Chapter of the Beatitudes series
Matthew 5:10-12
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Is Jesus’ teaching on persecution outdated?
The first question I would like to address this morning is whether Jesus’ words about persecution are relevant today. Has modern society become so tolerant that talk of persecution is outdated? My answer is that these verses are highly relevant and are by no means out of date. I am going to mention two reasons why the teaching on persecution is still applicable today.
1. World perspective
The first reason follows from a global perspective. Let’s take just two countries as an example. The National Evangelical Council of Peru documented the murder of 90 Evangelical Christians from 1983 to 1985: 70% were Pentecostals, 20% Presbyterians and the rest undetermined. The Maoists of “Sendero Luminoso” opposed the evangelicals because they refused to join the armed struggle of the guerrillas, and the government police confronted them because they treated the wounded by the guerrillas. Apart from the 90 killed during the last three years, another 20 disappeared after being detained by police for questioning.
The other country I am going to mention is Romania. Just a couple of weeks ago I received a letter from John Swanson, pastor of Elim Baptist Church in Anoka. In it he told me about a businessman who had just returned to Romania telling tragic stories about the persecution of Baptists in that country. This man would be at his evening service on April 6 to give a first-person testimony.
According to the Christian Encyclopedia, in 1980, 2.2 billion people in 79 countries lived under serious restriction against freedom of religion. 60% of all Christians live in those countries and 16% (224 million) live in countries where there is serious interference and harassment by the state.
Therefore, the least we can say is that from a global point of view, the words of Jesus are very relevant, and indeed very valuable, to millions of our brothers and sisters who live under the pressure of constant surveillance.
2. Conviction about the sinful nature and the new creation.
The second reason for saying that these words about persecution are relevant today follows from Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:12: “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (see Acts 14:22; John 15:20; Matthew 10:25).
How could Paul make such a sweeping statement? “And truly, all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” He did it on the basis of a deep conviction about the nature of Christianity and about the nature of man’s sinfulness. He is convinced that given the tension between the Christian message and way of life, on the one hand, and the world’s mentality and way of life, on the other, such a conflict is inevitable.
Such conviction is rooted in the fallen nature of man and the nature of the new creation in Christ. Therefore it cannot remain outdated, today it is still true. Sooner or later, a deeply God-centered Christian will be mistreated for the things he believes or the life he leads.
Therefore, these words of Jesus about persecution are relevant today not only because millions of Christians in our global village are being persecuted just today because of their faith, but also because to some extent, everyone who is willing to die for putting first to God in their work, home, school or interests, they will meet with some kind of opposition sooner or later. And none of us knows when our freedom may cease, when God may call us to a dangerous place or take a stand that causes dissension among us.
So what does this teaching of Jesus mean?
Why do the persecutions come?
First, let’s attend to why the persecutions come. This is important because not all persecuted people are blessed, only those who are persecuted for the sake of justice. Verse 10 of Matthew 5 says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of justice.”
Justice in the structure of the beatitudes
Remember the structure of the Beatitudes. There are two groups of four and each group ends with a reference to justice. The first group ends with verse 6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, (…)”. And the second group ends with verse 10: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of justice.”
The three beatitudes that lead to a hunger for justice are descriptions of a type of sanctified emptiness. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who grieve because of their needy condition, and the meek who present their cause to God. It is normal that these three definitions of emptiness and need are followed by a definition of hunger. You are hungry for what you do not have.
The following three beatitudes are not descriptions of emptiness but of fullness. The hunger is beginning to be satisfied by an outpouring of mercy, a pure heart, and a power to make peace. So the justice longed for in verse 6 is given in the form of mercy, purity and peace. The result is persecution precisely for the sake of justice.
Justice and relationship with Jesus
Another way to define the righteousness of verse 10 is to look at the parallel verse 11. In verse 10, the persecution is “for the sake of righteousness” while in 11 it is “for the sake of Jesus.” “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, because of me.” “For my sake” and “for the sake of justice” surely mean the same thing.
What we then learn is that true justice (that which surpasses the justice of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20)) always involves a relationship with Jesus. True justice is not carried out for its own sake, it is carried out out for the love of Jesus. The mercy, purity, and peace of a disciple of Jesus come from Jesus (“apart from me you can do nothing,” John 15:5) and is done for the honor of Jesus. This union with Jesus is the one who imprints another character on our justice.
Why is justice persecuted?
This raises a question: if the meaning of justice is to be merciful, pure and peaceful by trusting in Jesus and living for his glory, why would anyone persecute it? Doesn’t seem to offend anyone.
The answer that goes to the root of the matter is found in Luke 16:13-15. Jesus had just said: “No servant can serve two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or be attached to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches.” Then comes the persecution, the mockery. Verse 14 says, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things and mocked Him.” This is the persecution and part of the explanation: “they were lovers of money.” In other words, Jesus’ attitude toward money constitutes an attack on his love for it.
Now comes the rest of the teasing explanation. Verse 15: “You are they who justify yourselves before men.” Here is the root of the persecution in its two aspects. One is the love for something bad or false and the other is the need to justify said love; this is the root of persecution.
Jesus enters the scene with a way of life and a message that implies that the love of money is treason against God: “You cannot serve two masters!” It is not an antagonistic insult, it is part of its purity, it is true. This is essential to know if you are going to be saved, but it went against the Pharisees’ love of money so to justify themselves they defamed Jesus. It is the standard operating process of self-justification and the root of all persecution.
A life dedicated to justice will be persecuted
So we can see why a life dedicated to justice or holiness will be persecuted, reviled or denounced.
• If you appreciate chastity, your life will be an attack on people who practice free sex.
• If you become a teetotaler, your life will be a statement against alcohol consumption.
• If you like to control your eating, your life will be an indictment against overeating.
• If you live happily and simply, you will expose the madness of luxury.
• If you walk humbly with God, you will expose the evil of pride.
• If you are responsible and committed to your affairs, you will expose the inferiority of laziness and carelessness.
•If you speak mercifully, you will make callousness a harsher reaction.
•If you’re serious, you’ll make lorgnettes look flippant instead of smart.
•And if you have a spiritual mind, you will expose the worldly mind of those around you.
Two responses to a just life
When you want to conduct all your affairs and relationships in holiness (when you follow righteousness in the power of Jesus and for His glory), there are two possible reactions from the people around you that are described in John 3:20–21.
“For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light so that his actions are not exposed” But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his actions may be manifested that they have been done in God. .
These two reactions are either persecution or conversion (they appear in Matthew 5:10 and 16). But we wonder, what about all the unbelievers I know who are neither converted nor persecuted who are civic and even educated? There are at least two possible explanations:
Two explanations why there seems to be no answer
One is because your light is under a candlestick. He has well hidden the stumbling block of the cross (Galatians 5:11; 6:12–13). You are not displaying your distinctive values. The other is that he is showing them and the people around him are moving towards one of these two poles: persecution or conversion. Neither of these have to happen immediately.
There are all kinds of factors that can hinder the manifestations of the persecution. It can be seen often in the gospels whenever the Pharisees were enraged and at the same time conveniently did not express their anger in open persecution. Neither persecution nor conversion will always happen immediately. In fact, many people debate within themselves, hating in part the claims of Christianity in their…