Explanation of the Eighth Beatitude
The eighth Beatitude states: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
This Beatitude speaks of people who in their life live entirely according to righteousness, adhering to justice. In this Beatitude, “righteousness” is understood as the fulfillment of God’s Law. Those who love righteousness — that is, people who above all else honor the Word of God and fulfill God’s Law in everything — are willing to voluntarily endure privations, calamities, sufferings, and even persecution, but do not deviate from observing righteousness (that is, from God’s Law). They will be blessed, happy, and will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus Christ foresaw that many of His disciples and followers, because they became adherents and spreaders of His Teaching, would be subjected to persecution and would experience much deprivation and suffering.
Nevertheless, people should not be frightened by sufferings, because nothing can harm a person if he loves Jesus Christ and follows His teaching. Jesus Christ will be with such a person at all times and in every place, and will crown him for his ascetic feat with an unfading crown of glory. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (John 15:20–21). True Christians, living according to Christ (that is, keeping Christ’s teaching), will always be persecuted by dark natural and supernatural forces, just as Jesus Christ Himself was persecuted.
True Christians, for the righteousness of Christ which they confess, and for the good deeds they do in the name of Christ, will be subjected to persecution and suffering. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). However, Christians should not be frightened by torments and sufferings. For the person who suffers persecution and hardship for Christ’s righteousness will be guarded and comforted by Christ, as were the three faithful youths in Babylon. “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:5). That is, seeing our sufferings, Christ will repay us with consolation for them. And he who becomes a partaker of Christ’s sufferings will also become a partaker of Christ’s victory and glory. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Every person who suffers in the name of Christ should remember the words of the Bible that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Jesus Christ Himself, foreseeing that His followers would be subjected to persecution and suffering, comforted His children, saying: “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Therefore, Christians should accept sufferings for Christ’s righteousness with joy, and show forgiveness to their persecutors and offenders, and to those who cause them suffering.
“If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you… But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter” (1 Peter 4:14–16).
According to Christian understanding, God is pleased with the person who suffers innocently and unjustly for God’s righteousness. This person will be guarded by God and blessed. And for his innocent sufferings he will receive blessedness, that is, joy. “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:19–21).
Why then must people be persecuted for righteousness? This happens because “evil, corrupt people have always hated the righteous and persecuted them, and will hate and persecute them” (John of Kronstadt, “Conversations on the Beatitudes”). There is irreconcilable hatred between Good and evil, between righteousness and sin, between light and darkness, between truth and falsehood. Cain hated the righteous Abel, the evil-natured Esau hated his meek brother Jacob. The wicked sons of Jacob hated their wise brother Joseph and secretly sold him into Egypt. Saul hated the meek David, persecuted him, and sought his life. The Jews hated the prophets of God who exposed lawlessness. Satan, as well as the Sadducees and Pharisees, hated Jesus Christ, who came to redeem the perishing world. And the followers of Christ, for the Word of God and the glory of Christ, were subjected to terrible persecutions in the pagan world.
And despite this, true Christians are strong in faith in God, do not depart from Jesus Christ, and are not frightened by persecutions. And even now, all who desire to live piously according to Christ’s teaching will also be subjected to persecution. This happens because the person who manifests love for Christ, who is permeated with the holiness of His teaching, takes away from Satan his subjects and thereby strikes a blow against the kingdom of darkness by becoming an adherent of Christ’s teaching — and for this he is subjected to persecution coming from evil natural and supernatural forces. These persecutions may change in form over time, but their source remains the same — the kingdom of evil. Every person who tries to live in peace and harmony with God is tempted and seduced from the true path of obedience to God’s Laws by the forces of darkness.
However, the adherents and followers of Jesus Christ joyfully accept persecutions and obstacles, and by showing patience overcome them, following in the footsteps of their Teacher, Jesus Christ, who is infinitely stronger than Satan and gives His strength to His children. Through persecutions and obstacles, the followers of Christ come to know the greatness of God, and God does not forsake them. The Bible speaks of them thus: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will dwell among them” (Revelation 7:14–15).