Persecuted for Righteousness

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

Each of the eight beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount builds on the previous one. They define what a true follower of Jesus is and does. This last beatitude is a shocker, especially following the one on peacemaking. One would think peacemakers should be loved and appreciated, not persecuted.

Jesus explains this paradox in the statement, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is the second time Jesus makes this assertion, the first ending the first beatitude and now this closing the last. These bookends are attestation of citizenship, confirming both the goal of salvation—the kingdom of heaven—and the restoration of righteousness as the character of its citizens. Kingdom citizens will be persecuted in this world. When Jesus prayed for His own, He explained: “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14).

True believers will be persecuted simply because they are identified with Jesus and live out their faith. “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). To his unbelieving brothers, Jesus declared, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). Because Jesus is a rebuke to the world, His followers must also suffer His rejection. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18, 19).

In other words, believers do not need to do anything to be hated and persecuted; they just need to be identified as Christ’s people. That means that they are righteous, living in an unrighteous world. Verses 13 and 14 explain that true righteousness establishes believers as salt and light in the world. Salt restrains evil and preserves the culture from the effects of evil. Light exposes evil and reveals the truth. Note, Jesus did not exhort His followers to be salt and light; they already are by virtue of their relationship to Him. It is on Christ’s account that they are reviled, persecuted, and falsely accused (vv. 11, 12).

This simple truth exposes all false Christianity. How do mere professors respond to persecution? Some will deny Christ, but, “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). Others will compromise and soften the truth: “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works” (Titus 1:16). True saints will endure: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved [a true believer ‘kept by the power of God unto salvation,’ (1 Peter 1:5)]” (Matthew 10:22; Hebrews 10:23–39).