The Beatitudes, Part 3

This third part of the beatitudes are a sad reality that leads to a glorious end. It brings us face-to-face with our biggest fears, telling us that we will be persecuted, but Jesus reassures us that we will gain a reward in heaven.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
-Matthew 5:10-12

We are not so quick to pray for these qualities. I admit that, will reading and praying over this I felt a reluctance to pray for persecution. It doesn’t seem to make sense to pray for persecution. Yet persecution is listed right along with a pure heart, meekness, and peacemaking as attributes a Christian should be. So how does persecution benefit a Christian?

People have spent whole books trying to answer the above question. My personal favorite is John Piper’s Desiring God, in the chapter entitled “Suffering”. The bottom line is that suffering drives the Christian to Christ. Job, a great sufferer in the Old Testament, saw God as never before after his suffering: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5). Job saw God in his suffering. Humans throughout the Bible have realized this truth. “Count it all joy, my brothers, why you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3) “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)

We as Christians will suffer, but this suffering brings us closer to Christ our Savior. Remember that this life is all about Christ. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

Why do we as Christians want to suffer? For the glory of Christ our King. It is through him that we can “rejoice” in suffering, for we share in what he has done, and he will reward us for it.
I encourage you to read Desiring God for a more in-depth look into why we suffer. Great passages on suffering in the Bible are 2 Corinthians 12, Hebrews 12, 1 Peter 4, James 1, Job, Psalm 6, and Philippians 3. (There are many others)