The Blessed Life - Part 6

            Now when I think of being hated, ridiculed, and reviled, these aren’t things I would associate with a happy experience. My personality is certainly that of a people-pleaser (to a fault, at times), and I tend to feel horrible when someone looks at me the wrong way, let alone rebukes me. But Jesus gives a command here, not just a descriptive statement. He tells us to rejoice when we face opposition. Don’t just grin and bear it when people rise against you, but “rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” On what basis can we be happy about persecution?

            Well from one perspective, being hated for our righteousness is not good. However, Jesus is seeking to give people a different perspective, and so He provides two reasons as to why we can actually be happy about facing opposition and ridicule for following Him. First, He says “great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:12). As with the first beatitude, Jesus says that to these people belongs the kingdom of heaven. All of these characteristics (poor in spirit, meek, pure in heart, peacemakers, etc.) are descriptive of those who have the truly blessed life–a life of inner peace with God and the ultimate blessing of living in God’s presence forever. Though living the way Christ calls us to will bring opposition, division, and even persecution, it is a life that has much to look forward to. This is something which can allow us to be exceedingly joyful. Paul, who suffered tremendously as a Christian, gives this perspective: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

            Jesus also says that those who are persecuted for righteousness are sharing in the same experience as the prophets of God. In other words, if people are against you because of your allegiance to Christ, it demonstrates that you are a true follower of God, as the prophets were. The prophets in the Bible were great men of God who spoke a true and necessary message to their society, but they were often met with apathy, anger, or even violence.

            A story I have appreciated for quite some time is written by Michael Card of a man who endured as so many have had to because of their faith in Christ. It is entitled “Joseph the Masai.”

Joseph is a tall, slender man, like most Masai. He is a warrior. His face bears the ritual scars every young man receives after killing his first lion with only a spear and a shield. But the scars on his face and his ordeal with the lion are not what make Joseph special.

The story began when Joseph, who was walking along one of those hot, dusty African roads, met someone who shared the good news of Jesus Christ with him. Then and there he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. The power of the Spirit began transforming his life. He was filled with such excitement and joy that the first thing he wanted to do was return to his own village and share the good news with the members of his local tribe.

Joseph began going from door-to-door, telling everyone he met about the cross of Jesus and the salvation it offered, expecting to see their faces light up the way his had. To his amazement the villagers not only didn’t care, they became hostile. The men of the village seized him, holding him to the ground, while the women began to beat him with strands of barbed wire. He was dragged from the village and left to die alone in the bush.

Joseph somehow managed to crawl to a water hole, and there, after two days of passing in and out of consciousness, found he had the strength to get up. He still wondered about the hostile reception he had received from the people he had known all his life. He decided he must have left something out or told the story of Jesus wrong. After rehearsing the message he had first heard he decided to go back to the village and share his faith once more.

Joseph limped into the circle of huts and began to proclaim the good news about Jesus. “He died for you, so that you might find forgiveness and come to know the living God,” he pleaded. Once again he was grabbed by the men of the village and held while the women beat him a second time, opening up wounds that had only just begun to heal. Once more they dragged him, unconscious, from the village and left him to die.

To have survived the first beating was truly remarkable. To live through the second was a miracle. Again, days later, Joseph awoke in the wilderness, bruised and scarred and yet determined to go back.

For the third time he returned to the small village. This time he found everyone waiting for him. They attacked him before he even had a chance to open his mouth. As they began to flog him for the third and probably the last time, he began again to speak to them of Jesus Christ, the Lord, who had the power to forgive sin and give them new life. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was seeing the women who were beating him begin to weep.

This time he awoke in his own bed, not in the wilderness. The very ones who had so severely beaten him were now trying to save his life and nurse him back to health. The entire village had come to Christ. (Card, 496–497)

            To follow Jesus often means facing hardship at one level or another. Though not every incident of persecution may be as drastic and inspiring as Joseph’s story, Jesus assured us that we can take heart in the midst of whatever we are enduring for His sake because we have heaven as our home, and we are in good company with those who have gone before.

Conclusion on the Blessed Life

            In the beatitudes, Jesus shows that the blessed life is for the humble, holy, and hated rather than the self-promoting, self-indulgent, and self-protective. It is counterintuitive to what we tend to think will bring us happiness, but it is the way of true blessing, peace, and fulfillment because it is a life of enjoying the grace and favor of God with the ultimate hope of the kingdom of heaven.

            The character traits found in the beatitudes are also a very helpful spiritual diagnostic test, helping us to see where we are at in our lives. Many people think they are spiritually just fine because they are not particularly bad (in comparison with others). But when we go to the doctor, he not only looks at how healthy we may first appear, he also examines other signs (our blood pressure, heart, lungs, and so on) because this provides a more accurate diagnosis of our physical condition. The same is true with Jesus, who conducts a spiritual examination by highlighting the essential attributes that are characteristic of those under the blessing of God. The spiritually healthy life found in sincerely seeking God and His righteousness, not by merely appearing to be as good as or better than others.

Much more will be said by Jesus concerning these matters, but His description of the blessed life provides a hope-giving introduction for what He will go on to teach about what it means to be His follower. So the question we must begin with is: are you living the blessed life, and if not, do you want to? Jesus shows the way to life as it was meant to be lived, and as we continue to look at His message, the way of Jesus will become even clearer. I hope you will continue to listen to what Jesus has to say, because it is earth-shattering and life-altering, but it is worth more than anything this life can offer.

Works Cited:  

Michael Card, “Joseph the Masai,” as presented in The Book of Jesus: A Treasury of the Greatest Stories and Writings about Christ, edited by Calvin Miller (Nashville: Broadman and Holdman Publishers, 1996, 1998).

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.