We come to the last 2 verses in this passage and in it Jesus deliberately changes how He speaks to make it very personal. No longer is it “Blessed are they…” but rather “blessed are you …”.
These statements are certainly true for every true Christian in every age and every land, but equally true for you personally. “Blessed are you…” – this happiness should be the hallmark of every child of God. It is our privilege to suffer with Christ, and we will be greatly blessed for suffering with Christ.
In these two verses the picture He paints becomes increasingly real in 21st (c) Britain. Long gone is the ‘Christian’ ethics and standards and in its place has come an increasingly persistent and powerful opposition to anything and everything Christian. ‘revile’, ‘persecute’, ‘utter evil things’ become true everyday descriptives of what we are called to face.
Jesus encourages us to take an amazingly positive attitude towards this. We are to “rejoice and be glad” – in the parallel passage in Luke’s gospel Jesus says we are to “leap for joy” Luke 6:23. If this seems strange, He certainly isn’t advocating it in any masochistic sense. Being reviled, persecuted and having evil said to us (or even worst against us) can be very hurtful. No, the reason we are to rejoice and be glad is that if we accept such opposition without retaliation (as Christ did) then He will reward us richly when we meet Him!
The condition is, of course, that these things happen to us “on my account” or in Luke “on account of the Son of Man”. Being hated for being arrogant, proud, self-righteous, or indifferent to others carries no reward. It is when it happens solely because we love, defend, live and speak for Christ that such reward is promised.