Matthew 5:11 - "Blessed are you
when people insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
falsely because of Me."
Persecution is confusing and it doesn't seem fair, and yet Jesus said "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely because of Me." The word 'falsely' catches my eye. Being persecuted and insulted and falsely accused is not fair and God knows it. And yet Jesus told His disciples in John 15 - "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." When Jesus was arrested and delivered up to the courts He experienced a mockery of a trial. He was insulted, persecuted and falsely accused. We're told of a portion of His trial in Mark 14:55-59 which says - "Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent." The testimony that they used against Jesus was untrue and inconsistent and yet they still used it to condemn Him.
All through that night when Jesus was betrayed He experienced injustice after injustice. It was unlawful for Him to be arrested, beaten, and tried during the night, time after time the religious leaders and governing authorities broke their own law to obtain false testimony and ultimately crucify our Lord.
How is this possible? If God is just how could He allow all this injustice concerning His Son? And since we are His children how can a just God allow injustice in our lives? This world is in bondage to sin and it is under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience, that is the devil. And he is always bringing accusation against Gods elect. He is at work in the systems of this world, influencing our so called "justice system." They are held captive by the devil to do his will, and because of this the judgments of this worlds governments are so often not fair. And yet in Romans 8:28 we're told that God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose.
Even though in this world the devil is working all kinds of injustice, God is still on the throne and He is still completely just. Ultimately justice will be done on the earth. One day soon the Lord Jesus Himself will rule and reign on the earth and perfect justice will characterize His rule. God promises "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." And we're told in Isaiah 54:17 - "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord." There is no doubt that on this earth we will experience injustice and persecution just like the Lord Jesus did, but let us learn to follow His example. 1 Peter 2:21-23 says - "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." Even through His mockery of a trial Jesus kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" That was the question that Abraham asked God, and the answer is obvious. Yes, the Judge of all the earth will most certainly do what is right. And He is the only one who knows how to accomplish justice. According to James 1:20 we can't accomplish justice for ourselves - "for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." And in the mean time, God is sovereignly working in these injustices to produce in us an eternal weight of glory as talked about in 2 Corinthians 4:17 - "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." and also in Romans 8:18 - "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Let us learn to continually entrust ourselves completely to Him who judges righteously.
Romans 8:31-39 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Persecution is confusing and it doesn't seem fair, and yet Jesus said "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely because of Me." The word 'falsely' catches my eye. Being persecuted and insulted and falsely accused is not fair and God knows it. And yet Jesus told His disciples in John 15 - "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." When Jesus was arrested and delivered up to the courts He experienced a mockery of a trial. He was insulted, persecuted and falsely accused. We're told of a portion of His trial in Mark 14:55-59 which says - "Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent." The testimony that they used against Jesus was untrue and inconsistent and yet they still used it to condemn Him.
All through that night when Jesus was betrayed He experienced injustice after injustice. It was unlawful for Him to be arrested, beaten, and tried during the night, time after time the religious leaders and governing authorities broke their own law to obtain false testimony and ultimately crucify our Lord.
How is this possible? If God is just how could He allow all this injustice concerning His Son? And since we are His children how can a just God allow injustice in our lives? This world is in bondage to sin and it is under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience, that is the devil. And he is always bringing accusation against Gods elect. He is at work in the systems of this world, influencing our so called "justice system." They are held captive by the devil to do his will, and because of this the judgments of this worlds governments are so often not fair. And yet in Romans 8:28 we're told that God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose.
Even though in this world the devil is working all kinds of injustice, God is still on the throne and He is still completely just. Ultimately justice will be done on the earth. One day soon the Lord Jesus Himself will rule and reign on the earth and perfect justice will characterize His rule. God promises "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." And we're told in Isaiah 54:17 - "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord." There is no doubt that on this earth we will experience injustice and persecution just like the Lord Jesus did, but let us learn to follow His example. 1 Peter 2:21-23 says - "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." Even through His mockery of a trial Jesus kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" That was the question that Abraham asked God, and the answer is obvious. Yes, the Judge of all the earth will most certainly do what is right. And He is the only one who knows how to accomplish justice. According to James 1:20 we can't accomplish justice for ourselves - "for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." And in the mean time, God is sovereignly working in these injustices to produce in us an eternal weight of glory as talked about in 2 Corinthians 4:17 - "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." and also in Romans 8:18 - "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Let us learn to continually entrust ourselves completely to Him who judges righteously.
Romans 8:31-39 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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