THE PERSECUTED Jesus concluded His opening Beatitudes by speaking about the persecuted. He said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10). The word persecuted comes from a word that indicates animals being hunted. When a person goes hunting, he means harm to the animal being hunted. Thus, he persecutes the animal. The word is also applied to an enemy or criminal on the run from his pursuer. And in the same vein, Christians can be hunted for the purpose of being hurt in some way. But Jesus has described disciples that are poor in Spirit, mourning over sin, meek, hungering for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers. Who would want to hunt and hurt such people? Surely such people are harmless and innocent. We should not think of such a lowly status as being worthy of note. The answer is the world. The world actually hates a character as Jesus described because such behavior makes the world look bad. Jesus said, The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil (John 7:7). Jesus came, being meek and lowly in heart, and the world hated Him for it. And Christians, following their Lords example are going to be in the same boat. Again Jesus told His disciples, If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19). When Jesus described the character of a true disciple in the Beatitudes, He was describing someone completely different from the world. And the world hates it. It is that hatred that causes the world to pursue (persecute) and hurt the innocent. For example, when good king Jehoshaphat was going into battle along side evil king Ahab against an enemy, all of Ahabs prophets said tht they would win the battle. But Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from a real prophet of God. Then we read Ahabs response, And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. (II Chronicles 18:7). When righteousness condemns the evil, the evil doesnt like it. But its worth noting that the same blessing of having the kingdom (rule) of heaven goes to the poor in Spirit and the persecuted. Those who dare stand for righteousness in spite of persecution threats are those through poverty of spirit realize their complete dependence on God and know they will come out glorious in the end because God said so. Article from The Camden Companion ~ Wayde E. Miller ~ November 2, 2014
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:14:06 +0000
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