Those Who Have Been Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake

Today's passage deals with the last blessing of the Beatitudes, the concluding part of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus proclaimed to his disciples: the blessing of those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. This passage makes us face the reality of the mockery and persecution believers inevitably meet when they fulfill their role as salt and light and proclaim the truth in the world. It proclaims that even when, as the light of the world, they are attacked by evil forces that hate having their filthy sin exposed, they can rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is their reward in heaven.

The sermon emphasizes that such suffering is not simply bad luck but a process of training, like God's furnace that refines believers into pure gold. Through the severe persecution and suffering that the apostle Paul and the prophets endured, it shows that if believers are to enjoy rest in the kingdom of heaven like the martyrs, they must endure the trials of this earth by faith. It also warns, through Isaiah's experience, that when we stand before God all our put-on devotion is laid bare, so we must truly repent and live honest and clean lives. Only by being filled with the fruit of the Spirit and becoming gentle and merciful can we fend off Satan's attacks and receive God's protection.

How will we receive and put into practice this amazing truth, that when believers lay down human righteousness and greed and live for God's righteousness, they will at last find true peace and the reward of heaven?