11. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Here is a comforting and hopeful word - rejoicing is found in peacemaking. There is rejoicing found in reconciliation to God and to one another and peace within oneself. Because God’s Word is true, we can put our faith in the great promise of reward. For the man of peace that perseveres has the assurance of blessing because of his loyalty to the cross, a blessedness is promised for those reconciled to God and seeking to reconcile others to Him and to one another.
Even in persecution joy is possible. Acts 5:41 "The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name of Jesus." Peacemakers will be called the children of God.
Sometimes in a counseling experience there is the pain in reviewing one's life and sins. There were painful times in the past - hard to discuss. Many carry bitter and half-forgotten memories when dealt with often result in a sudden pouring forth of emotion, like a lanced boil. Emotional and spiritual pain and pressure can be released in confession and forgiveness. It is called a catharsis experience when all that needs to come out is released and the healing begins to take place. That healing is such joyful relief.
It is a reward that is well worth the effort to confront some of the fears and sins that keep us from growing.
When one goes to the physician sometimes there is a painful procedure performed to get well. The prize of health may first require an operation, therapy, and recuperation. The prize of peace may first have to face pain of confession or sometimes that pain of persecution, but the prize is God’s kingdom of peace and rewards.
Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worth to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Peacemakers go out armed with righteousness, mercy, and purity to free others from their poverty, to bring them the good news. We belong to a strange army with a strange mission. Testing examines us to see if our hearts are pure, if we really hunger for righteousness or if we still crave comfort and approval. Satan sets ambushes to waylay us. If we aren't grounded in the earlier beatitudes, persecution will inflict wounds too deep to bear..
But the rewards are worth it - it includes peace. The promise is “great is your reward in heaven.” We start with nothing. We end with blessing.
Prayer: Lord, I come to You; Let my heart be changed, renewed. Flowing from the grace, That I found in You. And Lord I've come to know, The weaknesses I see in me…Will be stripped away, By the power of Your love.
