"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute
you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Matthew 5:11
Don't you just love the word bless? We like that word
because it means good things, right? I mean God promised Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob blessings. They had riches, good family, and perfect lives right? If you
know the Bible, you know that's not entirely true. God did bless these men even
though the men messed up. When these men had problems it was typically because they
sinned. But, they still enjoyed the blessings God promised them (other than the
Promised Land).
Now, we look at today's verse and it's all about
blessing. It's in the New Testament so it applies to us. This verse is in the Sermon
on the Mount and in the beattitudes. Jesus keeps saying things like blessed are
the poor in spirit, those who morn, the meek, those who thirst for righteousness,
the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. All of those things don't
sound like what people were hoping for in a savior. They wanted a savior who
would give them power, but what Jesus was saying contradicted that.
Finally we get to today's verse: we are blessed when we
are persecuted because of our belief in Jesus. Wait, why would we want to be
persecuted? Many of us don't want to be. When things get rough we run away
because we want to be safe. But, that means we are not focused on the right
thing.
Many Christians have asked these questions: "Why did
the disciples choose to go through suffering in the name of Jesus? If I was
called to go through that kind of suffering would I be able to trust God
through it?"
In America, when we are persecuted we may have someone
who makes fun of our faith or argues with us about our faith. But, in other
times and places persecution meant being beaten, put in prison, or being
killed. We are afraid of that kind of suffering. A few years ago I wrote a fictional
blog about a church where some men came in with a gun. They lined everyone up,
go down the line, and say to each person "denounce your faith in Jesus
Christ today, and you will live." What would you do? How in the world
could we be blessed in this instance?
We need to look at the second half of these verses to
find the answer. When these bad things happen or when we are merciful/peaceful
ours is the kingdom of heaven, we are comforted, we inherit the earth, we are
filled, we are shown mercy, we will see God, we are called children of god, and
(from today's verse) we have a great reward in heaven.
Many times when we are persecuted and go through hard
times in life we forget that this isn't the end. If we did here, we have
eternal life with our savior in heaven. It doesn’t matter if you lose your
house, if you have no food, if you are beaten, or even if you are killed for
Christ. You have the greatest gift ever given. This life is temporary. Our
persecutions and pain is temporary.
That's why people think true Christians are crazy. I've
heard of stories where a man has murdered a woman's husband and he is later
arrested. Then the woman goes to that man in prison and says I forgive you.
That man just took the life of the man she loved and she forgave him?! That's
what I call turning the other cheek. How could she do that? She knows this life
is temporary. She knows that one day she will be with her husband again.
When bad things happen we need to focus on the next life
not this one. If someone falsely accuses you will you fight them, or will you
try to peacefully resolve the issue? If someone punches you will you punch
back, or will you walk away?
So, do you focus too much on this life? If you were asked
to denounce your faith in Jesus would you do it? Will you follow God no matter
the cost?
Image from here.
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