In the great collection of unexpected and challenging teachings about discipleship by Jesus there is perhaps nothing so utterly unexpected (particularly after our study of the earlier sayings) as Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29, 30. All along Jesus had been telling His listeners that in order to be His disciples they must deny themselves and give over everything they possess. But now He says that if they do that they will nevertheless receive a hundred times as much as what was given up, not merely in some future life, which we might expect, but in this very age—though they would have persecutions.
8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” The last of the Beatitudes speaks of happiness in persecution. This is a blessedness Jesus elaborates upon, adding in verses 11 and 12, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes the words “in spirit” do not occur (Luke 6:20). Therefore, many have used Matthew’s version to point out that the poverty Jesus is speaking of here is not material but rather spiritual poverty. He is not praising physical privation. He is not saying that the materially poor are closer to the kingdom of God than the materially rich. What Jesus is commending is the opposite of a person’s being rich in pride.
According to Jesus, happiness consists in a reorientation of life by His standards. These standards seem contrary to our way of thinking, as they inevitably must because of Jesus’ holiness and our sin. But they are the secret—the secret to becoming a happy person.
