Those Who Are Persecuted Because of Righteousness
A conversation on the Beatitudes
Today we are continuing through the Beatitudes, the “blessed” statements that Jesus gives at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount:
He said:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12)
The goal in this series has been to process these “blessed” statements. They’ve been so good—so deep and meaningful. And today we come to this one:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)
Blessed are the persecuted because of righteousness.
There is a responsibility here, and it is not “to be persecuted”! The responsibility is to pursue righteousness: doing right by God and by people. And if you are persecuted for that righteousness, you are blessed.
Let’s start by talking about this: Do you know someone who always picks fights? Maybe you could say they have a strong victim mentality or a performative morality or a bit of a martyr complex. They seem to be focused on making life harder than it needs to be.
What does it say about a person when they feel it is their responsibility to continually pick fights?
Now let’s flip that around:
How can you tell when someone feels a deep responsibility to do what is right?
When I think of pushback for righteousness, I think of Jesus in John 5.
There were several times when Jesus performed miracles on the Sabbath. He healed the man with the withered hand (Matthew 12:9–14, Mark 3:1–6, Luke 6:6–11); He cast out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21–28, Luke 4:31–37); He healed Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:29–31, Luke 4:38–39) and a woman who had been crippled for 18 years (Luke 13:10–17). Jesus healed a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1–6), a man who was at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–18), and a man who was born blind (John 9:1–16).
The Old Testament law commands that no work be done on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, as a day of rest dedicated to the Lord. This law, rooted in God's rest after creation (Exodus 20:8–11), applied to all people, servants, and even animals, emphasizing complete cessation from labor to honor and remember God's holiness and provision.
So we come to one of those moments in John 5:
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:1-18)
Doing right is complicated. This story, like the others listed before it, ends with pushback, precisely because Jesus made life right for someone. People over the rules? Helping over resistance. Valuing people.
Here’s a question for you. It sounds simple, but it’s complex.
How does a person know what is right or wrong to do?
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)
This is the final beatitude before Jesus expands the idea in verses 11–12. This verse and verse 3 frame the “blessed” statements, as they both have the same “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And the focus is “because of righteousness.” This isn’t about just any suffering or conflict.
Let’s look at the words Jesus uses.
Blessed (Greek μακάριοι, makarioi). This means flourishing; deeply fortunate; living the good life. It’s a public announcement that the people no one would expect are actually enjoying the good life of God’s kingdom.
…are those who are persecuted (Greek οἱ δεδιωγμένοι, hoi dediōgmenoi). This “persecuted” is the perfect passive form of διώκω diōkō, meaning to chase, hound, drive away. It’s not just physical violence but could be any social expulsion, harassment or smear campaign aimed at squeezing kingdom-people out of public space.
…because of righteousness (Greek δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosunē). This word isn’t just keeping high moral standards, or a moral code. It’s about right relationship with God and others, as well as seeking social justice and equity. It’s about doing right by people in your family, your neighborhood, your community. Righteousness is not just “being right.” It’s making things right.
…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Greek βασιλεί οὐρανός, basileia ouranos). This is a phrase that Matthew uses over 30 times, and it’s worth studying. Matthew emphasizes that God's reign is not just in the future tense, but is breaking into the present through Jesus.
If there is something that feels very right now, something that brings what is happening in a moment from being a blur to being immediate, it is resistance, opposition, disdain, or persecution. And Jesus says: Make things right. And if there’s resistance, what’s “right now” is not just the pain of that resistance; what’s right now is the kingdom of heaven.
God's reign is not just in the future tense, but is breaking into the present through Jesus.
What is our responsibility in making things right?
Okay. We have been processing righteousness, picking fights vs. doing right, and discerning right from wrong. And now we will wrap up with the same questions we have used to end each week in this series:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)
How is this beatitude upside down in our culture?
What is the value of embracing it? What is the cost of denying it?
Take it Deeper Questions
After reading Matthew 5:3-10, what comes to mind when you hear the word “righteousness”?
If righteousness is about restoring right relationship with God, neighbors, and community, does that reshape your view?
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said people were blessed for craving righteousness (right relationship with God, their neighbors, and for their community), and now we see people may be persecuted or pushed out for pursuing that righteousness. Why would someone be persecuted for seeking this definition of righteousness?
Why might living out that kind of relational righteousness draw opposition?
Bible Reading Plan
Matthew 5
1 Peter 4
Genesis 39
John 15-16
Daniel 3
Romans 12