In our previous post of this series, we discussed persecution for righteousness’ sake. This week, we continue our examination of persecution with the last of the beatitudes. “Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Mt. 5:10-11). In this final beatitude, our Lord calls blessed those who patiently bear disgrace, persecution, malice, defamation, mockery, privation and even death. Such a spiritual feat is known as martyrdom, and there is no higher calling to the Christian than this.
Note: This will be the last post of our Beatitude series! If you’d like to read about the other beatitudes, check out the series page!
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This beatitude is the culmination of all the others
Christ’s words in Matthew 5:10-11 constitute the crown of all the Beatitudes, their inevitable conclusion: martyrdom for Christ. Not all martyrdom results in physical death, but all results in the complete and total devotion of ourselves and our lives to the Lord, even (and especially) in the face of persecution.
Many non-Christians find it strange that someone could feel joy while enduring oppression and persecution. For them, suffering results only in sorrow and despair. But the Christian travels a different path, and thus sees this differently. The Beatitudes, if we pursue them as Christ wants us to, will prepare us for our suffering and revilement. As St. John Chrysostom says:
…In laying the way from the first Beatitude to the last, Christ was forging a golden chain for us. It starts with the fact that the poor in spirit, the man of humility, will mourn for his sins and in this way will become meek, righteous and merciful. And the merciful is bound to become pure in heart. The pure in heart will be a peacemaker. And he who has attained all this will be ready for danger, and will not be afraid of calumny and countless tribulations. Readiness and fearlessness will be the crowning virtues that bring, according to Jesus Christ, joy and happiness.
It is natural to want to avoid suffering
As we mentioned in our last post about persecution, it is natural for us to avoid pain and suffering, and to dislike it. However, it is important to understand that tribulations are not only unavoidable in life because of our fallen world. Tribulations are, in fact, necessary. Why? Because there is no other way for us to come to repentance and receive cleansing from our sins. In suffering, we become aware of our weakness, our helplessness, and humbled by this (the first beatitude), we receive that divine help and joy that comes from God. Remember our Savior’s words: “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
As faithful Christians, we must have courage
Courage is based on the highest of Christian virtues – on faith in, hope in, love of, and obedience to the Lord our God. Through our spiritual growth, with God’s help we too can possess these virtues and welcome martyrdom with joy, just as Christ’s Apostles and countless other Saints have embraced death in the name of faith in Jesus Christ. Take note, however: Christian courage is not fanaticism or irrational zeal that defies reason. Nor is it lack of feeling or pretended indifference brought on either by pride or despair.
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf (I Pet. 4:14-16).
Numberless Christians martyrs rejoiced during unspeakable torture, accounts of which are preserved in factual accounts of lives of the Saints. Let us draw courage from their joyful suffering and embrace the Lord’s calling with fervor.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad…
…for great is your reward in heaven” (Mt 5:11). What does it mean to rejoice, to feel joy? Christian joy is not earthly happiness, pleasure or fun. It is the “joy in believing” (Rom 15:13), of knowing the freedom of truth in the love of God (cf. Jn 8:32). It is the joy of being made worthy to “share in Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet 4.13).
This may seem counterintuitive, if we approach it from a worldly understanding of joy, but spiritually, joy and suffering are intimately intertwined. Joy and suffering co-exist in a way in which they become dependent upon each other for their power and strength. Joy does not simply come because the suffering is over; joy comes in the midst of that suffering.
Thus Saint James can say that Christians should “count it all joy” when they “meet various trials,” knowing that the “full effect” of their steadfast faith is that they may be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2-3). And this is the firm conviction of Saint Paul as well.
. . . we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love his been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Rom 5:2-5).
This is the spiritual joy of Christians, the joy of the martyrs, the invincible witness to the truth of the Christian faith and the genuineness of the Christian spiritual life.
Keep Reading: Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?