Matthew 5:11, commentary and pictures

Blessed are those who are insulted, reviled, persecuted and falsely accused of every kind of evil for loyalty to Christ and for righteousness and truth. Those so treated for His sake are to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for their reward in heaven is great and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Their suffering follows the same path as the prophets and righteous messengers before them, and as Christ Himself who was slandered and opposed for obedience. This blessing is not for bringing hatred by a harsh, quarrelsome spirit or by needlessly irritating conduct, but for hostility that comes from exposing sin and standing firm for truth even at great cost. Such affliction is to be expected rather than met with surprise, and it refines faith and patience, advances truth by bringing it before others, and already brings peace and joy while increasing final glory.

Sermon Setting and Authority

Jesus spoke these words on a mountain after ordaining the apostles, after teaching and healing throughout Galilee had drawn great multitudes to Him. The disciples came to Him and occupied the inner circle, while the assembled multitude of Jews and Gentiles also heard, and the teaching was directed especially to the disciples. As Teacher and Medical Missionary Worker He longed to fill the world with the peace and joy found in heaven.

The saying stands in a series with the blessings on the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those hungering for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted, before the teachings on salt, light, and fulfilling the law. It belongs to lessons of truth intended to reach people in ignorance and error, not only those already familiar with the way of life. Those so blessed are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid and like a candle put on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, charged to let light shine in good works that glorify the Father. The mount of Beatitudes widens vision beyond territorial lines and human-made distinctions to sinful suffering people everywhere.

The Beatitudes state the principles governing the kingdom of divine grace rather than promising earthly glory or political restoration as people expected. Their teaching opposed the self-righteous doctrines and practices of the scribes and Pharisees. They revealed compassion, mercy, love, and paternal care in contrast to portraying God as a stern judge.

The sermon was spoken with clearness, power, simplicity, and heavenly authority as words of eternal life from God, plain enough for a child and for people of every level of learning to understand without being misled. Its truths are a light amid error and a sure foundation for faith and practice, teaching saving truth and giving hope and relief through Christ's righteousness. His divine nature shone through His humanity as He pronounced blessing on the objects of His mercy and love. The blessing is given with fullness from the inexhaustible store of the richest treasures of heaven at His command, for the Father committed the riches of heaven to Him without bound with the great gift of the only begotten Son. He has the prerogative and unlimited authority to bless from His peculiar sacred province with all heavenly advantages, publicly proclaiming His choice of subjects for His heavenly kingdom and assigning them their place in His service united with Himself. Those who receive Him and believe on His name never hunger and never thirst, for no greater joy exists than that found in Christ, and receiving power to become sons of God by the breath of life breathed into fallen humanity, they are acknowledged before the heavenly host and before unfallen and fallen worlds as His peculiar treasure, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ sharing blessing, glory, and honor.

The saying belongs to Christ's greeting of blessing to the whole human family, recognizing and blessing the despised and persecuted and opening His arms to them as a refuge. Its principles apply in every age and to every class of people. They set a standard of righteous character attainable by anyone through faith in the Life-giver by living His life, unlike human measures that prize wealth and status. He sees what people may become through grace, inspires hope and trust, and opens new life even to the despairing.

Those Counted Blessed

Blessed are those who are insulted, reviled, persecuted, and have all manner of evil falsely spoken against them for Christ's sake and for loyalty to Him. This includes those whose teaching and testimony for Him are rejected, and those who enlighten others and warn them concerning disobedience. Such suffering continues the pattern of the prophets who were persecuted for obedience before them.

The blessing is for suffering for righteousness' and truth's sake, when fellowship with God and loyalty to righteousness expose sin and bring the world's hostility. It applies to those who accept the truth and carry out reform near the close of time, including keeping the seventh-day Sabbath even at the cost of popularity, salary, pension, home and comfort, becoming homeless and dependent on daily labor while standing firm. It belongs to those who endure without abandoning or lowering faith when upholders of truth are called enthusiasts or fanatics, because God's word condemns sin and calls to righteousness, and the true follower must be ready to sacrifice anything rather than lose God's favor.

The blessing is not for a coarse, harsh spirit that stirs up strife and dissension. Hatred brought on by rude behavior, needless quarrels, or deliberately making the Sabbath irritating or burdensome to others is not persecution for Christ's sake, but makes a person a stumbling block and brings reproach upon the truth. Likewise irritating, noisy, fanatical conduct that lacks consistency, makes unbelievers hate the doctrine, hinders meeting, and damages the cause is not a sound reason to rejoice.

This earth is not heaven, so being reviled and persecuted and falsely accused for Christ's sake is to be expected here and is not to be met with surprise, dismay, dejection, or being cast down. Followers should expect no better portion in this world than their reproached and hated Master, for such persecution is the lot of God's faithful people. Hostility may persist beneath outwardly peaceful times and may grow when civil protection is withdrawn, and the trials hardest to bear are those that come from brethren and familiar friends.

Rejoice and Heavenly Reward

Those so reviled and persecuted and falsely accused of all manner of evil for Christ's sake are to rejoice and be exceeding glad, cheerful and courageous rather than downcast, discouraged, shaken in faith, or filled with murmuring and complaining. Time and courage and faith are too precious to sacrifice to dejection and mourning, and opposition is no reason for discouragement but grounds for rejoicing in sharing the prophets' experience. All heaven is watching and ready to help, and such suffering does not mean being forsaken or separated from Christ. This earth is not heaven, so reviling and persecution are to be expected rather than met with surprise or dismay, and the hardest trials to bear are those that come from brethren and familiar friends, which when borne with patience reflect back upon those who caused them. The wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness, requiring the whole armor of God in order to withstand and stand.

Their reward in heaven is great, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those reviled and persecuted and falsely accused for His name's sake are distinguished as a peculiar people possessing the traits of character required for the royal family, publicly proclaimed as Christ's chosen subjects and assigned their place in His service united with Himself. They are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, sharing with Him in blessing and glory and honor, though religious leaders would have called them cursed. Each suffering and neglect and sacrifice and sorrow endured for Him increases final joy and immortal reward in the kingdom of glory, for God approves His faithful sufferers who do not abandon or lower their faith. The cross bears shame and stigma, yet remains the hope of life and exaltation to those who gladly sacrifice, showing Christ's oneness with God as giver.

The blessedness promised is also a present possession here below, bringing cheerfulness and peace and joy into work for God. Those so blessed are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid and like a candle put on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, charged to let light so shine in good works that men glorify the Father in heaven. They exhibit the graces of Christ's Spirit, with minds illuminated to sweep away traditions and man-made requirements and to enforce the real principles of God's law for practical use. Accepting that light restores to spiritual life and gives a sound, healthful, happy experience, exercising the best and noblest faculties of the soul in obedience where Christ leads in safety and the light of life.

Slander does not destroy a righteous character, and false accusations repeated until believed do not change the truth. God will ultimately vindicate the innocent and can turn the schemes and hostility of enemies back upon them. Such trial of faith is not a reason to abandon confidence in God or to reclaim worldly reputation when hope is not understood by the world or the nominal church, but a call to keep looking forward and to pray for enemies. Persecution and cruel treatment do not mean abandonment, as shown when a woman under a husband's threats and violence found strength and calm and peace and comfort by bringing her burdens to God. Faithful service should be done without seeking human approval or fearing disfavor while taking care to give no cause for condemnation, without losing confidence under reproach.

Prophets Christ Early Witnesses

Insult, persecution and false accusation endured for Christ place sufferers in the line of the prophets and righteous messengers before them who were persecuted for obedience in the same way. They are blessed even while suffering, and are to rejoice and be exceeding glad because their reward in heaven is great. This opposition comes as they try to do Christ's work, with Satan stirring people to hinder their labor, and believers must also guard their own words and actions so they do not join in persecuting God's servants.

Jesus Himself was mocked and cruelly slandered because of faithful obedience to God's law, meeting prejudice, falsehood and misrepresentation, and His followers are not to faint or be discouraged when they face the same treatment. Evil spoken falsely against followers for Christ's sake is the same evil speaking uttered against Christ, the Majesty of heaven and the world's Redeemer, and they are to let men say what they will without failing, holding the truth as it is in Jesus firmly without wavering. He bore human griefs and needs with meekness and dignity, and lived every phase of the Beatitudes before He preached them, so doing right because it is right without discouragement, walking in humility, and showing a religion born of love that is simple, kind, courteous, just, pure and uplifting belongs to the verse. The cross bears shame and stigma yet remains the hope of life and exaltation, with lasting joy and immortal reward in the kingdom of glory for those who gladly sacrifice for Christ, understood only by willingly suffering trials and reproach together with the Master rather than shunning suffering, murmuring, or seeking ease and honor.

The expulsion of Paul and Barnabas from Antioch and the district illustrates being falsely slandered, insulted, persecuted and falsely accused for Christ. Jewish opponents by cunning and false reports turned influential devout women and men of standing and the authorities against them until they were expelled from the region. They remembered the promise that great is the reward in heaven and that the prophets before them were persecuted in the same way, and met that expulsion without discouragement, with rejoicing and exceeding gladness.

Early Christians under pagan persecution lived by this promise with unsullied faith, enduring loss of possessions, homes, comfort and light in desolate hiding places without complaint or renunciation of Christ. They encouraged one another with faith, patience and hope, counting trials and persecutions as steps bringing them nearer rest and reward, rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for truth and singing triumph amid flames. Christ and angels leaned over heaven gazing on them with deepest interest and approval of their steadfastness, for suffering for the truth makes the faithful worthy to share the experience of the prophets and regards them with approval. Teachers of the truth when persecuted fled from one city to another and kept preaching Christ wherever they could obtain a hearing, in churches, in private houses, or in the open air, so that light penetrated everywhere and truth spread with irresistible power. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities could not crush it by imprisonment, torture, fire and sword, though thousands sealed their faith with blood the work went on, and persecution served only to extend the truth and make more clear the contrast between the work of Satan and the work of God. Those who serve God may also face reproach, ridicule and false accusations because of faithfulness to Him, as painful contempt to be endured by those who remain true, and persecution can grow more violent when God's work succeeds.

Refining Purpose in Mission

Blessed insult, persecution, and false accusation for Christ's sake turn suffering itself into blessing, for trial loosens hold on the world and draws affection and thought toward heaven. In that loosening, faith and patience are refined, trust in God is strengthened, and followers are prepared for their work with God, even when teaching and testimony are rejected. Fiery trials therefore have an appointed place in the struggle for righteousness, adding to final joy and to great reward in heaven rather than giving cause for loss of confidence or discouragement.

Such opposition is evidence of following in the Master's steps, for as fellowship with God and obedience to the law of heaven expose sin they meet the world's hostility, and the offense of the cross has not ceased. This is the continuing conflict between Christ and Satan, in which the faithful standing for God's law may suffer torture and death yet by witness wound Satan's cause, as Christ Himself met prejudice, falsehood, and misrepresentation without discouragement to His followers. The wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, and therefore requires taking the whole armor of God in order to withstand and to stand, without being downcast, shaken in faith, or spending precious time, courage, and faith in dejection, mourning, murmuring, or complaining while all heaven watches ready to help.

Contempt, reproach, and attempts to restrict conscience bring truth into public discussion and awaken those who would otherwise remain indifferent, so that suffering follows the experience of God's messengers and helps spread knowledge of God. Persecution does not defeat truth but advances its work, for when teachers fled from city to city yet kept preaching wherever hearing could be obtained, in churches, private houses, and the open air, light penetrated everywhere and truth spread with irresistible power. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities could not crush it by imprisonment, torture, fire, and sword, and though thousands sealed faith with blood the work went on, persecution serving only to extend the truth and to make clearer the contrast between the work of Satan and the work of God.

Tests of faith and patience are therefore to be accepted rather than feared or avoided, and duty fulfilled without regard for human fear or favor. Being reproached for Christ and choosing righteousness under persecution is better than disobedience with worldly prosperity, and dependence on Jesus enables holy obedience and steadies the soul to remain steadfast in faith and hope. Since Christ bore human griefs and needs with meekness and dignity, sinful people should not shun suffering and trials, murmur, or seek ease and honor, but willingly suffer trials and reproach together with the Master, which is excellent company.

This being reviled and persecuted and falsely accused for Christ's sake belongs to the spiritual experience that must be connected with every center of influence in the work. It is to be preserved with the sacredness of truth in all its holy dignity and power and revealed in work as the mark of Christian service and the Holy Spirit's guidance while laboring under the supervision of holy angels. That service requires keen perception to see the working of the Spirit of God upon the human heart, for when weighed in the balances of the heavenly sanctuary ambition and the desire to supersede weigh nothing as divine acquirements.

Enduring Faithfully Applied

Those insulted, persecuted and falsely accused for Christ are to keep faithfully doing their duty without seeking human approval or fearing human disfavor, taking care to give no cause for condemnation. A true follower must be ready to sacrifice anything rather than lose God's favor. Because such hardship may bring privation, believers should gain practical skills in trades, building and agriculture to provide for themselves and their families.

Reviling, persecution, false evil speech, murmurings, neglect, censure and abuse suffered by a servant doing the Master's work are suffered for Christ's sake, not merely as a personal matter. The one so treated should not take them personally, recount difficulties and grievances, or try to make others understand the wrong and vindicate himself. He should leave the matter with the Lord to fight his battles and vindicate his cause, with a spirit of forgiveness and forgetfulness of the past. He is to keep looking forward and pray for his enemies, letting men say what they will without failing or being discouraged. He is to hold the truth as it is in Jesus firmly without wavering, kept by a sure anchorage that holds, because the end of all things is at hand and the third angel's message will triumph, and those who hold fast will triumph with it.

Believers must guard their own words and actions so they do not join in persecuting God's servants. Reviling, speaking evil, accusing, finding fault, gathering details of evil, and destroying confidence in brethren is directly contrary to Christ's instruction and forms unchristlike character. Speech that divides friends is to be broken up, with Christ represented in words, attitudes and actions. Instead unity and love and Christian fellowship must prevail among followers, who must spend time learning this lesson. Those who receive Christ must be laborers together with God, wash their robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, use speech for thanksgiving to God, represent the Saviour in word and deed, and stand before the world bound together by oneness with Christ.

The blessings on the mount are full of deep meaning and wonderful golden treasures of truth and instruction, with plans laid out to be studied and acted upon. The chapter is to be read, believed and practiced, read and written upon the tablets of the soul, cherished and obeyed as divine requirements that transform character. Shown in daily life it has deeper effect than preaching alone, and studying the character of those called blessed gives ministers of righteousness a valuable experience. Receiving its terms day by day by cooperating with Christ in revealing the likeness of the divine Lord, wearing His yoke and learning meekness, develops Christlikeness with divine principles inwrought in the heart irrespective of consequences to financial standing, losses or gains. Man's reputation is counted as nothingness, with refusal to deny and betray the truth for any amount of favor or worldly honors or for exalted position, even under threat of the gaping lion's den or the fiery furnace. For them to live is to obey the word of Christ and to die for the truth's sake is gain, forming faultless character ministered to by angels and prepared for judgment.

Incorporated into the life, the blessing gives experimental knowledge of the highest value. It belongs with words that teach the way to heaven and hold some of the most precious lessons anywhere, to be studied above all other knowledge. The blessedness promised is a present possession here below, bringing cheerfulness, peace and joy into work for God. The promise shields from temptation, and repeated as God's own words rather than human words at the proper time to people in trial and perplexity, especially where all kinds of temperaments meet, it represents Christ and becomes a savor of life unto life. Practiced, the lessons correct the false representation of God as a despot and reveal Him as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, good and true, calling for doing right because it is right without discouragement, walking in humility, and showing a religion born of love that is simple, kind, courteous, just, pure and uplifting. The Jews misunderstood and disobeyed this teaching and their ruin was the result, and those today who claim to believe the truth yet pass over the same ground will have the same history unless they speedily repent. The same Christ who taught from the mount gave the gospel to Israel while hidden in the pillar of cloud, with the same authority and message in both settings.