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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)
Hello, my friends. Welcome to episode 18 of the Independence podcast, where we talk about living in full daily dependence on Jesus. I am your host, Brian Dunham. And today we continue in the series, Bound for Freedom, in which we are going verse by verse through the Sermon on the Mount, which is the largest single continuous block of Jesus's teaching that we have in the New Testament. And Jesus, of course, as we've talked about,
was a first century rabbi. And the rabbi's occupation was specifically to interpret Torah, the prophets, and the writings, all of the, what you and I would call the Old Testament, all of those scriptures, the Hebrew scriptures, and how that pertains to current living, how they live amongst their community in relation to their fellow man and how they live in relation to God. And that is what Jesus
was doing when he was going around and teaching. He was offering his interpretation of Torah. It's why a little bit later here in the Sermon on the Mount, we're going to hear him repeatedly say, you have heard that it was said, but I tell you, he's offering his interpretation. And because we believe Jesus to be the Son of God who was in the beginning, and he is often called the Word, that his interpretation is the best interpretation. And so as followers of
Jesus, it shows us how we should live and move in our world in relation to others and in relation to God. And today we're covering the last of what are referred to as the Beatitudes. And this comes from Matthew chapter five, verse 10. And it is blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So let's just jump.
right into this. Does the ending of this verse sound familiar to you? The idea that theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Does that ring a bell? Because it should if you've been listening to this podcast. The very first beatitude which comes from Matthew chapter five, of course, and in verse three.
blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so Jesus begins the Beatitudes with this phrase, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then here in this last one, he ends it with the phrase for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And in our Western mindset, like in our enlightenment thinking, this was always confusing to me.
when I would read through the Beatitudes, because it's noticeable that the offer here for those that are poor in spirit is the kingdom of heaven, and then those that are persecuted for righteousness is also the kingdom of heaven. And we in our culture, value certainty, we value definition and clarity. So I always thought like, well, which one is it? Like, who really gets the kingdom of heaven?
as though these were rewards that were given for these various things Jesus is talking about. So why do two different types of people, is it the poor in spirit get the kingdom, but also those that are persecuted get the kingdom? Is it that they both do? And why is that? Or did Jesus just run out of stuff to say? Is he getting to the end of this list and going, well, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven too. Like, is he just...
⁓ searching for something else to give them and just happens to double back on the first one. Perhaps he forgot that he said it. And these are things that I always wondered, like what's going on here. But what's actually happening here is something that is called inclusio. This is intentional on Jesus's part. And the term inclusio comes from ⁓ Latin, and it means enclosure.
So when it comes to literary studies, literary techniques, an inclusio is a device in which a common phrase, or at least not common necessarily, but a parallel word or phrase is used at the beginning and the ending of a section. It creates kind of a literary bracket. Think of it as like a set of bookends or.
if it's thematic, like a thematic envelope. So the reason inclusios are there, the purpose behind them is it just, again, think about bookends, it's just marking off a literary unit. And it's telling you in its own way that what is included in this section, in this inclusio, is interpretively important. It's important to recognize what's happening in between the bookends as well as the bookends themselves.
because it's a unified whole. And so it often will tell you, like the bookends themselves will often tell you how to read what's happening in between. And so in ancient cultures, especially oral cultures, where the traditions were passed down orally for generations before ever really being written down, a device like this would have been especially important. It would have aided with memory.
and in discussing and thinking about key themes of whatever it was that was being talked about or memorized. So Inclusio, it's also, if you're familiar with literary devices, it's also related to something called a chiasm. We're not gonna really get into chiasm right now. This could actually be, when I first started looking at this, I thought maybe this is also a chiasm. A chiasm.
though emphasizes inversion, whereas an inclusio emphasizes enclosure. So we'll be discussing this as an inclusio. It's very clearly that, whether it's a chiasm or not, who knows? If you're familiar with that term, if you're not, we'll probably talk about it at some point, but that's not for today. This is an inclusio. And scripture, so that's just kind of the general literary device of inclusio, but in scripture, especially in Hebrew, ⁓
narrative and in Hebrew poetry this happens a lot. Like you'll see frequently these inclusios and given the biblical roots of oral transmission down through time initially that's not at all surprising. It makes perfect sense. So a couple of examples. One of them like think of the Psalms. There are many many Psalms that begin and end with an identical phrase or something that's very close. So Psalm 8.
for instance, begins and ends with, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. That repetition, that bracket at the beginning and then at the end is a clear inclusio. So everything in between, which is like reflection on creation, human dignity, dominion, like all of that is now read under the overall banner of Yahweh's majesty.
the frame controls the interpretation. And so this also happens in the New Testament. And in fact, we're talking about this smaller section of Matthew, but it happens in the entire book of Matthew. If you look in Matthew, let's see, it's chapter one, very early on, Matthew writes, all this took place. So this is verse 22, Matthew 1, 22. All this, talking about the birth of Jesus.
took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. And then Matthew puts in parentheses, which means God with us. And then at the very end of Matthew's gospel, it concludes with Jesus saying, and behold, I am with you always to the very end of the age. That's not accidental.
Matthew is framing his gospel with this theme of divine presence God with us at the beginning and then the phrase I am with you always at the end so this forms like the Inclusio it's it's a way of Matthew saying one way you should be paying attention to what I'm writing here is this is about God's presence with us here in the world in a real
tangible way. He's not just, Matthew's saying Jesus here is not just a teacher, not just someone who performs miracles, not just a good guy. He is the abiding presence of God among his covenant people. And so that's what Matthew is saying. Now in this particular section, Matthew 5, 3 through 10, the first and the eighth of these Beatitudes share that.
phrase we've already talked about, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So this creates this inclusio around the Beatitudes. And so the idea of the kingdom of heaven is framing everything else that's happening in between. So when we talk about poverty of spirit, which is those that recognize how spiritually bankrupt they actually are before God.
those that mourn, those that are meek, and remember the meek are those who refuse to exert their own will by force. They're allowing ⁓ God to control the outcomes and rest in that regardless of what the outcomes are. Those that hunger and thirst to see things made right in the world. Those that are merciful, which is proactive love of enemies. Those that are pure in heart, who will wind up.
seeing God's action in the world and in their lives. And then we talked last week about peacemaking, which is really the Hebrew idea of shalom. It is moving into our world to draw together the broken pieces that we see in society. So where we see brokenness, we try to become a peacemaker, not a peacekeeper, someone who steps into brokenness to create shalom or wholeness. And then now we hear this one today.
those that are persecuted ⁓ because of righteousness and he's saying all of these things are enclosed within the kingdom reality for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. now that we understand that, these verses as inclusio, let's get to this verse in particular.
So let's begin where we have always begin, which is what do these words mean to us as you and I read them? What do they mean to us? And that's always one of the first places of interpretation. And usually, unfortunately, it's where a lot of us stop. Like it's we again assume this is written by our neighbor Tom down the street last year and it wasn't written 2000 years ago. And at least there's at least one level of language from Greek to English.
Some believe it was Hebrew to Greek to English. Either way, we're reading a translation. And so first off, let's just say, what does this mean to us? And then let's go into the Greek and see what it means in Greek. So when I think of these words, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. And we'll just pause there for a second. The idea of persecution.
What comes to your mind when you hear persecuted? The first image that popped into my head when I was preparing for this and thinking about this myself was, you remember many, many years ago in Tiananmen Square, there were ⁓ protests of the Chinese government by the citizens and there was a massive crackdown and all kinds of terrible things happening. But there is an image or a picture
of a Chinese man on the ground in front of a tank that is coming towards him. And he is clearly willing to sacrifice his life in an effort to protest. And it's such a gripping image. And so that's what I think about when I think about persecution is like state sponsored persecution. Like some some things that have been happening in
Iran as the people have been protesting like the people that have been slaughtered over there. That's what I think about when I think about just this word persecution. And then what about the phrase persecution or persecuted for righteousness sake? I don't know what that means to you. Worth pondering for a second. What do you think about when you hear the phrase persecuted for righteousness? Who's persecuted for righteousness?
I certainly don't think of anything immediately here in the United States when it comes to persecution, period. But when it comes to persecution for righteousness, I think more about, especially in a spiritual context, more about foreign countries, those that, you know, where it's a jailable offense to own a Bible, where Christianity is outlawed and illegal, and those that attempt to name the name of Jesus can be thrown in jail, their lives threatened, maybe even lose their life.
suffer the ultimate consequence, at least here on this earth, for their faith. that's what I think about when I think about persecution for righteousness. So that's my initial gut reaction. So what are these words meaning in Greek? Well, let's start off with this first word that we've been using the entire series here, blessed. You know, when Jesus says blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, this Greek word blessed is makarios, is the root word. ⁓
It means the one to whom God extends his favor, think of approved, think of recognized by God as someone who is rightly aligned and as a result of that they're receiving his blessing and his favor. And then this word, ⁓ those who are persecuted is the Greek word, ⁓ Deityogmenoi, Deityogmenoi, and it is
not trying to get too geeked out or technical on your ear, but it is the perfect passive participle of deoco. And it literally means to pursue, chase, or hunt down. That's what deoco means. And so the perfect tense here, it's the perfect passive participle, the perfect tense here is important. It's indicating an ongoing
condition or state of being that is resulting from an action that is passed. And we're going to find out what that action is here in a second. But just this idea of persecution is an ongoing situation is how this Greek word is laid out. That is this ongoing hunting or pursuit. And so it's not a one time thing.
Not a one time insult when it comes to being persecuted. It is a settled reality. They have been and still are being hunted down or at least still bearing the effects of being hunted down. So this is not casual dislike. There's pressure, is exclusion ⁓ or a threat.
that is continuing. And so that's what this word persecution means, a very heavy word in Greek. ⁓ And so why? Jesus says persecuted, okay, that's what persecuted means. Well, why are they being persecuted? So Jesus says on account of righteousness. So this Greek word for righteousness is dekaiosune. Matthew uses this word a lot. And when he uses this word, he's not just talking about like,
personal piety, like my own good individual behavior, it means, ⁓ especially when it comes to like the Jesus and me culture, we talked about it last week, like here in America, my relationship with God is my thing, my holiness is personal, how I am ⁓ sinning or not sinning, however you think about that, but this idea of righteousness is not that idea. This is a life.
that is so aligned with God's will that it is expressed publicly. Like in the way that someone is observing how you live your life, that is obvious. That's what this kind of righteousness means. It's very closely associated with the idea of holiness. ⁓ Though holiness really just means separate or other, but it means unmistakably different. So this would be someone who is
Their life is so aligned with a God-honoring life that it's unmistakable that people would see that. so persecution here, this being hunted down is a result of a life that is publicly expressed as honoring God. The reason persecution is... ⁓
Like what's happening here though is because a life lived that way exposes like the clash of kingdoms. So transliterated this verse could say, God extends his favor to those who are pursued, hunted down because they live their lives in such a way that it honors God and what he seeks in the world. So.
An example of this, biblically, would be David. You know, David is anointed king and he goes into the king's service, but then after a while, the current king, Saul, tries to kill him. Like David, even though he's anointed king as a boy, he doesn't take the throne until much, much later. And in those days, if you were anointed king, there would have been some pressure to just go ahead and take out King Saul and make yourself king. David has
many opportunities to do that. Saul is coming after David to kill him. He is hunting down David. David has fled from Saul. He is hiding out in the hills and in caves and running from Saul. When he has the opportunity to speak to Saul, he tells Saul, I'm not coming for you. You are God's anointed. I will not harm you. I refuse to do so.
there were opportunities where David did have the chance to kill Saul and he actually cuts off a piece of Saul's robe because Saul is relieving himself in a cave where David is hiding and Saul doesn't know he's there and David sneaks up and cuts off a piece of his robe and shows it to him later and says, I could have killed you, but I refuse to do that. So David is an example of someone who is living righteously.
that is living in the way God has ordered things and refuses to take matter into his own hands to try to affect the outcome and trusting God for the outcome. And so as a result of this, he continues to be hunted down and persecuted by Saul until Saul is actually killed in battle and David takes the throne. So ⁓ Jeremiah is another example of this. He's willing to speak out ⁓ what God tells him to say about the nation and how they are.
going so woefully wrong of what God asked them to do, how they're persecuting and oppressing the poor and the alien and the sojourner. And he is thrown into jail, he's thrown into stocks, they beat him mercilessly. Like he is ⁓ persecuted seriously for living in the way that God asks him to live and saying the thing that God asks him to say. We're gonna talk more about kind of the prophets and stuff next week in the next verse, because Jesus specifically brings that up.
as persecution will happen in the same way that those people were persecuted. But today, let's just stick with this verse and talk about persecution because ⁓ I think when we think about persecution today for faith, for someone living righteously, the easiest example globally would just be, again, those regimes where Christianity is illegal. So pastors that get imprisoned, ⁓ churches that get found out,
shut down, people dragged off. Like that's persecution because their righteousness, the way in which they're attempting to live rightly before God, is confronting false authority, the authority of the government to try to stamp that out. And for most Christians in modern American culture, we're not hunted down. Like not like this word talks about. We're not imprisoned for
confession to Christ. We're not barred from worship. We're not barred from reading our Bibles. We generally retain legal protections around our faith and what we believe. So if we were to say here in America that we're persecuted, that risks misreading this text and really centering. We love to put ourselves at the center of the story, unnecessarily centering ourselves here to call ourselves persecuted in the sense that this
Greek word is talking about. We risk missing out on what Jesus is actually talking about here. ⁓
So the question would then naturally be, does this beatitude even matter to us? Does it still matter given our American culture?
And I say yes. I think that one of the things this Beatitude does is reveal how the kingdom collides with power, even when that collision is muted. So the key phrase here is the persecution that happens is on account of righteousness or for righteousness sake. The question for American Christians is not are we persecuted? But what happens?
when righteousness actually costs us something.
Many years ago, I had an employer who instructed me to engage in a hiring practice that was discriminatory. Now, let's be clear. At this time in my life, I was certainly no angel. God, at this time in my life, was more of a bolt onto my life. He was a nice to have, but not a have to have. The purpose of this podcast is that we need to live in daily
dependence on God, meaning we need him daily. And at this point in my life, this time I'm highlighting here, that was not the case for me. So there was a lot of things I was doing that were very far from God. I don't want to paint it as though I were some kind of an angel or always, you know, making the right moral choice. But when it came to this particular situation where I was being asked to do something again that
was very clearly discriminatory. It was a line I was unwilling to cross. And I told them, I'm not going to do that. That's probably illegal. And I was then told, no, you are going to do this. And this is how it's going to be. And I said, if you push me on this issue, I'm going to shout it from the roofs. I'm going to let other people know.
And this isn't going to work out well for you. And they gave in to me at, that moment, they said, fine, whatever. And, but it was clear now that the group that I was on the inside with, I was now on the outside of, I began to come under a level of scrutiny in my career that had never been the case before. was almost as if what I felt like was.
Now they are, I'm under surveillance, like they're looking for reasons to make my life uncomfortable. And it was also clear that I would never advance in this organization because I took a stand on this particular issue. And eventually I left. And so when we think about persecution in our kind of high comfort society, it can be
Much softer and not violent like like our picture of persecution probably is it's much more relational and reputational Rather than physical. It's not persecution by force but persecution by exclusion so think about things like social marginalization like one of my friends We were talking about this topic and I I frequently will pull my friends when I'm thinking through something and processing
a Bible verse or something like this or a podcast episode. And one of them told me that she had a situation at work where she was asked to lie and she refused to do so. And as a result of her refusal, as a result of her decision in that moment to be righteous around this, the work environment became very uncomfortable and ultimately she left. So this idea of being
marginalized or pushed to the edges or to the outside because of a decision that you make being quietly passed over because you won't bend on an ethical standard has a cost to it. When you say no to dishonest business practices, when you refuse to align with what you know to be ethically wrong to protect ⁓
relationships or to protect career advancement. Like that is righteousness. When we talk about in relation to this verse and righteousness confronts the idol of success, which is, is that's where the tension is in that is do I align myself with something that I believe or know to be wrong because it will insulate me in my career and allow me to continue on a pathway or
Do I take a stand on something that I know to be wrong, even though it may have impacts to my career and just simply trust God with the outcome? It may not be prison, but a cost is a cost. And when I think about our society today, some of this is just...
declining to participate in the age of this performative outrage. We talked a little bit about it last week, like refusing to demonize an opponent. Like if you refuse to do that, or you decline to weaponize faith for political gain. ⁓ If you decide to proactively love your enemies, what a revolutionary idea.
Even that today can provoke hostility from both sides, from both sides. So in a society where faith is still permitted, I think it's a subtler question we need to be asking ourselves. Would you still choose righteousness? Would you still choose a life that has as its ethos or as its ethic to honor God if it actually cost you something meaningful?
but not necessarily dramatic. Like not talking about going to prison here. know, dramatic persecution like that. ⁓ I've never experienced it, but there is a heroism to it. It's like heroic and I don't want to paint my picture earlier as being that at all. But the situation in my mind was like crossing the discriminatory practice.
was so significant, it didn't feel like I had a choice. Like I can't compromise on this thing. And it in some ways was harder but also easier than compromising on things I'm sure I've compromised on at other times. Like something as simple as looking the other way, ⁓ something as simple as not, you know.
telling the truth in certain situations or just not standing up when I should have been standing up.
So I guess the point I'm trying to make is sometimes these smaller, more subtle things that you and I might deal with, like this slow erosion through comfort, is less obvious and therefore much more dangerous. So what if we viewed this beatitude as something of a warning, not just a promise of who has the kingdom?
If righteousness is never producing any tension in our lives, what does that mean? It could mean that our righteousness is, you know, private only. That we've compartmentalized our faith to be separate from certain areas of our lives. That our allegiance to God alone has been domesticated to other lesser goals, ideals, desires. The kingdom really does create friction somewhere.
in your life. It should be creating friction somewhere in your life.
Even in America, those who accept the cost of righteousness, at some point, you relinquish control of the outcome. And in doing so, you're surrendering a level of at least emotional security. And you're gonna trust God rather than the system. And you choose obedience over what could be potential advantage. And that returns us to the very first beatitude.
that has the same ending as this one, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Because choosing righteousness makes you poor in spirit in practice. It means that you discover that you cannot secure yourself, that you can't manage outcomes, you can't protect your reputation fully, and that is precisely the posture that the kingdom requires.
So for American Christians, Matthew 5-10 is less about am I persecuted, but where would obedience actually make my life harder and am I avoiding that? And it's not a question of if righteousness, like this obedience to God's standard, will make your life less comfortable. It will. It's just a matter of where.
The Bible makes that really clear. So in Psalm 37, we read, the wicked plots against the righteous, but the Lord laughs at the wicked for he sees that his day is coming. That's Psalm 37, 12 and 13. Here, the righteous is ⁓ Zadik, the Hebrew word. It means a covenant faithful person, person that's living their life outwardly in the way that God expects them to.
outwardly from an inward correct orientation. But the Psalm assumes that the righteous will be targeted, the wicked plot against the righteous. Opposition is expected. It's not considered exceptional. So in Psalm 69, we read, Jesus actually applies this Psalm to himself and John.
The persecution is ⁓ explicit, meaning it is without cause, and it says, it is for your sake that I have borne reproach. So it's because of zeal for God here that David is saying ⁓ he has suffered reproach. Then Psalm 119, this ⁓ is 86 through 87, all your commandments are sure, they persecute me with falsehood.
So this is obedience to God's law produces false accusation. What David is saying here. And then in Isaiah 51, seven, listen to me, you who know righteousness. And this word know, yada means you are acquainted with, you know it by experience. So he says, listen to me, those who know righteousness by experience, do not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. Isaiah assumes that knowing righteousness leads to reproach.
And then also little later in Isaiah 59, 15, truth is lacking and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. That line is devastatingly clear. Departing from evil makes you a target. In the Old Testament, persecution is not a sign of God's absence. It is often the confirmation that someone's life is in faithful alignment. So, now,
not every hardship that you and I face is persecution. Like that would be a big mistake to make. ⁓ But persecution consistently follows righteousness when righteousness is lived openly. That's very clear biblically. And the question that comes across my mind is, are we afraid to live out righteousness in the open?
And when we encounter unrighteousness in our world, will we speak up even if it's uncomfortable? You're probably familiar with the story, The Emperor's New Clothes. It was written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837, and it tells the story of a vain ruler who is obsessed with appearance and status.
con guys arrive claiming that they can weave this magnificent fabric that is invisible to anyone who is incompetent or foolish. And the emperor, very intrigued by this idea and super eager to expose incompetence, says, go for it, make me this garment. There's one problem. There is no garment. The con guys, these swindlers,
They pretend to work. Officials come to inspect the progress of this garment and they don't see anything, of course, because there's nothing to see. But because they're afraid of being exposed as, you know, unfit for office, incompetent, they praise the invisible cloth that's not even there. And the emperor himself, of course, sees nothing but
Likewise, refuses to even admit that. Finally, he parades through the city wearing nothing at all. And the crowd, they don't want to appear foolish or incompetent. So what do they do? They cheer. They applaud this magnificent clothing, this beautiful garment.
until a child blirts out. But he isn't wearing anything at all.
And in the story, the spell breaks because the truth is broken. And the emperor, even though he is aware he's completely naked, continues the procession anyway.
I don't know if you're picking up on any themes in that story that you might see in our world today, but this story exposes how easily people conform when truth threatens their status. No one wants to be the fool. So everyone participates in the lie. This is less about deception and more about self-deception fueled by pride and fear.
The emperor, you know, he's not deceived by ignorance. He's deceived by vanity. His identity is wrapped up in his image and flattery winds up becoming his downfall. Truth doesn't come from a court official, a scholar or a nobleman in the story. It comes from a child, someone who is uninvested in status preservation.
From a biblical standpoint, the story resonates deeply. Proverbs 29, 25 says, fear of a man lays a snare. The entire society is trapped in this story, not by force, but by fear of appearing inadequate. And the.
collective engine of the people, the collective weight of the people that don't want to appear incompetent or foolish, they all buy into something that they know is a lie. And the imagery of nakedness, you know, immediately evokes thoughts of Genesis chapter three, when Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness and they attempt to hide. And the emperor's nakedness symbolizes just the exposure.
of his own pride. And there's something almost prophetic in this story that pride blinds, but truth exposes. Jesus teaches in Matthew 18 about becoming like children. Children often perceive and will say what adults refuse to say. And the child in this story functions as a prophet, like a moral prophet.
So the phrase, the emperor has no clothes is kind of shorthand that we use today where for an obvious truth that's denied publicly, like social pressure that maintains a collective illusion. And for situations where speaking honestly carries reputational risk.
So in modern political, academic, or even like the church context, this is a potent metaphor. We can become like institutions, government, churches for sure, groups can create echo chambers where dissent equals incompetence, equals foolishness, makes you an enemy instead of someone who simply disagrees.
and entire systems can applaud what everybody privately doubts.
Hear that again, entire systems can applaud what everybody privately doubts. And sometimes it takes an uncredentialed voice to say what everybody actually sees. The deeper warning is not about them. It's about us. Where might we be affirming what we know is hollow?
Applauding what we know is empty and remaining silent because truth is socially costly. For leaders, especially those in ministry, the story's sobering. Image management can quietly replace integrity. It's a slow burn over time, but it happens. Like applause from the public feels good, man. It really does.
but it can conceal a spiritual nakedness. The real question is not whether emperors exist and that there is truth in this story. We know that's true. The real question is, do we have the courage to be the child? People who expose corruption, fraud, or abuse in a system can lose their career, their reputation.
or their safety.
But righteousness refuses complicity with what we know to be wrong. Righteousness confronts systems that are built on power and desire. It is a faithful obedience that refuses cultural idols, meaning saying no to lies even when silence would be safer. Refusing to redefine truth to be accepted in a group.
That's where persecution often looks very subtle. Marginalization, loss of status, being labeled dangerous, outdated, hateful, hate speech. the kingdom is not given after persecution as a reward. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This isn't something that is
the reward after persecution is suffered. The Greek tense says, theirs is the kingdom. Present tense. Why? Because persecution has a tendency to reveal where your true allegiance already lies, in which kingdom you already belong to, and who truly reigns over your life.
Those persecuted for righteousness already live under God's reign and the world reacts violently to that reality.
If you found this episode helpful, please share and follow the show. I'd also be honored if you'd check out my first book, Questions God Asks. It's available anywhere that you buy books. And if you've read it, please leave me a review on Amazon. And thank you to all of you who have already done so. Until next week, grace and peace, my friends.