David Bahn – Reflections

Matthew 5:11-12

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

There are plenty of jokes about the difference between preaching and meddling. Preaching seems far away, remote, and likely to provoke a very positive response: “Preach it Brother!” On the other hand if we get too personal, naming the sin, calling for a clear change in heart and life, the response might be, “Now you’re meddling.”

Jesus gets very personal in these last verses of the Beatitudes. He turns away from a description of the objective realities of blessedness to the personal application of what it will mean for these disciples to follow Him: They will be persecuted. And the persecution will come because they are following Jesus.

Too often we want to experience the truths of the faith that are pleasant and desirable: peace, love, joy, hope, and life, while failing to understand that our relationship with Christ brings also the more challenging realities of God’s blessedness: hungering for righteousness, poverty of spirit, and persecution because of our faith.

Jesus doesn’t make this a sort of red badge of courage; He has no “persecution complex.” There are plenty of times when He enjoys life and provides a banquet of blessings to the disciples and the crowds who gather around them. He heals diseases. He raises the dead. He feeds the multitude. He changes water into wine. But His agenda never changes for the sake of avoiding persecution. He never turns away from doing the Father’s will.

Our discipleship must be more than a discipleship of convenience. When it’s easy to follow Christ and pray to Him – because of life’s challenges or the warm fuzzies of religious experience. We must also follow Jesus in those difficult times: when walking by faith means yearning for His kingdom when it is not readily apparent to us.

Jesus promises, however, that in the face of the worst persecution (and this is boldly unjust!) we are blessed. No matter how dark the path, or difficult the climb, or deep the valley, we have a reward awaiting us in heaven. That’s not pie in the sky; that’s a call to do good, trust God, and look for His salvation.

The world is full of people who will do the easy thing. We who know Christ must hold in faith to His promises and do the right and good thing. We will surely receive our reward from Him!