Matthew 4:23 - 5:22 Persecution Is a Blessing, Not a Curse.

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Transcript:

There are many persecuted Christians around the world. In many countries believers face discrimination, punishment, torture, or death simply because they serve Jesus or go to church.

Human nature causes Christians who are free to practice their faith to fall into the mindset of thinking they are better off than those who are oppressed because of their faith. A common prayer amongst those who are not subject to mistreatment is to ask God to remove the difficulties faced by those who are mistreated.

Very early in His ministry, Jesus preached something we call the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon Jesus made some comments about those who face abuse simply because they serve Him. His comments indicated that those who are persecuted for their faith may actually be better off than those who are not persecuted for their faith.

In the first two chapters of Matthew we read about the ancestry, birth, and preservation of Jesus. Chapter three tells us about the early ministry of John the Baptist, during which he baptized Jesus. Then chapter four records the temptation of Jesus when the devil made three attempts to make Jesus sin. After that Jesus began walking around Galilee, calling disciples and teaching. Chapters five through seven record Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Matt. 4:23 ¶ And Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

Notice that Jesus did all His teaching and healing in Galilee.

Matt. 4:24 ¶ And the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

Even though Jesus was only traveling in Galilee, the news about Him spread to Syria.

Matt. 4:25 And large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

Here we see that large crowds came to Galilee from many other areas, including the Decapolis and Judea.

Syria was 50 miles / 80 km away from the Sea of Galilee. Some areas of the Decapolis were 75 miles / 120 km away. Judea was at least 80 miles / 130 km away. It would have taken at least two or three days of travel for these people to get to Jesus.

Matt. 5:1 ¶ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

Matt. 5:2 And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

Something that is not talked about very much in regards to the Sermon on the Mount is who exactly Jesus was speaking to. We know that large crowds were following Him, but they did not have public address systems to amplify a speaker’s voice, so I doubt the entire crowd was able to hear Jesus.

Verse 1 tells us Jesus’ disciples came to Him. In verse 2 the pronoun them refers to the disciples. Jesus was primarily talking to His disciples.

Matt. 5:3 ¶ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Being poor is generally regarded as a negative, but Jesus promised the kingdom of heaven to those who are poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are those whose spirit is downtrodden. Perhaps life has beaten them down and they feel defeated.

Matt. 5:4 ¶ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matt. 5:5 ¶ Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matt. 5:6 ¶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matt. 5:7 ¶ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Matt. 5:8 ¶ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Those with a pure heart are people with clean desires and values.

Matt. 5:9 ¶ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matt. 5:10 ¶ Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

People naturally think those who are persecuted are unfortunate. However, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Matt. 5:11 ¶ “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Notice the pronoun you. Up to this point Jesus’ statements referred to broad categories of unnamed people. Starting in verse 11 Jesus spoke specifically about His disciples.

Jesus told His disciples they are blessed when they are insulted because of Jesus.

Matt. 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus told His disciples to rejoice when they are insulted because their reward in heaven is great.

Matt. 5:13 ¶ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.

The disciples of Jesus preserve the earth and make it palatable.

Matt. 5:14 ¶ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

Matt. 5:15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Those who serve Jesus bring light and truth to the world. They should not hide the truth. Instead, they should make it very visible.

Matt. 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matt. 5:17 ¶ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Many people think fulfill means that a prediction in the Old Testament came true. Sometimes that is what it means. However, fulfill also means that something in the New Testament is similar to something in the Old Testament.

In this case fulfilling the Law meant Jesus had to live HIs life and perform His ministry in order to bring to life the picture that was presented in the Law.

Matt. 5:18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Americans are sloppy with language. We use many expressions where we intend to communicate something different than the definitions of the words we use. A great example is the question, “How are you?” We use that a lot, but we rarely want to know how someone is doing. We actually use that question as a greeting.

Since we are sloppy in how we use language, we tend to be sloppy in how we understand the Bible. We do not take the time to study minute details such as singular vs plural or masculine vs feminine.

However, Jesus said not the smallest letter or stroke will pass from the Law. In other words not the slightest detail will pass until all is accomplished. Minute details in the text of the Bible are important. If we want to fully and accurately understand the Bible, we need to notice the details of each and every word.

Matt. 5:19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matt. 5:20 ¶ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The religious leaders taught many things that supposedly made people righteous. However, Jesus indicated their teachings were faulty. In the following verses Jesus gave multiple examples of false teaching.

Matt. 5:21 ¶ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’

Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Jesus told His disciples it was not only wrong to murder their brother, it was also wrong to hate their brother.

It is natural to think that being free of persecution is better than being subject to persecution. However, Jesus declared that people who are insulted and mistreated on account of Jesus are actually blessed and should rejoice. Their reward in heaven is great.

The greatest commandment is to love God. Instead of feeling more fortunate than those who are mistreated on account of Jesus, we should understand that they are able to demonstrate love for God in a way that free people cannot even begin to emulate.

“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”