Sermon on the Mount
Week 11 – Persecuted for Righteousness Sake
The Sermon on the Mount is the core of Jesus’ yoke and if we want to be true Jesus followers, then we need to understand how to live out his yoke. The main purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to show how to live a life that God finds pious, that is, how to live out the righteousness of God here on Earth. To do this, Jesus begins his sermon with the “Principles of the Yoke,” the Beatitudes. We have learned that the while the word “Blessed” literally means “happy,” it is much more than that. It more closely resembles something akin to “Held in honor by God” or “In a righteous relationship with God.”
As we continue to study the beatitudes we have been focusing on the second set of them that deal with having righteous relationships with other people. Mercy, pure in heart, and peacemaker all relate directly to how we relate to other people. To have a righteous relationship with God, we need to live in righteous relationship with one another.
As we conclude the Beatitudes, we encounter the first one that not really an inner-righteousness/heart attitude to have. Instead, it appears, on its surface to be more about others’ reactions than my actions.
The virtue being promoted in this passage is not persecution, but commitment. The virtuous are not like those who "hear the word and immediately receives it with joy; ... but ... when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, they immediately fall away" (13:20-21). Instead, they are determined to stay the course despite the cost to themselves. They understand that they are working against human nature and against society.
Society will not understand the mindset of a righteous person. Society will certainly not be “converted.” Even the Church may not understand. What Jesus says is “held in honor by God,” others will call foolishness, irresponsibility, and naivety. Piety generates hostility and antagonism from those who are not seeking the Kingdom of God, whether they go to church or not. The goal then is to understand this and not let it turn us away from our goals nor turn us bitter.
There are two main ways I see people misinterpret and abuse this passage in Christianity that we need to be wary of. First, we must be wary to not seek out the persecution. We are not to intentionally provoke the persecution with conduct or speech that is unnecessarily offensive to others (1 Corinthians 10:32-33 ESV). However, if, in the honest effort to live a life piety, others persecute us and revile us, we are to consider it a blessing.
Secondly, I see Christians who think any and all suffering happening to them is persecution. They fail to realize that people suffer for doing evil. Such suffering is not persecution, but “punishment.” These sufferings should not be confused with “reaping what we have sown” due to our sin or some character defect. (Galatians 6:7-8, I Peter 4:14-15)
Jesus want to reassure his followers that of two things. First, if they seek to live the life of piety that He describes, they should expect rejection. Secondly, if they are persecuted then this would be a sign that are being truly faithful.
Jesus’ reminds his followers that most of the prophets were persecute and held in contempt by authority. While that is small consolation, Jesus is reminding his followers that they are not to doubt the message simple because of their circumstances. He reminds them that the ultimate thing that matter is what God can give us. Even if the end seems desolate, it is not truly the end, because our final hope is in God, and God has the final say in rewarding faithfulness and righteousness.
The sudden shift to "you" could be shocking to the disciples and other followers. I think Jesus does this because he is making this markism more than just a mere conclusion. Rather, it is a clear commission, an implicit command for the disciples to enter the world of their day, to assume the problems of their time, to bring God’s care into the world — no matter what the cost, irrespective of the risk or the pain.
The entire set of Beatitudes is anti-social, a rejection of how our society and our churches work. When we exclude ourselves from the “majority” group identity, we can expected to be treated with hostility.
Jesus contrasts the honor from our neighbors (“praises of men” - 6:2) with honor from God. Jesus does not dismantle the honor/shame system, rather he redirects it. Instead of looking for honor from each other, we need to be looking at what God honors. Instead of looking at validation from our society, we look for validation from heaven.
The Beatitude now becomes a direct invitation, a personal blessing, a definite assurance and promise. It is an invitation into a different social structure. This is driven home with Jesus’ next thought when he continues with: “You are the salt of the earth …. You are the light of the world” (5: 13-15).