Part 7 - Beatitudes – The Persecuted and Insulted
Sermon on the Mount
The Christian Character
Matthew 5:3 - 7:27
(Cf. Luke 6:20-49)
This is Part 7 in a 14-part series of studies I call “The Christian Character” as described by Jesus to a crowd of people on a Galilean hillside as he delivered what is more familiarly known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” This part considers blessing in bearing persecution and insults for righteousness' sake.
The 14 parts are as follows:
Part 1 – Introduction
Part 2 – Beatitudes – the poor in spirit
Part 3 - Beatitudes – those who mourn
Part 4 - Beatitudes – the meek, and those who hunger and thirst
Part 5 - Beatitudes – the merciful and the pure in heart
Part 6 - Beatitudes – peacemakers
Part 7 - Beatitudes – the persecuted and insulted
Part 8 - Salt of the earth and light of the world
Part 9 - Righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees; divorce, oaths
Part 10 - Eye for eye, loving neighbor and hating enemy, being perfect
Part 11 - Three things to do, not to be seen by men and a model prayer
Part 12 - Laying up treasures, eye is the lamp of the body, serving two masters
Part 13 - Do not judge, do not give what is holy to dogs and pigs
Part 14 - Ask, seek, and knock; the narrow gate; false prophets; building on the rock
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Review
In the last part we had been talking about the 7th beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons (or children) of God.”
Then we talked about what a remarkable and marvelous thing it is to be called “children of God.”
In 1873 Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company introduced the Peacemaker – a 6-shot 45 caliber revolver that for many years was popular with both lawmen and outlaws. I don’t know how it came to wear the name “Peacemaker,” but it brings a question to mind.
Google dictionary defines “peace officer” as a civil officer appointed to preserve law and order, such as a sheriff or police officer.
Last week Mike, recently retired from being a policeman before moving to Montrose shared some insights from his experience. While Mike went into every disturbance call armed with a weapon, firing his weapon was not means by which the peace was sought.
Mike’s training and experience taught him some basics in making peace between quarreling parties. First, first keep a cool head and don’t become a party to the dispute. Separate the quarreling parties and let them each talk out their frustrations and anger with no interruptions or retaliation from the other disputant. Usually the quarrelers calm down and tempers flare out, allowing them to come together in a more constructive manner.
End of review
Jesus concludes the beatitudes with this two-part teaching. In Matthew 5:11-12 he says we are blessed if we are persecuted and insulted because of righteousness.
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE INSULT YOU, PERSECUTE YOU AND FALSELY SAY ALL KINDS OF EVIL AGAINST YOU BECAUSE OF ME. REJOICE AND BE GLAD, BECAUSE GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN, FOR IN THE SAME WAY THEY PERSECUTED THE PROPHETS WHO WERE BEFORE YOU. (Matt 5:10-12)
We will take these last two beatitudes as a pair, because they are tightly coupled. It is conceivable that in Jesus’ mind, v10-12 may be a single beatitude, with v11-12 being an elaboration on v10. But it doesn’t really matter whether we consider this teaching as one or two beatitudes. What matters is that we stretch our minds to grasp the reality of what Jesus said, and accept fully that it is true.
This beatitude (or beatitudes) is different from the rest. All the others pronounce blessedness to be the outgrowth of various qualities or attributes of a Christian. We are in direct control of the those, but in contrast, this pair of statements describe false testimony and persecution that occur at the choosing of other people. Let us understand the scope of Jesus’ meaning. It is not everyone who endures persecution or bears insults who is blessed, but those whose persecution is “because of righteousness (v10),” or “because of me (v11).”
1 Pet 4:15-16 “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”
This beatitude is a hard saying. What Jesus said sounds awful! Jesus actually told his disciples to expect persecution. It was to be the norm, as Jesus explained in Mark 13:9-13. (Read it.)
On the mountain in Galilee, Jesus said blessings reside in persecution and insults? Of all the beatitudes, this is the most counter-intuitive. Do we really believe it?
This first persecution of Christians was at the hands of the Jews. Saul of Tarsus appears to have been the first organizer of the persecution.
Acts 8:3 ESV But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Acts 9:1-2 ESV But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Clearly, Saul was in a position of authority, derived from the high priest. It may not be too much to say that Saul was the leader of the opposition to Christianity, as an instrument of the high priest.
1 Timothy 1:15 KJV This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
We can’t say with certainty why Paul considered himself to be the chief of sinners, but one possible explanation is that he had been the chief persecutor in the church’s earliest days, before his conversion on the Damascus road. Later, Paul himself suffered persecution in the extreme. Once, he was stoned and left for dead.
Then came persecution at the hands of the Romans.
Jesus had warned his disciples that persecution would come from another source - magistrates and those in authority. The Romans had been tolerating the Jews in a state of uncomfortable equilibrium since Alexander the Great conquered Palestine and took a protective interest in the Jews. But the situation was not ideal and the had never taken kindly to Greek rule, and no more so after Rome conquered Greece and inherited the conquered areas.
The Romans made little distinction between the Jews and Christians. To them, Christianity appeared to be a sect of the Jews, like the Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, and Zealots. Much of the persecution suffered in the first century was because of the actions of Jewish Zealots.
Some of the Jews who fiercely opposed Roman rule, and unlike their more docile brethren, actively fought against it with non-compliance with Roman edicts. There is a huge amount of history from this period in Flavius Josephus’ “Wars of the Jews.”
The Zealots are of special interest to us in today’s subject because their actions brought on the Roman-Jewish war that ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and a little later, the defensive outpost at Masada.
The uprising of the Zealots coincided in time with the growth of Christianity, catching the early Christians up in persecution first by the Jews, and later in the persecution of the Jews. Jesus continues the teaching we read earlier:
Mark 13:14-20 (read)
The Lord shortened those days so that some of the human race would survive. How did God shorten those days?
By ending the Jewish hold on political power. What Mark wrote about occurred with the fall of Jerusalem to Rome’s army under General Titus.
What Jesus said would happen to them hasn’t happened to us. It is not our norm. Not yet. But in the sermon on the mount Jesus connects it to everyone who heard him speaking. To help us appreciate the devotion and commitment of those who endure persecution:
Persecuted because of righteousness! What kind of upside-down world do we live in?!
Righteousness, we found in examining the 4th beatitude (blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled), does not only consist of knowing and doing things that amount to right conduct. It also embraces the condition of being right with God; i.e., having our sins counted with all the other sins Jesus bore to the cross, solving the dilemma of sin and leaving us blameless, holy, and reconciled to God.
Do we have any idea why suffering of persecution had to accompany the advent of the gospel?
A principle I find easy to recognize but difficult to understand is that Christianity has flourished in times of persecution and other kinds of hardship more than it has in times of ease and plenty. Perhaps it is that great need for God’s protection and nurturing is more evident when persecution comes or times are hard, driving us to the One we know has greater power to meet that need. Times of ease and plenty seem to be conducive to laziness, apathy, and quibbling over minutiae because the feeling of a great need to be rescued from disaster is absent.
I ask: Don’t we count it as a blessing when we do not have persecution? Have we been wrong to consider ourselves blessed because we do not suffer persecution because of righteousness? Is persecution a good thing or a bad thing--something to fear? Let’s hear Jesus’ answer:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Is this last beatitude relevant to us in our situation (are Christians persecuted today)? Paul says “everyone” will be -
2 Tim 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”
In the final beatitude Jesus teaches that the persecution is not confined to torturing the body or killing the person. Persecution also includes insults and lies.
It is a terrible thing to have malicious lies told about you in any situation. But as a Christian, you may suffer that indignity simply because you are a Christian. Your faith may be misrepresented, doubted, mocked, or it may be the underlying reason for personal attacks on your character. Jesus went through being slapped, beaten, a crown of thorns put on his head, and put to death in one of the cruelest ways to execute a criminal.
But although the physical pain he endured is practically beyond comprehension, I have often wondered if the greater pain he endured was the mocking - the robe and scepter and crown of thorns suggesting that he was a sham king - a pretender. Crucified as a criminal, between criminals on the very cross probably intended for Barabbas. The sign taunting “This is Jesus king of the Jews,” which the Jewish leaders proposed be changed to read “He said” he was king of the Jews. “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross!” On and on it went…while Mary watched her son - who she had known even before his birth to be the true son of God - subjected to the vilest shame they could pour on him.
And he prayed for his Father to forgive them for all of that.
Non-Christian people may resent Christians and insult them, place temptation or traps in their way, tell lies about them, ridicule the Christian’s principles, accuse Christians of being self-righteous hypocrites…
This is an insidious form of persecution, because surrendering to it may appear to be less harmful. We may “give in” by making what seems minor concessions, which we do not consider a renunciation of Christ. We might be able to find the strength to endure the worst torture or death, faced with that specter if we do not renounce Christ, but be unwilling to stand for Christ in a casual conversation because it doesn’t seem as important.
What about Christians persecuting Christians? I read an article years ago (I don’t remember the writer or where I read it) that suggested that the deepest wounds Christians suffer are those inflicted by other Christians. Based on my personal lifetime of observation and experience, that statement rings true. My observation is that it tends to be caused by personal animosity, pride, and jealousy masquerading as doctrinal disputes.
But is that true as a general rule in the Christian community? I hope not, but to the extent it does exist, does it have anything to do with what Jesus says about persecution? Does enduring it produce the blessing Jesus ascribes?
I believe it does. Jesus does not specify the source of persecution and insults, and neither should we, either by inclusion or exclusion. The words of Jesus stand on their own better than any attempt to clarification them.
The blessing associated with this beatitude is the same as the first beatitude:
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We concluded there that, while the church is closely associated with the “kingdom” in the New Testament, the kingdom encompasses more than today’s church. It includes all those who are, ever have been, or will be under God’s dominion. We found that we are possessors of the kingdom in the sense of possessing both present-day and future citizenship in the kingdom.
Summing up the beatitudes:
These beatitudes described the character of the person God blesses. We will find that principle to hold true throughout the sermon. That is why I call the sermon “The Christian Character.”
This is the person Jesus wants us to be - the Christian character resides within a person, bearing its fruit in external words and actions that are consistent with the values Jesus seeks to cultivate in his followers.
Jesus describes a person who is
• poor in spirit
• mourns
• meek
• merciful
• hungry and thirsty for righteousness
• a peacemaker
• persecuted for righteousness
Not every person has suffered the kind of persecution many have endured faithfully in earlier times, but those who have endured are blessed – so says Jesus. It is a hard saying but it is true.
In the rest of Jesus’ sermon on the Galilean mountain, Jesus shows how the person acts who possesses the characteristics he has just described in the beatitudes.
