jesus has already told us what the reward of heaven is – in v.8 –
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The reward of heaven is seeing God. God is the reward. God is the prize.
When people speak against you, or you lose friends, or lose a promotion – that’s a lot of loss. But all that loss is more than compensated by the fact that you are going to receive the great reward of seeing God. So you can be glad and rejoice and leap for joy.
Do you see how this works? When we feel that seeing God is infinitely valuable – we will be willing to be persecuted to gain that – and so we will speak openly about Jesus.
But now let’s be honest. Do you feel that receiving the Kingdom of Heaven is everything? That seeing God is infinitely valuable?
If you don’t – if what feels more valuable to you is having friends and getting the promotion and having everyone like you – then you won’t speak openly about Jesus.
So what can you do? How can we obey Jesus’ call to rejoice in persecution? Remember. The order of the beatitudes is not random. Jesus does not want us to start with number 8. Jesus wants us to start with number 1. Jesus wants us to start with one that we can all do no matter where we are at.
So start with being poor in spirit – admit to him that you are not feeling that seeing God is infinitely valuable. Admit that you are not speaking openly about him. Admit that you do not rejoice at the thought of being persecuted. You are poor in spirit.
But when you come before Jesus, and admit that – and look to Him by faith – supernatural things will start to happen.
One is that you will mourn for your sin before Jesus. I am sorry, Jesus. Forgive me, Jesus. Change me, Jesus. And when you do that – Jesus promises – you will be comforted.
He will pour His love upon you, bring His presence to you, fill you with His joy. You will have a first-hand experience of God’s presence by the Holy Spirit. And when that happens – you will feel that receiving the Kingdom of Heaven is everything – you will feel that seeing God is infinitely valuable.
And so you won’t fear slander – I’ve got the Kingdom of Heaven!
You won’t losing the promotion – I’m going to see God!
You won’t fear losing that friendship – I’m going to be with God forever!
You won’t fear being ostracized – I’m going to be rewarded with seeing God!
I promise you. If you will live in the first two beatitudes – you will experience the power of the kingdom changing your heart – and the comfort of God filling your heart. And God will give you such a taste of Himself that receiving the Kingdom will be everything – seeing God will be infinitely valuable – and you won’t fear persecution – and you’ll tell everyone about Jesus.