Matthew 5: Blessed are the persecuted

Major Ian Haylett shares how God reveals blessings amid difficulties.

Key texts

Matthew 5:10

As we begin Refugee Week (16–22 June), it might seem offensive to have ‘blessed are those who are persecuted’ as the subject of a Bible study.

Even looking at the whole, our study passage suggests that there’s hope only for those who are considered righteous. It seems to offer little to those who are persecuted for any other reason. Where are their blessings?

From this verse from the Sermon on the Mount, and using three stories of persecuted women, perhaps we can see blessings: being blessed by presence, by righteousness and by healing in the Kingdom of God.

For nearly five years, we at the corps in Thirsk have been part of a government community sponsorship scheme to offer permanent resettlement to refugee families in the UK. In our case, we’re helping an Afghan family who have lived their entire lives under persecution in Iran. The experience has been transforming for all involved – the family and us – and the blessings have been abundant.

Pause and reflect

List some blessings in your life that came out of joyful experiences.
List some blessings in your life that were hard won.

In Genesis, the account of the family tree of Abram can read like a soap opera. In chapter 16, Hagar, a slave to the family, is impregnated by Abram. She is ‘ill-treated’ (v6) by Sarai out of jealousy and driven out into the wilderness with death circling around.

Yet God steps in and speaks to Hagar with such a transforming effect that she is able to say: ‘You are the God who sees me… I have now seen the One who sees me’ (v13).

The child is born safely and is named Ishmael, meaning ‘the God who hears’. In her trauma, Hagar was blessed by the presence of God.

In Thirsk, although the faith we hold differs from that of the Afghan family, we’ve all been blessed by the presence of God, which has brought us together and built bridges of love and understanding.

Pause and reflect

In the turmoil and tragedy of life, do you believe that God is already present in it, seeing, hearing and speaking?
Could you be that presence to someone today?

In John 8:2–11, religious leaders drag a woman caught in the act of adultery in front of Jesus. A mob surrounds them and they want her punished. With no sign of the man with whom she was caught, the woman is isolated and alone. She is the very thing that mobs love: a scapegoat. They can deflect their own guilt and shame on to her. She can then be punished to their relief. A woman is persecuted, isolated, threatened and humiliated in front of a mob.

It’s a trap for Jesus and, wrongly played, it could lead to serious consequences for him. Nevertheless, Jesus takes the way of righteousness, turning the fierce gaze of the onlookers away from the woman and on to her accusers, who gradually slink away. In this quietened space, she is restored and sent on her way in peace. Because the righteousness of Jesus speaks up for justice, the persecuted woman is blessed.

We’ve had many situations with our Afghan family when we have needed to stand up for them, most starkly when dealing with vile racist posts on social media targeting family members. Doing the righteous thing isn’t easy, but we’ve been blessed to stand up for our friends.

Pause and reflect

Do you stand up for righteousness, for doing the right things?
Who in your community needs someone to stand up for them?

This Refugee Week, we have an opportunity to consider a topic that is complex and prescient but which also allows us to consider difficult situations in our own communities.

Luke 8:43–48 tells the story of a woman who had been ‘subject to bleeding for 12 years’ (v43). Her money has evaporated, spent on ‘many doctors’ (Mark 5:26) and their useless treatments. She is likely a persecuted social outcast, humiliated because of her medical condition for which there was no help.

She resolves to make a desperate move. Bringing herself into the public arena, she frantically pushes through the crowd towards Jesus. She doesn’t need to talk to him – just to touch the hem of his garment would be enough.

Surrounded by a pressing crowd, Jesus knows that someone has received a special touch of his power and healing. He looks at her and, in one of the most moving records in Scripture, he restores her and heals her shame and her body, as he says: ‘Daughter … go in peace’ (v48). The woman is blessed by the healing and peace flowing from the Kingdom of God.

Having left a life of persecution to travel to the UK, our Afghan family have found themselves in the most alien of situations, full of new and testing experiences. Despite all these challenges, we often joke: ‘Do you want to go back?’ They laugh and say: ‘No, no, no!’ They’ve been healed. They’ve found peace. They’re truly blessed in the new life that they embrace.

Pause and reflect

How can you be a peacemaker in your setting?
How do you live out the richness of the Kingdom of God?

This Refugee Week, we have an opportunity to consider a topic that is complex and prescient but which also allows us to consider difficult situations in our own communities. Can we see those who are persecuted and seek ways to bring about God’s blessing?