“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 who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12, NIV)

The Sermon on the Mount begins with one of the most recognizable and repetitive blocks of speech ever recorded. Blessed are you is the repetition. Blessed are you gets its hooks in you because Jesus says it over and over and over again. If you want someone to remember something you’ve said, say it again and again. The repetition, however, is not the only reason the statements Jesus made are memorable.

A good number of the blessed ones stand in sharp contrast to whom one would expect the blessed ones to be. Pretend, for a moment, you don’t know who the first blessed one is. If I said to you “blessed are the…” and then I asked you to fill in the blank, do you think you would choose poor in spirit? What about, ones who mourn? The meek? If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t choose those descriptions to describe the blessed one if I didn’t already know what came after that. I might, however, choose some of the other ones Jesus gives: the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers. And then we come to the one description I know I would never have chosen, save for the influence of Jesus in my life.

In verse 10 Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” Excuse me? Is Jesus serious here? Those who are persecuted because of righteousness are blessed? What about blessed are those who are saved from persecution because of righteousness. Isn’t that better than are persecuted?

This is what I meant about not choosing this if I didn’t already know.

And then…it gets even better.

In verse 10 we might be able to say, “Phew, at least that isn’t me. I don’t have to worry about falling into that category. I’m not one of those ones who are persecuted.” The problem with that way of thinking is that Jesus doesn’t stop there and he doesn’t leave us there. He continues in verse 11 by saying, “Blessed are you.”

Blessed am I when what? When they insult you. When they persecute you. When they say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of Jesus. Rejoice and be glad. Because your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecute you, they persecuted the prophets before you.

He’s talking most directly to his disciples and secondarily to anyone thinking about joining the team and becoming his disciple. Jesus is being so clear with them and with us. He wants us to know what awaits those who say “Yes” to him and “Yes” to what he’s about. And what awaits us is blessing. And more specifically, a blessing awaits those of us who are insulted and persecuted.

Why?

Because, great is your reward in heaven!