Blessed are you...

"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."

~Jesus Christ

Matthew 5:11

Blessed are you...

Let those words resonate in your ears for a moment...

All the other beatitudes were directed informally, "blessed are the pure in heart", "blessed are the meek"...

Not this one. "Blessed are you". 

As He is closing this sermon of blessing, it's almost as though He is not only blessing you, but assuring you. As I read through these magnificent and somewhat perplexing verses, it is notable that He closes with a personal blessing as well as assurance of persecution. 

"Blessed are you when others revile you..."

If anyone truly understood the sin nature of this fallen world that we call earth, it was Jesus Christ. 

Let us not forget that He traded the fellowship of angels for the wishy washy fellowship of wicked humans. Undoubtedly He longed for home, to be in the very presence of God and angels.

He never wronged anyone.

He lived a pure and faultless life from first breath to last. 

And yet, the world still hated Him. 

They called Him a liar and a blasphemer. 

His friend sold him for mere pennies, and betrayed Him with a kiss. 

He died alone. 

naked. 

thirsty. 

alone. 

while the world looked on. 

A world that He had served. taught. healed. fed.

Loved. 

As we follow Christ and confess our poverty of spirit, grieve over our sin and grieve for others in bondage to sin; when we long to be people of meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity and peace, we must be sure that there will be direct opposition from our Enemy. 

There will be persecution.

There will be discouragement.

There will be unfairness. Evil words wrongfully spoken. Lies told. Lies believed. 

But...Christ does not end the sermon there. 

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven..."

For the 33 years He walked the earth, His heart was stayed on one thing and one thing alone: heaven. 

The purpose He came. The purpose He lived. The purpose He died. The purpose He rose. 

Heaven.

God's glory to be seen on earth, embraced in our hearts and revealed in heaven.

Ought not our perspectives be the same?

Why get so tangled in the temporal affairs and pains of earth? 

Because it is all we know. 

God can change that. 

As we spend time faithfully with Him, allowing His heart to minister to ours through prayer, His Word and fellowship of other believers, our hearts will become more like His. We will be more aware of His blessing and beauty in the pain than we are the pain itself. 

It is important to remember that it is not people that are opposing us, but rather it is the Spirit of Darkness dwelling within the world that is opposing the Gospel of Jesus Christ that dwells within us (Ephesians 6, John 15). 

Rejoice and be glad! 

The temporary trials we face as a result of our Blessed Savior Jesus Christ, pale in comparison to the glory we will experience for eternity in His presence in heaven.

Stand strong friend.
Confess your desperate need for Him.
Grieve your sin. Grieve for others in sin. 

Pursue meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity and peace. 

Resist the Enemy.

Rejoice and be glad!

<><tce