Loyalty to Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LOYALTY TO JESUS

Matt 5:10-12

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NIV

This is the only beatitude that seems to have been expanded. There may be several reasons for this. One that has been thought is that Jesus expanded on all of those saying that could be seen in the Hebrew texts the Jews were familiar with, and Matthew simply did not record all the expanded words of Jesus for brevities sake. This would fit alone the idea that John recorded about the fact there would not be enough books to record all that Jesus did and spoke. The other thought is that this is the one saying that would have a greater impact on their lives because many were persecuted for their faith. However, what is interesting is this beatitude has style we have come to see from time to time and that is the chiasm or chiastic form. There are two negatives followed by two positives with Jesus in the middle.

Be happy when we are persecuted, insulted,

    Be happy when people say false kinds of things about us, speak evil things about us,

           because we love Jesus and are loyal to him.

    Rejoice and be glad. We have a reward in heaven.

Rejoice and be glad because we have joined the company of the prophets.

Jesus is in the center of our life. What is more important than that? Some people might think they are persecuted because they are fired from their job, but this in not what Jesus is speaking to. All throughout the history of the church, people have been killed because of Jesus. Even today throughout some areas of the world people are being killed in hideous manners because they have remained faithful to Jesus. We may not understand that kind of persecution in our current culture, but we could someday, depending on the direction our country takes. But the idea is still the same. It does not matter what happens in our lives if we remain loyal to Jesus. We have experienced people speaking evil things about us, pointing out our narrow-mindedness, and single focus on the truth of scripture and that Jesus is the one and only way to heaven. We have had people tell us we are too hard-nosed in our loyalty to Jesus and tell us we should consider their views regarding other paths to God. They have argued with us insisting we are so wrong about the fact all other religions are wrong or false because they are not centered on Jesus.  They think we are too simple-minded for not seeing the truth in other faiths. There are many other evils spoken in our direction, but the point is we will not be moved from our loyalty to Jesus, as He is the truth, the way, and the light. Jesus is our one and only way to heaven. Therefore, we will always live being blessed, happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, with rejoicing in our heart because of Jesus, and we will rejoice because our reward is great in heaven, and we are in the great company of prophets. We will remain loyal to Jesus.