The Sermon on the Mount Part 10

[HKHaugan]

The Sermon on the Mount Part 10

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt.5:11-12).”

The ninth blessing happens when the false witness of others will bear against us because we believe in Jesus. It's the second of the persecution Blesseds. The first one had to do with our faithful lifestyle that invokes the accusation of being self-righteous. This one is directly because of Jesus Himself. They will gossip, say false things about us, whisper behind our backs and do all they can to make us look bad. The persecutors in this case are looking to disprove the reality of Jesus by checking our response when they attack us. If we get defensive, fight back, so to speak, get mean and argue, they prove that Jesus is not real because we are not real. The blessing occurs when we accept their hostility and ask them to continue why they feel so strongly that Jesus is not for real. The Holy Spirit is right there with us and the peace He brings is Jesus touching us in those moments.

Also there is another blessing. We have to recognize that the hostile's false witness has a positive effect. When gossipers and attackers do their thing it means that what the Lord Jesus whom we stand for is being spoken about and therefore publicized. He can use negative publicity as well as positive. The Spirit can use it to plant seeds in those silent others who are looking for just such a faith as ours. They sit on the sidelines of life trying to fit in but never feel right about it. Then they see us and how we react. The thing is, you never know who they are. Belief, trust and faith in Jesus puts Him in the forefront of what others see in us. He is the cause of their unsettledness and they don't like that feeling. Then He becomes their answer. In all of this there is no better example of the result than that proven in the Apostle Paul.

And, of course, Jesus Himself, when He was insulted, struck in the face by a guard, screamed at by a hostile crowd, unjustly crucified and jeered at on the Cross. Yet, He asked His Father to forgive them. That is the attitude the Holy Spirit builds in us. Forgiveness is not just a one at a time reaction to adverse hostility. It is a heartstyle lived everyday.

As we did in the last Blessed we conclude with the same words Paul quoted from Proverbs, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you (Prov.25:21-22).”