Are you and I willing to endure righteous suffering that brings others to God? Are we willing to sacrifice our rights and yield our desire for present-day vindication for Christ’s sake and a heavenly reward? Are we willing to endure persecution “for righteousness’ sake”? 

In our reflection on the eight blessings Jesus pronounced at the outset of his famous Sermon on the Mount, we’ve come to the eighth and final beatitude: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

In the first seven beatitudes, Jesus refrained from elaborating on the specific kingdom virtue he extolled. But for the eighth and final one He adds an explanation. What is more, He switches from the third person plural to the second person singular, meaning, He addresses His listeners directly: “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 5:11–12).

By enduring persecution for their faith, Jesus’s followers join the long company of God’s prophets who were similarly persecuted. All the way “from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah” (Matthew 23:35).

Following Christ’s Example

According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is populated by those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, just like He has. Reflecting on Jesus’s attitude on his way to the cross, the apostle Peter wrote several decades later,

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:19–21)

Reaping negative consequences in form of persecution without any fault of our own militates against our innate sense of justice. An unbelieving mindset would urge us to pursue vindication and revenge. Yet Peter argues that suffering for doing good and enduring it is “a gracious thing in the sight of God.” In fact, to do so is our calling as Christ-followers. Yet we can only submit to Christlike suffering as we are enabled to do so by our gracious God.

In this regard, Jesus set the example. As Peter elaborates,

He [Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on[to] the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:22–25)

Read More