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The Independence Podcast helps everyday people discover that true freedom isn’t found in self-reliance but in total dependence on Jesus Christ. Each episode blends honest conversation, biblical truth, and practical application to help listeners move beyond emotional devotion toward consistent, daily surrender. Whether you’re new in your faith or longing to grow deeper, you’ll find encouragement to trust God fully, live from His grace, and follow Christ with courage in a world that celebrates independence but neglects dependence on the One who truly sets us free.
Bryan Dunham (00:00)
Welcome, my friends, to episode 19 of the Independence Podcast. I am your host, Brian Dunham, and we are here because we believe that living in full daily dependence on Jesus takes our faith from what can seem frustrating, exhausting, shallow, to meaningful, vibrant, even dare I say joyful, true freedom is found in dependence.
And in today's episode, we're continuing our series bound for freedom where we're walking through the Sermon on the Mount verse by verse to wrap our arms around what would have been considered Jesus's yoke. So Jesus was a first century rabbi and every rabbi in that day had a particular way of interpreting and applying Torah. And it would focus on that rabbi's
emphasis, the things he would place emphasis on, practical applications, boundaries, expectations, all of that interpretive work together would be called the Rabbi's yoke. So to take on a Rabbi's yoke meant to be ⁓ his disciple. In taking on the yoke, you are becoming his apprentice. You adopted his interpretation of scripture, you patterned your life.
after his teaching, you submitted to his authority. So this wasn't just academic in trying to learn the rabbi's interpretation. It was comprehensive life direction. A disciple didn't simply learn information, he learned a way of life. And to sit under that rabbi's yoke means walk where he walked, live as he lived, interpreting scripture as he interpreted it.
and imitating his posture towards God and fellow man. It was holistic formation. That is why we are studying these verses so intently. We have a desire to follow Jesus, to be an apprentice of Jesus, and to live our lives in the way our rabbi taught to live. So this week, we're gonna be in Matthew chapter five, verses 11 through 12, and these are those verses. Blessed are you when others revile you.
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. All right, let's get started today with two modern examples of an idea. And on the surface, these ideas are going to come across radically different, but
will pull the thread that not only connects them, but leads us directly into this verse today. So I'm just gonna ask that you trust me as we get into this and it'll all be clear in about 30 minutes from now. So for about 20 years, I held various positions of leadership in a company called the Capital Group, which operated and sub-advised managed the American Fund's mutual fund family.
And we were routinely ranked annually as one of, not the largest private money manager in the world. There was a strong drive within that company towards improvement in that culture. And I personally adopted that ethos as well. And as a result, I read a lot of books. I still read a lot of books, but I was reading a lot of books in those days around business, business growth, business excellence. But.
All truth is God's truth. And something I discovered was that things that drive great organizations also had broad application across the board, even to churches, because guess what? A church and a corporate organization are both made up of people and all people have the same creator who made us all in a particular way. Well, one of the books that I read that had a deep impact on me was a book called Start With Why by Simon Sinek.
In the book, he argues that the most inspiring leaders and the most inspiring organizations begin not with what they do or how they do it, but with a clear and compelling purpose. Their why. When purpose is communicated first, it fosters trust, it fosters loyalty, ⁓ long-term commitment among employees and customers.
And so when you begin with why the purpose for the company's existence, it winds up creating meaning. So the converse of that would be to lead with what. So when an organization leads with the idea of what, like we sell insurance, we build homes, we process data, employees have a tendency to see their role transactionally. But when it leads with why, when a company starts with that
question of why they exist to protect families or to create places where life happens or we bring clarity to chaos. Work becomes participating in something that is larger than just a transactional here's my time you give me money and human beings are wired for purpose we will endure more sacrifice more persist longer
When we believe our labor participates in something that's actually meaningful. so employees, they can comply with a job description or they can commit to a mission. So let me ask you, when you hear that, what would you rather do? Would you rather be on a mission or just punching a clock? So organizations that start with what they do, again, we shell insurance, we build houses.
When that's how they talk about themselves, not only to the public, but to their employees, they wind up relying fairly heavily on compensation, performance metrics. Sometimes there's a fear-based culture, fear of consequences, and it winds up driving compliance to what the company wants, but it's not really devotion. But when leaders and organizations, and this is what Sinek talks about in this book, articulate the why very clearly and upfront.
They awaken what is called intrinsic motivation, which is this internal individual motivation that we have. And employees begin to say things like, I believe in this. What I do matters in the grand scheme of things. Or this company aligns with my values. Research in organizational psychology consistently shows.
that intrinsic motivation, like when an employee operates from that place of intrinsic motivation, it leads to higher engagement levels, greater creativity, ⁓ lower turnover in the organization, and people being willing to put up with just harder times and to stick with the company when things get challenging. People will do the minimum for money, but they'll do the maximum for meaning. So.
Think about organizations that are like this. Apple is the classic example that Simon Sinek uses. They don't just sell devices. They challenge the status quo. ⁓ Patagonia is a good example. They're not just selling jackets, right? It's defending the planet. And employees that work in those environments often describe their work as a part of who they are. And when people...
identify that closely with mission ⁓ and identify that closely with their individuality with a company, accountability becomes internal. It doesn't have to be imposed. The culture has a tendency to self-regulate and to just simply punch a clock just seems out of place in those organizations. So that's the difference between managing employees and
mobilizing believers, like starting with why doesn't just inspire, it filters out. It has a way of self-selecting the right people to work there because some people just don't resonate with the mission and that's healthy. But those who do resonate with the mission stay longer. They'll defend the culture. They evangelize the brand. They recruit others. that idea of wanting to start with why when it comes to organizations,
is important because people want to feel like they've chosen a mission rather than just accepting a position. you can, hopefully as you listen to that, you can hear kind of the spiritual application of that as well. Like, because in secular workplaces, starting with white, it really taps into something deeply human. It's the desire to belong to something transcendent, to something that is bigger than you and I are.
And that's why organizations that articulate that purpose clearly and upfront don't just get workers, they get advocates. And so what Simon Sinek discovered by studying companies, guy by the name of Victor Frankel discovered studying human survival. Decades before Sinek ever wrote about corporate leadership, Frankel was staring at something much more severe.
There's a book that Frankel wrote called Man's Search for Meaning, and it is both a Holocaust memoir of his and a psychological argument about what ultimately sustains life. So, Frankel was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived several Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. And so, in the first half of his book,
he recounts what it was like to be there camp life, not really focusing on necessarily all the horrors they endured, but specifically the life of the prisoners and their inner lives. And he watched people around him that were starved, that were freezing, like from the temperature were beaten, they were executed. And he began to notice something. Some prisoners when they entered that environment died off very quickly. Others endured.
Same camp, same hunger, same brutality, but there was a difference. And what was that difference? And Frankel said that difference was meaning. Those who saw their suffering as meaningless, their persecution at the hands of the Nazis, like just simply meant that their life had become meaningless. Those people died quickly. But those who maintained a deep why, a purpose for existence that
then reframed the purpose for suffering endured. Frankel later wrote in his book, like, those who have a why can bear almost any how. You've probably heard that before. Those who have a strong enough why can bear almost any how. And the thread for both of these ideas to pull them together is that idea of why. Simon Sinek calls it start with why. Victor Frankel calls it
meaning or purpose in life, but having that why allows you to endure suffering in Frankl's case. But 2000 years prior to Frankl and Sinek, on a hillside in the ancient Near East, Jesus talks about the exact same thing in Matthew chapter five. So let's jump into Matthew chapter five verses 11 and 12, and I'll read it again. ⁓
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." So as we've been going through this, the first step is just what do you notice when you read this in your English version? What are some things that stand out? Well, the first thing that I notice is Jesus has been going through these, you know, the Beatitudes.
blessed are those who are poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those, are blessed are the meek, as almost like he's speaking about third party situation. But here he begins with blessed are you. So no longer talking about the identity markers of someone who is in the kingdom of heaven, which is really what the Beatitudes are. But now he focuses on those directly in front of him, his disciples.
And he says, blessed are you when others revile you, persecute you and utter all kinds of evil. When I think of reviling, think of like language, like people tearing me down, like almost publicly calling me out or saying something very negative to me or about me in our world. That could even be obviously on social media or other avenues, not necessarily directly face to face could be.
you know, significantly gossiping behind your back. That's what I think of when I think of reviling. Persecute, we talked about it last week. Persecution is that idea of being hunted down. Like it's this ongoing situation where that the broader, the bigger idea of persecution, we don't really see it in our society. But as we talked about last week, and if you haven't listened, I'd encourage you to go back to listen to last week's episode about that idea of persecution in our society is much more subtle, but a cost is still a cost.
And then utter all kinds of evil. That word evil has a particular connotation in my mind. I'm sure it does. ⁓ When I think of evil, I think of like Charles Manson, know, like, upside down pentagrams with goats, like satanic things. And ⁓ we'll talk about what this word means in Greek here in just a second, but.
just on the surface when we read it again, I pick out, okay, he's now talking directly to the disciples, blessed are you. And it's implied that people are going to do this. It doesn't say blessed are you if others revile you. It says when. So Jesus is telling them upfront, hey, this is gonna happen. People are, you're gonna be reviled, you're gonna be persecuted. People are gonna say all kinds of things that are evil against you. And then he says,
You're blessed when they do this. And in very important word in this verse is falsely. This is not persecution because you're being a jerk or somebody saying bad things about you because it's justified. He is saying that these are lies that are being told about you, that these things that are being said about you are not true. And then he also includes on my account.
So this persecution, this reviling, this uttering all kinds of evil is because of Jesus. It is not suffering because you're combative. It's not suffering for political ideology. It is not suffering for some sort of cultural nostalgia, like the way things used to be 50 years ago were so much better and now...
the world is so different and I feel persecuted because of my belief system. It's like that's not really what we're talking about here. It is suffering that is tied directly to your allegiance to Jesus that works itself out in the way that you live your life. So then Jesus says something pretty radical, rejoice and be glad. When these things happen to you, be happy, be high-fiving each other. So.
Every other week, I don't always get to go because of some other work commitments, but we have a pastoral meeting at our church where the pastors of the ministries gather for an hour and a half. And one of the very first things we always do is celebrate. So you talk about something that's going on in your ministry that is worth celebrating. I have never heard anyone say, I just want to rejoice that I have been suffering social.
marginalization because I've identified with Jesus or let's all everybody give me a high five. I was passed over at work for a promotion. I am so happy because I've been pushed to the edges of my social circle because I refuse to gossip. These aren't things that we have a tendency to celebrate and it would have sounded just as odd to them that they should celebrate and rejoice due to reputational problems that are
going on because they're following Jesus. And it's an inversion of things. In Jesus' kingdom, I talk about it being upside down a lot. The things that are important in God's kingdom just aren't important in the kingdom of this world. And it is, once again, there is an inversion here of what we should rejoice and be happy about. And he says that the reason we should be happy
and rejoice when we're persecuted is because we have a great reward in heaven. Now this is the first time in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus talks about rewards, but it's going to be a consistent theme as we move forward. Just all I'm trying to do here is note for you that that idea of treasure and rewards, they're very similar, maybe not completely synonymous, but very close. ⁓ Treasure and rewards that exist here on earth and also in heaven are
contrasted by Jesus as being either or, like there are rewards in both places, which one are you seeking? And that will become more prominent in the verses to come as we go through the Sermon on the Mount. I just wanna make the note here for the future. This is the first time Jesus talks about rewards in heaven. Then he says, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So Jesus is,
telling the disciples that they are in a line, like he is cognitively identifying the disciples now in the line of Old Testament prophets, prophets whom in their day were reviled for speaking out on behalf of God, certainly reviled, certainly persecuted, and speaking out against the godless society that they saw all around them. So,
Those are my observations in English, but let's jump into the Greek. So the very first word blessed, we've covered it now. Is this the ninth time, ninth or 10th time? Makarios, blessed, it means those to whom God extends his favor. This word revile in Greek is on a didzo. It means to insult you or to shame you. Now this ⁓ first century Near Eastern,
culture is very still is very honor and shame based. So this would have spoken directly into their current culture, but you and I are that way too. We talk about being a meritocracy, ⁓ but we still have a very strong honor and shame based culture. So when someone insults you, this is bringing shame upon you. It's reputational attack. That's what this Greek word revile means on a didzo. And then persecute. talked about it last week.
means to be hunted down. is ongoing sustained opposition. It's not a one time thing. It's an ongoing thing. And then it says when they say all kinds of evil, that is the Greek phrase, pan, Panoram pan, Panoram pan is it means every single type, all types, and every type. And then Panoram is translated as evil, is bad.
malicious, wicked, hurtful. This is kind of a catch-all. Like, when we talked about persecution last week, that we don't really miss, maybe see it as they saw it, but this one, you certainly would. Like, this is every single kind of hurtful thing that someone might say or do to you is covered under this utterance of all kinds of evil. And then Jesus says, on my account, it's henna-ca, which is, that's that Greek word, it means,
The basis for everything I just talked about is me, is for following me. And that is the axis of this particular verse. So it's not about ⁓ generic righteousness. It's not about I'm a good guy so I'm being persecuted. It's not about your religion. It is a reviling, an ongoing opposition. And every single negative hurtful thing that is said about you is because of identification.
with Jesus himself. Deeply what we would say Christo-centric. all right, so that's what the Greek means, which is fairly close, I think, in this situation to what our English words would imply, just understanding that that idea of evil is just really almost anything hurtful, at least in the context. So what about the...
this context in which the original hearers would have heard it. How would they have heard it? So remember the setting. So this is a Jewish audience being taught by a Jewish rabbi that is living in the land that has been promised to their people through the Abrahamic covenant. They're living in the land, but they're under Roman occupation. They're not ruling the land. The Romans are ruling the land. The Romans are ruling them. And at this particular time, the Messianic expectation was at a fever pitch. And so there was
broad rumors and thoughts around messiahs and there were several people prior to Jesus that they thought was going to be the messiah that would lead a revolt and sometimes they were successful for periods of time, sometimes they were immediately stamped out, but that idea that messiah would soon arrive was at a fever pitch at this time period and to them a messiah was a military conqueror.
It largely envisioned ideas of triumph, of restoration of the land, of vindication from their enemies, of kicking Rome out of there and ⁓ in ruling, you know, having self-rule. But then Jesus says, you know, here to them, blessed are the persecuted, blessed are you when you're persecuted, reviled. Like that would have sounded a little backward, especially if they're starting to see Jesus as the Messiah.
But then he adds, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So again, Jesus here is placing them in a lineage. Jeremiah was rejected, beaten, put in stocks. Elijah was hunted down by Jezebel. Isaiah was strongly opposed. Zechariah was killed. the prophets were never received in their day as being even
Sometimes they're viewed as being from God, but they didn't want to hear that message. Most of the time they were just ⁓ mistreated badly by the religious leaders. so Jesus is telling them here, like, blessed are you when you're persecuted, because they did the same thing to the prophets. And so Jesus is saying persecution is not a sign of failure. It's often the very mark of fidelity. So in the second temple Jewish framework,
to suffer for covenant faithfulness was to stand in the stream of prophetic legitimacy.
Jesus is not inventing a new category here. He's reactivating an old one and giving them a glimpse not only of their future, but that he himself is not who they are expecting him to be. let's go to, I'm going to go to Jeremiah real I just want to read just a sampling of some Old Testament verses. This is Jeremiah 20 verses seven through 10. And this is Jeremiah talking and.
He's speaking to God, Lord, you have deceived me and I was deceived. You were stronger than I and you have prevailed. I have become a laughing stock all the day. Everyone mocks me. So Jeremiah is basically lamenting the fact that he took on this job that God gave him to speak what God wanted spoken. And he's saying, I thought this was going to work out differently for me, ⁓ but I have become a laughing stock. Everybody mocks me. Verse eight, for whenever I speak, I cry out.
I shout violence and destruction for the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and a derision all the day long." He's saying, people reproach me and they deride me all day because I'm speaking your words. And then he's, Jeremiah says, if I say, I will not mention him or speak anymore in his name, he Jeremiah's saying, even within my heart, if I say, I'm just not even going to talk about this anymore, it's causing me so many problems.
He says, there is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire. Shut up in my bones. I'm weary of holding it in. Indeed, I cannot. He's saying, I can't even stop talking about you when I want to stop talking about you. And then he says, for I hear many whispering, terror is on every side. Denounce him. Let us denounce him. Say, all my close friends, watching for my fall. Perhaps he will be deceived, and we can overcome him.
and take our revenge on him. So here, Jeremiah is clearly being persecuted even by his close friends. He hears the whispers, he hears the gossip, he knows they're looking to trip him up at some point. And then this is 2 Chronicles 36 verse 15 and 16. The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, meaning,
saying here that God has sent them prophets over and over and over again because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. It's just saying he's repeatedly sending the messengers because he loves them and trying to get them back in line. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
So, faithfulness often resulted then in rejection and persecution. And you can see it in the Psalms, there's the righteous sufferer kind of motif, the righteous one who suffers unjustly is a constant theme in the Psalms, but is vindicated by God. Daniel suffers, he's faithful under empire, and Daniel's very instructive, I think, for you and I today.
but how to be faithful under empire and that leads to Daniel's suffering. And then in Isaiah 51,7, there's something very similar to this verse here that maybe where Jesus is pulling some things from, because oftentimes like when we read scripture, we're not only, what's it look like to me? What does the Greek say? How would they have heard it? And is there any kind of Old Testament scripture that aligns with what's being talked about here? This is Isaiah 51.
⁓ verse seven, listen to me, you who know righteousness. So this is the idea, yada, like it is, that's the word no. It means to be well acquainted with righteousness, the person who knows by experience a God-honoring life, like I'm living a God-honoring life, listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law, meaning the law is not just...
what they do, but it is become a part of them. It's the place they operate from, it's within their heart. Fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. So again, reproach, reviling, the same word Jesus uses here, it's like this is part and parcel to someone who is connected to God and living a God-honoring life. So shame here, the reproach of a man and being reviled.
That does not equal divine rejection. Jesus stands, again, squarely in this stream of thought. He's not romanticizing the pain. He is redefining its category. Persecution for Christ is not evidence of God's absence. It's rather exactly the opposite. It is evidence of union with Him. Jesus here, when he talks about this idea of being blessed for persecution,
falsely accused for living a life that honors him. He's changing the frame of reference. And in so doing, he's giving them the why. Thinking back to the beginning about Simon Sinek, start with why. Victor Frankel, if you have a strong enough why, you can endure almost any how. A real example of this, as he gives the disciples this idea of why, is first, think about the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is arrested.
What do the disciples do? Well, Peter, you know, starts to act like he's going to fight, but then when he realizes Jesus isn't going to fight, ⁓ they all run, like they're in fear and they're running for self-preservation. And the frame of mind there would be, if they do that to him, what are they going to do to us? But if you contrast that with Acts chapter five, this is after the resurrection and
they have been, the disciples have been speaking in the name of Jesus and they've been dragged now in front of the Sanhedrin and it's talking about when they brought them before them. It says, and when they had brought them, so this is the religious leaders had brought the disciples and set them before the council and the high priest questioned them saying, we strictly charge you not to teach in this name, meaning in the name of Jesus.
Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teachings. Like we've already told you to stop doing this and now you didn't listen and you're doing whatever you want to do. And you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at the right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God
has given to those who obey him. And it says when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But ⁓ Gamaliel steps up and basically says, hey, look, you guys, this effort may be of God. If it's not of God, it's going to fall apart on its own. If it is of God, you're fighting against God. Like you shouldn't, like you should leave these guys alone. And so they agree, OK, we'll leave them alone. It says they took his advice. This is in verse 40.
And when they called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. They're being beaten. I don't know. I'm picturing black eyes or swollen, maybe not black yet, but swollen eyes, bloody noses, scrapes, marks, whatever it means to have beaten them. And they're rejoicing. They're high-fiving each other because they were counted worthy.
to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ is Jesus. So like what changed from the idea of running in fear when they're about to be arrested to now ⁓ basically saying, hey, we're gonna do what God tells us to do no matter what you do to us.
and then getting beaten and then being excited about that. Well, it's not the pain that changed. It wasn't the threat that changed. Nothing about the empire changed. It was simply the frame. Like it's post resurrection. They understand the cross. They understand that glory now comes through suffering in this upside down kingdom. And they understand the why the resurrection reframed the idea of persecution. And it's one of the most like when you think about
Modern psychology, one of the most influential frameworks comes from Richard Lazarus in what is called the cognitive appraisal theory of emotion. So Lazarus argued that events don't directly cause emotional responses. Like you go through something and you feel an emotional response. It's not the event that causes the emotion in you. It is your interpretation of that event. So for instance, I got an email from my boss, you know, Hey, can we meet for a few minutes tomorrow? ⁓
But how I interpret that event will determine the emotional outcome. So for instance, let's say what you might call a threat interpretation. So wants to meet with me. So I might think I've done something wrong. This could affect my job security. I'm in trouble. And the emotions that get produced under that, as you can imagine, are anxiety, defensiveness, heart rate goes up. You start rehearsing what you're going to say. You brace yourself. Or.
I could interpret that differently as an opportunity potentially. Like maybe they're considering me for a new opportunity, for a new responsibility. This could be just positive feedback. Maybe they saw or heard something great. ⁓ Could even be a growth opportunity. So the emotions that would get produced by that would be confidence, curiosity, ⁓ anticipation, hopefulness, or it could just be a neutral interpretation. I might think, well, it's probably just a routine update of some type.
or I'll find out soon enough. And that's really the emotion there's just not much calm, attentiveness maybe. But the external circumstance hasn't changed in all of those situations, right? It's the meaning that is assigned to the circumstance that has changed in the emotional experience shifts dramatically depending on how you interpret the event. So that applies broadly to people can experience the exact same external event and feel radically different emotions because they interpret it differently.
And this applies to suffering, applies to persecution, because if suffering, as Victor Frankl pointed out, is interpreted as meaningless, that leads to despair, complete loss of hope. If suffering is determined to be or interpreted as like unjust punishment that begins with shame and usually moves to anger in some type of even ⁓ reprisal potentially. But if suffering is appraised as like,
purposeful participation, this is happening for a reason, then that leads to resilience. And it fits beautifully with what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew 5, 11. Jesus is reshaping the interpretation of persecution. He's not changing the event, he's changing the appraisal of it. Cognitive behavioral therapy, ⁓ which is what?
If you go to therapy, a lot of it is based on the ideas of Aaron Beck and later advanced by Howard Ellis operates on this principle of reframing cognitive reframing. So it teaches patients to identify thoughts that aren't accurate or potentially distorted and then replace them with a more accurate interpretation of what's actually going on. It doesn't deny pain that you have experienced, but it alters the narrative about that pain. So
psychologically reframing can reduce anxiety. can slow down or even halt depressive symptoms increases a person's emotional resilience and also increases that locus of control or at least perceived control. you are not people don't cause you to feel certain ways. Like he made me mad. Well, that's not actually true. It's
I felt anger as a result of how I interpreted that person's actions. That's the more accurate way to think about it. ⁓ So when Jesus says, bless her you, when people persecute you, insult you, revile you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad, great is your reward in heaven. Same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. He's placing the disciples and consequently us
in this line of people who suffered persecution for the name of God and that we should rejoice in that, that we're counted worthy to be a part of that same line. Jesus is performing some divine reframing here. He's altering the narrative category. events don't determine our emotional outcome. Our interpretation of that event does. So again, all truth is God's truth.
Modern psychology has discovered what Jesus declared on a hillside 2000 years ago. The architecture of cognitive reframing is visible here in these verses on the Sermon on the Mount. And when you think about framing, if suffering is meaningless, it will crush you. If it's punishment, it will shame you then anger you. But if it's participation in Christ, it can transform you. So what? Okay, so what does this mean for us?
Well, it's very clear here when, not if, faithfulness to Christ will produce some type of opposition to you. It will. And if you never experience friction, we should at least question whether our faith is costing us anything or if we've compartmentalized it. Jesus and me again. And it's only my internal workings and it has nothing to do really with how
my life is lived outside of the compartmentalized religious life. We should be asking that question if we don't experience any kind of friction or opposition for our faith. And Jesus anchors joy here, not in circumstances, of course, but in identity. Rejoice and be glad because you're His, because you're living for Him and for God in the same way the prophets were. You're blessed, you're approved.
You stand in this prophetic tradition. Your reward is great in heaven. Be joyful about that, even when circumstances are painful. And notice that joy and persecution both come from identification with Christ. They both come from your identity in Christ. So the question is not, I suffer following Jesus? Is going to cost you something that is clear here and clear throughout the Bible?
The question is what is the meaning of the suffering? The meaning of whatever cost, no matter how small you pay as a result of identification with Christ and living in the way that he teaches as one of his apprentices. The meaning of that is not to embitter you and it's not to radicalize you, it's to sanctify you, to draw you closer to him and make you more like him all at the same time, which is 100 % worth rejoicing over.
Rejoicing and persecution isn't denial. It's not emotional hype. It is the settled conviction that a deeper union with Christ is worth more than comfort. When you know the why, you can endure the how. If you found this show helpful, please follow and share. I'd be honored if you check out my first book, Questions God Asks. It's available definitely on Amazon, but anywhere really that you might purchase a book.
And if you're just curious about it, but don't want to make that purchase yet, you can go to the website, questionsgodasks.com and download chapter one for free. As well, can contact me on that page if you have a question, comment, feel free to leave one there. And until next time, grace and peace, my friends.