Blessed Are the Persecuted
Blessed Are the Persecuted
Matthew 5:10-12
(reality, reason, response, reward)
The words of Jesus strike us as odd. We have noted how counter-cultural the beatitudes are. Yet, this final beatitude really stretches our boundaries of believability. Blessed are…the persecuted? You’ve got to be kidding. In a society that feels entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, persecution doesn’t play very well. Of course, Jesus is not telling us to seek out persecution in some sort of twisted, masochistic way. But to suggest that someone who is persecuted is blessed really flies in the face of what we are accustomed to. In our thinking, the blessed are those who live on easy street. They acquire properties, they don’t have them confiscated. They are praised, not insulted. They are protected and secure, not exposed to poverty, scorn, or death.
But, Jesus said it. Blessed are the persecuted. As we seek to understand this, I want us to consider four things: the reality of persecution, the reason for persecution, the response to persecution, and the reward for the persecuted.
I. The Reality of Persecution
A. Persecution is a reality for those who follow Christ.
1. For the long centuries of Xn history, persecution has been an
expectation, not an exception.
a. Jesus warned his first disciples about the reality of it.
(Matthew 10:16-18; John 15:20, 16:1-2).
b. Paul stated unequivocally that all who live godly
in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12).
c. Peter said to the believers who had been scattered
across Asia, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal
among you, which comes upon you for your testing,
as though some strange thing were happening to you”
2. There are those today who are being persecuted.
a. Recently, a man in Saudi Arabia cut off his daughters
tongue and burned her to death for following Christ.
b. In 2003, Graham Staines, an Australian missionary to
the tribal poor in Orissa, India was burned alive with
his two pre-teen sons as they slept in their car. Since
that time, Hindu extremists have beaten Christians
and raided their Churches. In Kerala, India on July
19 of this year, James Augustin, a Christian
schoolteacher, was beaten to death by Muslim
extremists.
c. Recent estimates indicate that there are 164,000
Christians killed in persecution every year.
3. Martrydom isn’t the only persecution.
a. The term persecution literally means to pursue or
chase. Persecution is the oppression and harassment
of believers by unbelievers.
b. Jesus mentions different forms of persecution.
1) Insults
2) Slander (false accusations)
3) Prosecution in courts
4) Physical violence
5) Death
ILL: Persecution is found in many forms. In 2007, the Institute for Jewish and Community Research surveyed 1200 college professors from a cross-section of colleges. They were looking for anti-semitism. What they found was that the professors had positive feelings toward Jews and Roman Catholics. However, 53% of the professors had unfavorable feelings toward evangelical Christians.
APP: The point I’m making is that persecution is a reality for followers of Jesus. It may come in the form of being mocked by your coworkers or fellow students. It may come in the form of being fired from your job. It may come in the form of being passed over for promotion. It may involve being falsely accused. It could involve being beaten or killed. But when it happens, don’t think it strange or out of the ordinary. It is normal for those who live out a true devotion to Jesus Christ.
TS – This leads us to ask why. If persecution is normal, why so?
II. The Reason for Persecution