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"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
(Matthew 5:10-12)
I will give you a heads up: what I will write about will not be easy but intense; it will not be shallow but heavy. To love our enemies and rejoice when persecuted and reviled does not come naturally. In fact, what comes most naturally and carnally is to hit back when we are hit, to set matters straight when falsely accused, to get revenge! I am not where Christ says I need to be, but I want to get there and help lead you there as well. What a great place that will be in our walk with God that when we are persecuted, yet we do not complain or retaliate; rather, we count it all joy and rejoice.
The persecuted are passionate followers of Jesus Christ who are harassed in any way for their love of righteousness and love of Christ. In verse 10, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted." The Greek word translated "persecuted" is dioko, which means to pursue, drive away, harass, trouble, and mistreat (see MacArthur, p. 195, and BlueletterBible.org). It is a perfect passive participle. The perfect tense speaks of an event that happened and has continuing results. The passive voice means it is something that happens to you. Three times in three verses this word dioko is used, and there is nothing mild or tame about it; it is an intense word for being mistreated.
There are many believers all through the centuries who have been mistreated in both big and small ways. Martyrdom and persecution did not only happen to the church in times past. In one of my research papers in graduate school, I traced the persecution of the early church until about AD 300. It was an intense study filled with many stories of heroes and heroines for Christ. In the last century and now into the 21st, there are more believers killed for their faith than all the preceding 19 centuries combined!
Who are the persecuted? They are the ones who are reviled (the Greek word here is oneidizo). This word means to mock, throw in the face, and abuse with vile and vicious words. It is the same word used in Matthew 27:44, "Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing." Jesus experienced persecution throughout His life and ministry. If the Son of God encountered such harsh critics, why would we expect anything less as we follow Him today?
"Lord Jesus, thank You for loving those who hated and persecuted You. Help us as Your children living in a fallen world to do as You did. Help us to return love and forgiveness for hate." |
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