Blessed are Ye

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

This final beatitude (which is sometimes counted as part of the previous one) brings the truths of these statements from theoretical to practical. It reminds us that these statements are not just lofty truths to be assented to in our heads, but that they are statements of practical truth: meant to be lived, not just pondered.

Nor is it just the super-Christian for whom these blessings are meant: they are for you and me, submitting to God’s view of us and our sin, yielding to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and thus growing in righteousness. We are those whom Christ had in mind when He spoke these things, for He wants us to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)

I believe that is why Jesus chose this abrupt turn of phrase: to show us that He isn’t speaking of some theoretical individual that may or may not exist, but to us personally. We are to live in such a way that the world hates us for our resemblance to Christ. We are to expect persecution, and to weather it with rejoicing in the rewards it will occasion in heaven to come.

The beatitudes are not simply to be enjoyed as beautiful words: they are faithful promises to which we can cling when the going gets rough.

It is difficult to end this series here, for with the statement of “Blessed are ye” the sermon takes off into many practical truths and Divine maxims, but those will have to wait for another series.

And yet, I think it is important to leave us with a picture of what we will become to the world if we live in light of Christ’s beatitudes:

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

When we live out the truths of the beatitudes, when we show to the world what it means to be poor in spirit, mourn over our sin, live in meekness, hunger and thirst after righteousness, extend mercy to others, walk in pureness of heart, be peacemakers, and endure persecution with Christlike humility and joy: then the world will rage, mock, revile, and persecute, but our light, while exposing the world’s darkness for what it is, will also draw some to its Source.

To be salt in a saltless world, light in utter darkness: that is our purpose and our joy.

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)