Matthew 5:10,11 - Blessed are those who are persecuted

5:10

Now things get tougher. The previous qualities are mostly ones that we have by nature, this one we can seek to avoid, but only by denying Christ. “Blessed are those who are persecuted”. Persecution is common to Christians. In the West we have not suffered much in this way for many years, though now things are starting to change and who knows where we will end up. But in many parts of the world, and certainly throughout history, persecution is a normal part of everyday life. If we encounter such situations we need to remind ourselves that ours is the kingdom of heaven. Note that this is the same promise as for the poor in spirit. Weakness and strength can go together. We should note also that it is those who are persecuted for righteousness. There is no virtue in being “persecuted” for being a pratt or for doing wrong!

5:11

Jesus spends more time on the persecution beatitude than any of others. This is not surprising as being persecuted is not something that anyone naturally desires, and we can, by being unfaithful to Christ, avoid it. With the others we will face them like it or not, Christian or not. We are all poor in spirit (though some will not admit it), we will all mourn. So Jesus now elaborates on persecution, including being insulted and being falsely accused “of all kinds of evil”. Again, this is “because of me [Jesus]”, not because we deserve it! It is very difficult to deal with false accusations, Jesus gives special mention to this.