10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Note here,
1. That all the disciples and followers of Christ, live they ever so holily and inoffensively in the world, yet must they expect suffering and persecution.
2. That the keenest and sharpest edge of persecution is usually turned against the ministers of Christ, and falls heaviest on the prophets of God.
3. That such sufferings and such persecutions as will afford a man solid comfort, and intitle him to real blessedness, must be endured and undergone for righteousness-sake.
4. That it is the will and command of Christ, that those which suffer for him, and for righteousness-sake, should not only be meek and patient, but joyous and cheerful: rejoice, and be exceeding glad.
5. That such a patient and cheerful suffering of persecution for Christ in this life, shall certainly be rewarded with the glory and blessedness of the life that is to come. Great is your reward, &c.
Thomas Scott’s Commentary
Verses 10-12: The Jews expected to be honored, and paid court to, under the reign of the Messiah; and we all naturally annex the idea of happiness to honor, respect, and favor, and are apt to imagine that a conscientious conduct will certainly ensure them to us. But Christ declared those to be happy “who were persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
If men suffer, under a profession of religion, for their crimes or follies, or for their obstinate attachment to unscriptural or antiscriptural tenets and practices, without general conscientiousness, they cannot be included in the blessing. But when they who fear God, and rely on his mercy through Christ, suffer for conscience sake, even though they may err in the matter for which they suffer, they must not be excluded; for they act from proper motives, and under a covenant of mercy.
Yet the more evidently men suffer for adhering to the plain truths and precepts of the scripture, the more clearly are they interested in this blessing.—It is here taken for granted, that believers must meet with injurious treatment in this world. The wicked hate the holy image of God, and those who bear it; his holy truth, and those who profess and preach it; his holy law, and those who obey and stand up for its obligation and authority; and his holy ordinances, and those who attend on them.
They accuse true Christians of bigotry, spiritual pride, fanaticism, hypocrisy, misanthropy; they invent all kinds of calumnies of them, and fasten opprobrious names on them. If then we adhere to the truths, precepts, and ordinances of Christ, and refuse to comply with any thing contrary to our consciences; we must prepare to endure derision, reproach, and slander, or more severe treatment, from ungodly men.
But the kingdom of grace and glory belongs to those who on such accounts meet with, and patiently endure, persecution: they suffer for the sake of Christ and righteousness; and all manner of evil is spoken of them falsely because they belong to the Lord. Instead therefore of dejection and complaints, they should count themselves happy that the enemies of God see and hate his image in them: yea, they should rejoice and exult for joy in the prospect of the great and glorious recompense which is prepared for them, remembering that they are in this conformed to the most approved and honored servants of God in every age, and in every part of the world.
Nor can any eminency in all those holy dispositions before described (which combine to form the Christian character, are “the fruits of the Spirit,” and constitute the image of Christ), preserve any man from this hatred of the world, nay, they will expose him to it so long as it is the kingdom of Satan: for even Christ himself, the only perfect character which ever appeared on earth, was exposed to the greatest contempt and enmity of the world. But these holy tempers will teach a man to bear up under such trials, to overcome evil with good, to pass comfortably through them, and to derive good from them all.