BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN MEN REVILE YOU

From The Vine

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

Many who claim to be Christians are willing to follow Jesus Christ as long as they don't have to step out of their comfort zone. Then there are those who will rejoice in persecutions for great is their reward in heaven:

"Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you (Matthew 5:11-12)."
    One might imagine even more of the fringers slinking away when they heard Jesus make this declaration. After all, who wants to hang around with some guy only to be called names, to be slandered, to be insulted for what he teaches. "Not me, fellows. I'm outa here. Seeeya."
    Later Jesus told them, "You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say unto you Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44)."
   Can you hear them grumbling at that? "What rubbish. There's no way I could love that Ezra fellow. He's done nothing but cause trouble ever since he moved into the neighbourhood."
   Another, as they headed down the path may have exclaimed, "That's stupid! Why would anybody want to do good to people who hate them. This character, Jesus, is really off the wall."
   There may have been more to Jesus' sermon on the mount than is seen through a simple reading of the words. Perhaps it was what might be called the Gideon Phenomenon.
   When God told Gideon to rid Israel of the Midianites he started out with 32 thousand men. "Too many," said God. "Send some of them home."
   Gideon possibly told his army of the dangers before them and said, "If there's any fearful among you return to your families." No doubt the outermost fringers left first. Then a second rank followed them, and others peeled off until Gideon was left with only ten thousand.
   "Still too many Gideon. Take them down to the river to drink." We're not told, but it's easy to imagine some of the men urgently splashing their way across the river, scooping up handfuls of water to drink as they went. Nothing was going to slow them down.
   And so God short-listed Gideon's army until he had only three hundred fighting men ready to take on the world (Judges 6:11-7:7).
   When Jesus' disciples met him on the Galilean hillside there may have been too many. Fifty, sixty perhaps. Jesus needed to pare the numbers down so he told them there would be persecution for those who followed him. He was saying, like Gideon, "If there's any fearful among you return to your families."
   But even thirty was too many. So Jesus told them they would be reviled, hooted at, scandalized for following him. So he short-listed his entourage perhaps to twenty men who were ready to take on the world regardless of the hardships. And they would be blessed for it.
   Then in Luke 6:12 we're told Jesus spent all night in prayer, "And when it was day he called to him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve whom also he named apostles (verse 13)."
   By Gideon's three hundred men the Midianites were routed from Israel and the country was blessed. By Jesus' twelve God has blessed the world. But he still calls to us today and says, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake." Then he adds something that was likely lost on the fringers. "Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven."

The entire beatitude series of Life Lines is available to those who may have missed any. Write to laturvey@becon.org.

"The Husbandman
   is never nearer
   the branches
   than during pruning."
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