I am a Jesus pusher!!! “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). The call of the Beatitudes is not to focus on the persecution, but to focus on Jesus. What is being done to you is not fair; do not focus on this. The reviling and false accusations bring pain to your heart; do not focus on that. There is physical pain which creates extreme discomfort; do not focus on that pain. We are to focus on Jesus. How could Paul and Silas fill a jail in Philippi with singing at midnight? Pain and suffering are present from the beatings. This circumstance has hindered the purpose of Paul’s journey to this city. The punishment is completely unfair considering the good deed that Paul had done. How could they have such joy? Their focus was on Jesus!
The final Beatitude is in verse ten. Jesus uses the third person to address those who are listening. It is expressed as “those” and “theirs.” Now as He amplifies this Beatitude beyond the basic statement, He addresses the disciples directly. He changes to the second person and says, “Blessed are you,” “and say all kinds of evil against you,” “your reward,” and “before you.” This is a personal conversation between you and Jesus. In this personal conversation Jesus gives an imperative. He commands, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” It is hard to distinguish between the Greek word “chairo,” translated rejoice, and the Greek word “agalliao,” translated be exceedingly glad. In other words, they are statements made in connection with each other to highlight one concept. Jesus describes a definite response we are to have toward persecution. Jesus does not command this strong reaction to persecution without giving reason for such. He is the reason. I am a Jesus pusher!!!