He Meets Our Mistreatment with Reward

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)

Sitting on a floor mat in a cell, wrongfully detained in a foreign prison, I struggled with this text and others like it. First, without a physical copy of God’s word in front of me, I struggled to be sure I was remembering each word. Then I struggled in faith for the confidence to take its unlikely claims as true. I am happy to say God met me in that struggle.

Each of the beatitudes we have considered in our series so far has been surprising — contrary to expectations. Those who mourn are comforted; the meek inherit the earth. And now, the persecuted are blessed. It’s the same upside-down, counter-natural, kingdom-of-heaven pattern.

But here in the last beatitude of the set, Jesus introduces a couple of firsts. He intensifies the promises, subtly but surely. See if you can spot these shifts.

Borrowing from Future Joy

First, he moves from third person to second person. “Blessed are those who are persecuted” follows the grammar of the previous beatitudes (verse 10). But then it becomes “Blessed are you” (verse 11). We’ll return to this shift a little later.

The second change is that Jesus makes a demand — the very first imperative of the Sermon on the Mount. He calls us to “rejoice and be glad” in the face of suffering for righteousness’ sake (verse 12). This is as countercultural as all the other statements, yet it is perhaps more shocking. Rather than just telling us to believe something, the last beatitude requires something of us. It expects an evidence of belief — namely, joy. Crazy joy. Joy in the face of pain or loss or ridicule.

So, the question becomes, Where do Christians find joy in suffering? Do we reach down deep into our own internal resources? Do we fake it till we make it? The Bible’s answer: You borrow it from future joy.

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (verse 12). Hope in heavenly joy inspires joy in present hardships. The reward so outweighs the trial that it overwhelms the trial’s sorrow. Joy doesn’t replace or dismiss other emotions — that would be stiff and unreal — but overwhelms them, triumphs through them, so that they don’t crush us.

“Joy in trials gives evidence that a person is destined for everlasting gladness.”

There is more. Verse 12 uses the same pairing of verbs (“rejoice and be glad”) as 1 Peter 4:13: “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

Peter encourages suffering believers to rejoice now so that they might really be glad later, when God’s glory is revealed. In other words, rejoice not just because of future joy but so that you might receive it. Joy in trials gives evidence that a person is destined for everlasting gladness. It assures the sufferer — and convinces the world — that he is an heir of future joy.

That assurance of a reward motivates joyful endurance in the present. Present joy is borrowed from future joy. That’s how heaven — the glory to be revealed — breaks into the experience of one suffering for righteousness’ sake.

Persecution Is Personal

Recently, my own path of following Christ and loving people led to a multiyear detention at the hands of a rogue government. I cannot describe all the emotional ups and downs, the crises of faith and moments of absolute desperation that I experienced as I paced around a small cell with nothing but a bedroll, a plastic teacup, and the threat of being there forever.

Everything that had once given me identity and status was stripped away. Creature comforts fled. I battled feelings of abandonment. I had to press into God like never before. He was suddenly all there was, and I had to prove that he was really enough. And by his grace, I felt his favor, approval, and love like never before. I came to know the hope of a coming reward — Christ himself and all that goes with him. These assurances led, imperfectly and inconsistently, to an experience countless sufferers have testified to: joy.

I began to sing in my cell, loudly enough to turn heads and gather attention from officials. I didn’t care. My heart felt it; spiritual survival necessitated it. I composed poems in my head, like this one:

Be glad, my soul, and sing,
For you’re a child of the King,
     And nothing can take
     That position away,
Not a single thing.

Be happy, soul, and shout,
For you without a doubt
     Were led into this trial,
     And after a while,
You will be led out.

Be thankful, soul, and praise
Throughout these darkest days,
     For you are from
     The age that’s to come,
So lift up high your face.

The Christian Never Suffers Alone

Besides the promise of future reward, Jesus gives sufferers another reason to be happy: “for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (verse 12). In other words, you’re in good company, Christian, when people say all kinds of evil about you. They did the same to the prophets.

I know firsthand how verbal abuse, false accusations, and arbitrary injustices can warp one’s reality, leading to feelings of shame and guilt. That’s where it helps to remember that many righteous people have faced injustices for the name of Christ. It is nothing to be ashamed of; indeed, the very opposite is true (Acts 5:40–41). Around the world today, Christians follow the well-worn path of persecution for righteousness’ sake. It is neither unique nor surprising.

But as much as Christian suffering is a group activity, experienced alongside a great crowd of witnesses, it is also a personal one. We are met in our trials by a personal God. That may be why Jesus switches to the second person in this final beatitude. “Blessed are you,” he says to our face (verse 11). The one delivering this promise is himself about to be persecuted for our joy. His sacrifice makes possible a true, personal, and intimate fellowship with him in his sufferings.

Are you facing hardship on your path of obedience today? A reward is waiting. The prophets are cheering. The preacher of the Beatitudes himself endured suffering, and he abides with you in it. Rejoice and be glad.