Blessed Persecution

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Matthew 5:10

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

(CSB)

The title of this posting seems oxymoronic for how can suffering persecution ever be something blessing a follower of Christ.  However, in Matthew 5:10, Jesus pronounces blessings on those that suffer persecution, with them taking possession of the kingdom of heaven.  An example of an individual experiencing blessing in persecution is the Apostle Paul who authored the books of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon while suffering in a Roman Prison for his faith. 

Life in a Roman prison was not like a stay at a five-star resort.  Overcrowding, lack of food, and lack of hygiene often contributed to prisoners dying from illnesses or even suicide.  (1)  Under these conditions, Paul could have written letters to the churches regarding the injustice of his suffering, calling upon the churches to petition the government seeking release from his bondage.  Instead, however, Paul wrote about his close relationship with Christ, calling upon the church to draw closer to Christ.  Scripture provides examples of these writings in,

1)      Colossians 1:15-20 - He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
¹⁶ For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
¹⁷ He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
¹⁹ For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
²⁰ and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.  (CSB)

2)      Ephesians 2:14-16 - ¹⁴ For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, ¹⁵ he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. ¹⁶ He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.  (CSB)

3)      Philippians 2:6-11 - who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.^[a]
7 Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
⁸ he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
⁹ For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
¹¹ and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.  (CSB)

These are hardly words of one seeking pity for his circumstances and instead words of a man of faith exhorting others to develop a similar faith.  We should be thankful that Scripture records these words of encouragement penned during a period of persecution.  May these words offer comfort for those suffering persecutions in our times. 

Over the course of the next several Saturday postings we will be conducting a verse-by-verse study of the prison epistles of Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon.  As we conduct this study, please remember the context of suffering during the writing of these letters, for in doing so, we can experience blessing with these verses pointing us to the kingdom of heaven.  Please share these posts and invite your friends to join the study. 

May God bless everyone reading this. 

1. Apablaza, Simon. Life in Prison in 1AD. www.scribd.com. [Online] Scribd. [Cited: August 11, 2018.] https://www.scribd.com/doc/14354155/Life-in-Prison-in-1ad.