The Persecuted
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
Persecution means to subject people to ill-treatment, often with their complete destruction in view. We see in the Book of Acts that, once the Church was born and flourished, persecution began. The Lord Jesus told His disciples, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The religious authorities persecuted the apostles Peter and John, and then Stephen. The death of Stephen led to the great persecution in Acts 8. It was systematic, organised and led by a zealous Pharisee called Saul. He recalls in Acts 22:4, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”
In Acts 12 the state, under Herod, also persecutes the Church, killing James and arresting Peter. Throughout the history of the Church of Christ it has suffered persecution at the hands of religious and political powers. It is a history that continues to this day. May we always remember so many of our brethren who are hated, pursued, imprisoned, tortured and killed in so many parts of the world. They should always be in our hearts and prayers, and their faith should encourage us.
Persecution is founded on unrighteousness. The Saviour was hounded by the Pharisees, Levites [Evidenced from the Parable of the Good Samaritan?] and lawyers for doing good, with a thirst that was only satisfied by His death. But His sufferings revealed the heart of God in all its abundance of love and grace. The persecution of the apostles served to demonstrate their utter faith and joy in God. Persecution scattered the Christians beyond Jerusalem and began an explosion of evangelism, prophesied by the Lord Jesus is Acts 1:8, which still burns brightly. Persecution led Saul to the feet of Jesus, and caused the Philippian jailer to ask Paul, “What must I do to be saved?”.
The Kingdom of Heaven emphasises the earthly aspect of the Kingdom of God. In the promised millennial kingdom, righteousness will reign. The world, which is currently characterised by injustice, will be put to rights by the King of kings and Lord of lords. Under Christ’s reign, the kingdom will belong to the lowly, to those who mourned, the meek, those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who were persecuted for righteousness’ sake – those who were hated in the world, driven from it, and “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
As Christians we are already in the Kingdom of God spiritually. We recognise and live in the light of Christ’s rule and authority in our hearts and fellowship. The kingdom also has in view rewards for our faithfulness to the Lord. Currently, the King is rejected, but returning. In the meantime, it is for us to manifest the gracious features the Lord Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes. He was the perfect expression of holy lowliness, sorrow, meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, peace and suffering. It is our calling to follow Him and express these beautiful features of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such fruitfulness glorifies the Father (John 15:8).
