Once again I am doing some backtracking. I was reading the Beatitudes and realized that I had missed a command of Jesus.
After telling his disciples what kind of blessing comes from what kind of attitude Jesus ends this section by saying...
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Each beatitude; humility, conviction, meekness, righteous pursuit, mercy, integrity, peacemaker, and persecution bearing (which is an attitude in itself), each one of these is an attitude of Jesus himself.
What is man's purpose? It is to be like Jesus. If a person is to be like Jesus then they must expect to be treated like Jesus. To consistently exhibit the attitudes found in Matthew chapter 5 is to be different from the world. The world is afraid of those who go against "normalcy," and as a result of such difference in action the world will persecute, to some degree or another, those who persist on being different. Every follower of Christ must expect a degree of persecution. When it happens Jesus commands a proper response.
Notice that the proper response is not merely an inward expression. I was tempted to write that the proper response was joy and gladness and though this is true it is also wrong for the response must not only be inward; it must be exhibited outward. REJOICE!!! Let your joy show through!!! What an odd thing to say and yet we have examples of this kind of response found in Scripture.
Stories found in Acts of the Apostles suffering persecution show us an attitude of joy being expressed outwardly through rejoicing. It is not a "look at me world!!!!" attitude. It is a "I am counted as being worthy to suffer as Christ suffered" attitude. Even then a measure of pride can creep in, and if this were to happen it would no longer be the attitude of joy (rejoicing) that Jesus is speaking of here.
Jesus is not saying to be proud in the sense of "look at me world!!!!". On the other hand a level of pride is involved, but one that does not go to the head. It is pride in knowing that your life is reflecting that of Jesus, and it is a pride that spurs you on to do greater things for him. Even more then that, it is the evidence that you have true belief. We can say we believe all we want but until we suffer for what we believe we will never truly know if we believe or not. How do we know the prophets found in the Old Testament believed? They continued to serve God in the face of persecution.
The belief is in the unseen but not unknowable future. The belief that should spur every Christian is the fact that we will one day be in the presence of our Creator and Lord to live eternally with him. The belief is knowing that there is nothing here on earth that can prevent this future from happening.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!
Go forth and live your life according to your belief.
After telling his disciples what kind of blessing comes from what kind of attitude Jesus ends this section by saying...
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Each beatitude; humility, conviction, meekness, righteous pursuit, mercy, integrity, peacemaker, and persecution bearing (which is an attitude in itself), each one of these is an attitude of Jesus himself.
What is man's purpose? It is to be like Jesus. If a person is to be like Jesus then they must expect to be treated like Jesus. To consistently exhibit the attitudes found in Matthew chapter 5 is to be different from the world. The world is afraid of those who go against "normalcy," and as a result of such difference in action the world will persecute, to some degree or another, those who persist on being different. Every follower of Christ must expect a degree of persecution. When it happens Jesus commands a proper response.
Notice that the proper response is not merely an inward expression. I was tempted to write that the proper response was joy and gladness and though this is true it is also wrong for the response must not only be inward; it must be exhibited outward. REJOICE!!! Let your joy show through!!! What an odd thing to say and yet we have examples of this kind of response found in Scripture.
Stories found in Acts of the Apostles suffering persecution show us an attitude of joy being expressed outwardly through rejoicing. It is not a "look at me world!!!!" attitude. It is a "I am counted as being worthy to suffer as Christ suffered" attitude. Even then a measure of pride can creep in, and if this were to happen it would no longer be the attitude of joy (rejoicing) that Jesus is speaking of here.
Jesus is not saying to be proud in the sense of "look at me world!!!!". On the other hand a level of pride is involved, but one that does not go to the head. It is pride in knowing that your life is reflecting that of Jesus, and it is a pride that spurs you on to do greater things for him. Even more then that, it is the evidence that you have true belief. We can say we believe all we want but until we suffer for what we believe we will never truly know if we believe or not. How do we know the prophets found in the Old Testament believed? They continued to serve God in the face of persecution.
The belief is in the unseen but not unknowable future. The belief that should spur every Christian is the fact that we will one day be in the presence of our Creator and Lord to live eternally with him. The belief is knowing that there is nothing here on earth that can prevent this future from happening.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!
Go forth and live your life according to your belief.
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