Pointing to Jesus

Matthew 5:10–12– 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.

To be persecuted means to drive away or to put to flight.  It also means to harass or to trouble or to be maltreated. To revile means to say harsh things or to make verbal assaults. It also means to spue bitter statements using mean-spirited, insulting words to demoralize or humiliate.

These verses are specifically talking about being persecuted for being righteous, which is doing the right thing by God’s standards. It’s also talking about being  reviled and persecuted on account of Jesus- knowing Him, being associated with Him, talking about Him, sharing Him with others.

Jesus says that we are blessed when this happens, and we  are to rejoice because our reward is heaven, and our reward in heaven is great. We can have a deep inner joy when this happens to us, and we don’t need to retaliate back at the ones who do this to us. Talking about Jesus, I Peter 2:23 says, “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to the one who judges justly.”

Jesus was reviled and persecuted as well, so He understands, and He is always with us. Matthew 11:19 says, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners …..” Jesus never promised that living for Him would be easy, He did promise that He would be with us- and that is something we can rejoice about.

Also, notice that Jesus did not say, “if” others revile you and persecute you, He said, “when” others revile you and persecute you.  2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

I Peter 4:14– “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

Paul, the apostle, in 2 Corinthians 12:10, says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults  hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah  was thrown in a cistern, put in prison, taken to Egypt against His will, and was rejected. The prophet Elijah was called a troubler of Israel by Ahab in I Kings 18:17.

We can stay strong in God by living with an eternal perspective. Live with the end in mind. Remember the reward! Remember, the reward is great. Heaven will be worth it! And remember, the persecution  is temporary, but heaven is for eternity!

Praying for you,

Many blessings,

Desiree