Living Like Yeshua, Part 6 (Matthew 5:10-12)

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you."
~Matthew 5:10-12, BSB

In His Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua desired to teach His followers the way to be His followers. A type of "you have already become my disciple, you've already repented, already committed to learning my way of life, so here is how I live"

The interesting part of this lesson though, starts with the word "persecuted". In Greek, this is "dediōgmenoi", which actually means "to pursue continually". Which oddly enough can go two ways, depending on the context. For instance, although Psalm 23:6 was written in Hebrew, this Greek word would fit in the context of "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life".

Because here's the thing. "dediōgmenoi" can mean pursuing a goal with earnest passion, or it can mean to pursue someone with the intent to oppress or harm them.

What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue (diókó) righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued (diókó) a law of righteousness, has not attained it. ~Romans 9:30-31, BSB

Share with the saints who are in need. Practice (diókó) hospitality.
Romans 12:13, BSB 

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute (diókó) Me?”
~Acts 9:4, BSB

So it all depends whether the context is good or bad, which meaning the word takes. But in these verses, the implication is definitely persecution. Which is not a word we like to hear. Especially in the western world. 

We like to think about having Christian governments and Christian nations, where we get treated well. And we cry that we are being persecuted if someone so much cracks a lame joke about Christians. We cry persecution when Constitutional rights are threatened. When our religion is taken off public display. When our religious slogans are removed from our currency.

And sure, its not nice. But it also isn't prison or death. And I'm not saying it doesn't count. But we need to remember that the church and state are not one. What Jew would think it reasonable to demand Pilate to display the Torah publicly in Roman buildings? What rabbi would expect a Roman legionary to recite a Jewish liturgical prayer? There's no such thing as a national religion. Even under Israel's "good" kings, much of the nation was still practicing polytheism for most of that era. 

Our faith is an individual, personal thing, and we are part of a kingdom that is not part of this world. Sometimes, our faith raises us to prominent positions, like Joseph in Egypt, like Daniel, like King David, like Joshua. But these are exceptions. Yeshua told us we would have persecution in this life, but He told us to conquer by taking up our crosses, not by playing political chess games.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Remember our lesson on righteousness? We covered it in "Living Like Yeshua, Part 4"

Righteousness: standing innocent according to the Lord's standard of right and wrong

And when our personal and individual pursuit (diókó, see what I did there?) of righteousness causes people to insult us (publicly humiliate with both verbal attacks and the broader sense of scorn or contempt directed at an individual), we are blessed.

When our pursuit of righteousness causes people to maliciously slander us and speak lies about us, we are blessed.

We should rejoice in times of fire, so much more exultantly than in times of peace and prosperity. Because it is when we go under fire, that we are promised a vast reward.

And the western world really hasn't seen persecution like the eastern world has. Though it may be near at hand. And if it fall upon us, many will fall away from the faith, because soft times make weak Christians. But those who stand true to the teachings of Yeshua? Oh, child, how rich the Father's blessings which He has prepared for you!