The Beatitudes - 8. The Persecuted

Hello and welcome to Van life Devotions. We are now back from our wonderful trip to Greece, Turkey and Egypt and after Easter Van Life Devotions will commence Season Three looking at many places where the early churches commenced, letters were written to, and Jesus in the Book of Revelation gave messages to. We filmed at each of these amazing ancient locations, and Egypt. Please join us after Easter for these special Van Life Devotions.

These past several weeks, we have looked at the first seven Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”, “Blessed are those who mourn”, “Blessed are the meek”, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”, “Blessed are the merciful…”, “Blessed are the pure in heart”, and “Blessed are the peacemakers”. Today we are looking at the eight and final beatitude found in Matthew 5 verse 10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10 NIV).

This beatitude deals with those who are persecuted, not for their own wrongdoings, but for righteousness' sake or as He says in verse 11, “because of me”. Each year Christians around the globe are persecuted. Their integrity condemns the ungodly world and brings out its hostility. People hate a righteous life because it exposes their own unrighteousness.

Persecution is any form of hostility experienced because of following Jesus. This can look different for the hundreds of millions of believers who face persecution every day. For some, it is a denial of basic needs like clean water, food, and healthcare, because of their faith in Jesus. Or rejection from their non-Christian family and community. For others, Christian persecution is acts of physical violence, imprisonment, or even death.

According to The Voice of The Martyrs, everyday 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith; every day, 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked; every day 12 Christians are unjustly arrested or imprisoned, and another five are abducted. Every year thousands and thousands are mistreated because of their faith in Christ.

Later in His ministry Jesus said, “Everyone will hate you because of me…” (Mark 13:13 NIV). Then Book of Acts tells us: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church…” (Acts 8:1 NIV) and for the next 2000 years the number of persecutions increased with each year.  

In this beatitude, the kingdom of heaven is promised to those believers who suffer for doing right. Jesus evens adds in verse 12 that great is their reward in heaven.

For most watching, we may never experience persecution. Our role is stand with our brothers and sister who are, to the peacemakers that Jesus calls us to be, to pray for those mistreated and for those who are committing such crimes, and to support the work of those organisations that advocate for the persecuted.

Let’s pray.

God of mercy. We pray for the persecuted. Help them in their hardships. May we all stand firm in our faith whenever trails and hardship come our way. Thank you for these amazing beatitudes from our Lord. O God, preserve us who travel; surround us with your loving care; protect us from every danger; and bring us in safety to our journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

David Moyes