“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 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” (Matthew 5:10-12).
What an odd thing to say. Who considers themselves blessed when they undergo persecution? Well, Peter and the Apostles did, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name” of Jesus Christ (Acts 5:41). The first martyr, St. Stephen, did, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (Acts 7:59). St. Perpetua did, “Hilarian sentenced those who confessed to being Christian to be killed by beasts. He sent them back to prison. ‘We joyfully went,’ Perpetua wrote” (Wolfmueller, 39).
St. Polycarp did, “‘O Lord God Almighty, Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of You, the God of angels and powers of all creation, and of the whole race of the righteous who lived in Your presence, I bless You because You have considered me worthy this day and hour, so that I might receive a place among the number of the martyrs in the cup of Your Christ, to the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and of body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit'” (The Martyrdom of Polycarp 14.1-2).
A man named Romanus did as well after his teeth were knocked out, his eyelids and nails torn out, his cheeks sliced open, and his beard pulled out with chunks of flesh, “‘I thank thee, O captain, that thou hast opened unto me many mouths, whereby I may preach my Lord and Savior Christ. Look how many wounds I have, so many mouths I have, lauding and praising God'” (Wolfmueller, 139).
So did St. Agatha, who “skipped joyfully to her execution, like she was going to a feast or a dance. She laughed and rejoiced” (Wolfmueller, 184). And hundreds and thousands of other saints just like them.
Why is persecution such a blessed thing, whether imprisonment, torture, or death? Because of the promise of Christ, “theirs is the kingdom of Heaven… your reward is great in Heaven.” The martyrs knew this, as today’s martyrs do as well. Like Stephen, we know our spirit will be commended to the Lord upon our death, whether we die a peaceful or brutal death. Like Perpetua, that young 22-year-old mother, we have the joy of Christ’s salvation. Like Polycarp, that gallant 86-year-old, we rejoice in the promise of the bodily resurrection, knowing the kingdom of Heaven is ours. Like Romanus, we know our persecution only serves to proclaim Christ even more when our enemies would have us be silenced. And like Agatha, we skip joyfully to our graves knowing we have a great reward in Heaven, which is eternal life.
Bibliography
Wolfmueller, Bryan. A Martyr’s Faith in a Faithless World. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019.
The Lutheran Column 