Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
– Luke 6:22–23
Does this not seem like an impossible command? I mean, no one of us is slandered or attacked or shamed or lied about, reviled excluded, and then feels elated by that. Now we feel inflamed by these things. John Piper said in the sermon on Matthew’s version of Jesus saying this on the sermon on the Mount, “I would argue that this is the most difficult command in the Bible, namely for Jesus’s sake to feel joy and gladness when you’re reviled and persecuted and slandered.”
Luke 6:22–23 calls us to rejoice when we are persecuted.
How do you feel that which is totally unnatural for you to feel, to rejoice and be glad. The word he uses here for rejoicing is the same word we see later in Luke 15. When we see the Father rejoicing over his son who has come home. That’s the kind of rejoicing, like deep rejoicing. When people attack you to harm you and what others think about you. You think about what this looks like for brothers and sisters in Christ in a place like North Korea, Yemen, or Somalia, where they are persecuted.
Then think even of examples in our own culture. At least where I live, I grieve over faithful Bible-believing gospel-spreading leaders in the church. Including friends of mine. Brothers and sisters in Christ, who from a variety of different sides in our culture have been attacked, slandered, and reviled by anyone who can gain a hearing on social media by using their name.
And then I think about one brother in our church family that I’m a part of. His company was and is actively affirming LGBTQ issues in ways that go against God’s Word. But they were making it look like he was personally promoting a sexual ethic that goes against God’s good design for men and women. And he had to make a costly decision that risked his job in order to make it clear that he does not affirm what his company is affirming.
Luke 6:22–23 reminds us to live with an eternal perspective.
I have scores of brothers and sisters in Christ in business, teaching, medicine, the government… In all sorts of jobs, who are facing decisions like this more and more on a daily basis in the country where I live. Then I think about teenagers, and students. Every time I do a question and answer session with our students at camps or retreats. They’re always asking questions about how to follow Jesus faithfully, share the gospel with friends in a culture where they’ll be canceled if they actually believe and talk about the Bible.
And I’m so proud of them for not compromising even though it’s costing them. And in this sense, we all need to hear these words from Jesus. Knowing 2 Timothy 3:12. That everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So do you want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus?
Then be prepared for all these things Jesus is talking about here. And let’s help each other. And pray for each other to be faithful to Jesus. To keep following Jesus and making him known. Realizing that faithfulness to him actually means rejoicing and being glad when this happens. How is that possible? Because you know you’re not living for the applause of this world. You’re not living for your name in this world. You are living for a reward in heaven. And you’re in a long line of people who have endured all kinds of challenges in this world.
This verse challenges us to be faithful amidst persecution.
People excluding them, reviling them, spurning their name as evil as they follow Jesus. And Jesus says, be glad because your reward is great. So God, we pray that you would work this seemingly impossible command in our lives… In each of our hearts when we face temptation to compromise in order not to be excluded or reviled or spurned or lied about or hated.
God, we pray that you help us to faithfully follow Jesus, spread the gospel, make Jesus known no matter what it costs because we know you and our reward is great. God, we pray for brothers and sisters around the world who faced deep cost. I think about brothers and sisters I was just praying for. A group of eight men who are in jail right now because of their proclamation of the gospel. God, we pray for your grace over them, for their release, for the spread of the gospel through them.
Prayer for the Bhoksa People
We pray for them, and scores of other brothers and sisters around the world help them to rejoice and be glad in the middle of persecution today, we pray for the Bhoksa people of India, knowing there is persecution in many parts of India. For those who follow Jesus, help your church to proclaim the gospel faithfully. No matter what it costs, so that the Bhoksa in India might be reached. and God, we pray for this in each of our own lives. Help us to faithfully follow you, spread the gospel and rejoice and be glad when that leads to challenges in this world and attacks from people around us in the kinds of ways you describe here. Because we know Lord Jesus, that our reward in heaven is worth it. We pray all this in Jesus’ name according to Luke 6:22–23. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
