Prosecute Righteousness
Honored are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:10)
By Stephen W. Hiemstra
For many Christians, persecution poses a perplexing question—“Why are good people persecuted?” (Graham 1955, 98)—to which the Book of James responds:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (Jas 1:2–4)
The paradox of the suffering servant at the heart of the Christian worldview was first expressed by the Prophet Isaiah: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11) In effect, what James is saying is that persecution for righteousness’ sake both shapes us in sanctification and marks us as disciples of Christ, who was himself persecuted unto death.
Here the Greek word for persecution means: “to harass someone, esp. because of beliefs, persecute” (BDAG 2059.2) and it often associated in the Old Testament with a military engagement vigorously pursued (e.g. Deut 11:4). The Greek word for righteousness means: “the quality or characteristic of upright behavior, uprightness, righteousness.“ (Guelich 1982, 93) As we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we expect others to persecute us, as scripture reminds us (1 Pet 4:16).
The injustice of Jesus’ persecution is noted by one of the other men being crucified (also Isa 53) as Luke’s Gospel records:
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. (Luke 23:39-43)
Note that this story mentions both the idea of righteous persecution and the reward of heaven, as cited in the Eighth Beatitude.
Persecution (unto death) in the Old Testament begins with the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain kills Abel because God accepted Abel’s righteous sacrifice and rejected his own (Gen 4:3–9). Post-resurrection persecution in the New Testament begins with the stoning of Stephen who accused the Sanhedrin of false worship, persecution of the prophets, and murdering God’s Messiah (Acts 7:48–53). Persecution is likely also to be our fate, as the Apostle Paul reminds us:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Rom 8:35-37)
Persecution is often edited out of this passage in public readings, but it is fundamental to our life in Christ.
Jesus reminds us that a student is not better than his teacher—he was persecuted; we will be persecuted (Matt 10:24–25). But even in the midst of persecution, Jesus admonishes us to—“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44)—suggesting that persecution is an ministry opportunity.
References
Bauer, Walter (BDAG). 2000. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. ed. de Frederick W. Danker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. .
BibleWorks. 2015. Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks, LLC. .
Graham, Billy. 1955. The Secret of Happiness. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc.
Guelich, Robert. 1982. The Sermon on the Mount: A Foundation for Understanding. Dallas: Word Publishing.
Prosecute Righteousness
Also see:
Preface to a Life in Tension
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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
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