B.8 The true disciple of Jesus Christ is ‘persecuted’ and reviled because of Jesus Christ and his righteousness [Matthew 5:10-11]
The true disciple is persecuted because of ‘righteousness’ at two different levels:
[1] Gospel righteousness, by which we have ceased to trust in our own performance and depend solely on the righteousness of Christ, is offensive to both the nominal believer and the unbeliever, because:
· People do not like to think that they can do nothing to merit their salvation; every religion of man tells them they have to, and can, earn their way to ‘heaven’
· Gospel righteousness is therefore a threat to both human pride and human religion
· People think that the Christian’s assurance of salvation is actually ‘self-righteousness’ and therefore accuse believers of either hypocrisy or pride or both.
[2] The practical righteousness or goodness which Christians demonstrate in their lives is threatening to the ungodly; it accuses them and exposes their ungodliness and guilt.
This persecution because of Gospel righteousness is the evident background to several of the New Testament letters, where those who trusted solely in the righteousness of Christ were persecuted by those who wanted to base their relationship to God with their own performance of law and ritual.
The true disciple of Jesus Christ is also persecuted because of Jesus Christ. This happened to the New Testament Christians and the early church, and in various times and places right down to the present. In the current era there is reportedly more persecution because of the name of Jesus than in any other period of history. The level of persecution and accusations because of the name of Jesus will soon increase as anti-discrimination laws and ‘the new tolerance’ increasingly dominate our culture. Why is this? Why should the name of Jesus provoke persecution and rejection? Because Jesus claimed that he alone is the one way to the one God, and by this claim he invalidates all the religions and ideas of men. Also by this claim he invalidates all human perceptions of being ‘good enough’ to make their own way to God. His claims are offensive and divisive. Apart from a few centuries in which the western world was dominated by a Christian mindset, this is the way it has always been.
Thus the true disciple is one who, in identifying with Jesus Christ and his righteousness, has also identified and aligned himself with the suffering and rejection which Jesus himself experienced.
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THE BEATITUDES - (BE–ATTITUDES!) - BE WHAT YOU ARE
The Beatitudes have told us who we really are – in ourselves, and in Christ. They have described an identity that is totally distinct from the unbelieving world. The world knows nothing of this poverty of spirit, this mourning for sin, this meekness, this hunger and thirst for righteousness, this mercy, this one-eyed focus on God and his glory, this deep peace of a restored relationship between God and man. Yet we still live in the world. We are still the inhabitants of the earth, even though we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
In the context of this distinction, and in the context of this already-but-not-yet existence in which we still live in this world, Jesus taught:
· You are the salt of the earth … so be salty [Matthew 5:13]
· You are the light of the world … so shine. [5:14-15]
Be what you are.
You are different. Be different.
Let men taste the tang of that difference.
Let men see the light of that difference.
Let them see the glory of God as you live out in their presence the radical identity of the disciple of the King [5:16].
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How has this study on The Beatitudes challenged you personally? |
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