Matthew 5:11, 12 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 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. It cannot be denied that we have here before us a Beatitude, and one warm with life and comfort and love. It is, however, particularly addressed to the disciples present, face to face, with Jesus. As the foregoing Beatitude seemed to be in the mind of St. Peter (1 Peter 3:14), so his words, as written in the same Epistle (1 Peter 4:14), seem the very reminiscence of this ninth and closing Beatitude, which his ears had heard more than thirty years before. Notice how, by this kind, direct appeal, Christ betokens his forethought for those on whom should fall the first severity of trial, temptation, and suffering "for his sake." Notice - I. THE THREE FORMS OF TRIAL PREDICTED FOR THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. They are, reproach or railing; persecution; and "falsely saying every evil thing about them," i.e. all kind of slanderous abuse. Even so in all these respects "Christ suffered for us in the flesh." The parallel suggestions in the second, third, and fourth chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter are frequent (1 Peter 2:12, 19-23; 1 Peter 3:9, 13, 14, 16-18; 1 Peter 4:12-19). They are great types of the wounds the world inflicts. They are very liable to be successful assailers of our peace and of our principles, of our temper and of our steadfast endurance. To be forewarned, in order to be forearmed, was never a wiser precaution to take, nor a more gracious one to give. As St. James says," If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body;" so in most manifest harmony must it be true, that if any man can silently, patiently, forgivingly stand against and withstand the sort of darts described above, he has not in vain learned of the Lord Jesus, whether of his word or his deed - that one perfect Man! II. THE FIRST RECORDED USE ON THE PART OF JESUS CHRIST OF THAT SUPREME CLAIM OF HIS, WITH ALL ITS SPLENDID SIGNIFICANCE, "FOR MY SAKE." Note: 1. How sovereign this claim is! 2. How the more remarkable from the known "lowliness and meekness" of Jesus Christ! 3. How deeply imbued it is with faith in the force and fidelity of affection - what a condescending bond as between Jesus Christ and any man! And, once more: 4. How wonderfully it has shown itself equal to all whatsoever that it has been called to bear or to do! Granted that love is a strong principle in human nature, the mightiest of its forces, yet what surpassing strength, continuance, inseparableness have through Christ been made all its own, for all its service of him and for all his requirement of it! So still the gift from him has exceeded infinitely all the gift to him, though he speaks of those that are "reproached, persecuted falsely, evil spoken of, for his sake." III. THE ENERGY OF JOY WHICH THE CASE JUSTIFIES AND WHICH CHRIST ENCOURAGES. How few things to be had on earth, or even to be begun on earth, do warrant such energy of joy; and how utterly averse the verdict of the world from this of Jesus Christ! But the grounds of this joy are real, and they look far, far on; they command a prospect bounded by no earthly horizon. And the bright joy and succeeding gladness will do much to revive the soul, vexed, humbled, worn by the evil speech of the world. This contrast and the effect of it can hardly have been undesigned, in the merciful calculation of the Lord and Master of souls. Nor undesigned the combination of the joy, of "the glorious company of the apostles" with "the goodly fellowship of the prophets." For is not this the inspiriting outcome of the last sentence, "For so persecuted they the prophets, which were before you"? "Their reward great in heaven" had already been ascertained. And apostles now in their earliest training, putting on of the armour, and young fresh aspirations, emulate their historic renown, their everlasting reward. - B. Parallel Verses KJV: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. |
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